While we did have to cut a large pie in half, a 12in pizza will just about fit (if you don’t mind the edges being slightly squished). With some help from family and friends, we spent the best part of six months putting this mini oven through its paces. With functions to grill, toast, air fry, keep warm and cook like a conventional oven, it feels like this could replace your usual cooker altogether. Given that Russell Hobbs has named this a “mini oven”, we were expecting this feature to be a stand out, but we have to be honest – it was a little underwhelming.

While we can’t attest to whether this stat is wholly accurate, much like running a microwave or other smaller kitchen appliance, it was nice to know we weren’t using tons of electricity for one small meal.

Compared with the 20 minutes the same pizza needed in the oven, when air fried, it took half that time – perfect for feeding hungry guests in a hurry. Considering this is from kitchen-appliance powerhouse Russell Hobbs – which has been providing quality kit for more than 70 years – we had high expectations. Simply plug it into the mains and away you go – though do note the cable is quite short, so it needs to be fairly close to a socket. The drip tray slides out from underneath, to clear out any crumbs – a bit of advice, you’ll want to do this regularly if air frying – and is easy to wipe clean. But don’t judge a book by its cover – or, in this case, an oven by its exterior – as it’s what’s inside that truly counts.

While we did need two people to wrestle the mini oven out of its packaging, this was the only strenuous part of the setup.

They’re each a nice extra to have but we used them the least throughout our time testing, so wouldn’t necessarily say they’re a key selling point.

The machine itself was really light to lift and, thanks to the easy-to-follow guide included, we had it up and ready to cook in less than 10 minutes.

That’s right, it was back to the chopping board to make homemade healthy chips, a pie that would rival those from a traditional pizza oven, and a grilled cheese that we hoped would be the thing of dreams.