Our Place caused a stir earlier this year with the UK release of its Wonder Oven, quite possibly the cutest and most powerful counter-top 6-in-1 appliance on the market. My only complaint when the Wonder Oven came onto the market is that it was hard to find the right baking tins to use with it. More convinced than ever that our phones listen to us, just days after airing that grievance Our Place announced the release of the Wonder Oven Baker’s Kit.
The Wonder Oven Baker’s Kit includes three items; a square pan, a round pan and a 6-cup muffin pan. The square and round pans sit nicely on the Wonder Oven’s wire rack while the 6-cup muffin pan slides straight into the shelf grooves inside the appliance. Heat resistant up to 450 F / 230 C, the pans tick all the boxes of what I was looking for but are they actually any good? I got my hands on them to find out.
As a keen baker, it didn’t take me long to put the Wonder Oven Baker’s Kit through its paces. Each tin features Our Place’s proprietary toxin-free non-stick coating, which promises to make it easy to release your bakes (provided you’ve greased the tins with butter or oil first, of course. I first tested the square pan, which I filled with nachos and topped with grated cheese. I wanted to see how good the grill setting on the Wonder Oven really is. Turns out, it’s very good. Within a matter of minutes, not only was the cheese bubbly and slightly browned, but the nachos themselves had been heated through impressively.
For my second experiment in the square tin, I made a batch of Parkin – not, I hasten to add, because it’s become popular thanks to ‘The Great British Bake Off’. I put my mixture into the tin and at the same time as I popped it in the Wonder Oven, I put the same size tray filled with the same amount of mixture in my conventional oven. In the Wonder Oven the Parkin baked in two-thirds of the time, and it came out stickier and moister.
Moving on to the round tin, I made a chicken curry pie that had a full pastry casing. I wanted to see how crispy the pastry would get in the Wonder Oven, and it got very crispy. The pastry browned nicely without burning and the filling of the pie was piping hot within 30 minutes of baking. What surprised me the most is that the pie slid straight out of the pan with no battle. It also held its shape nicely and the next night I used the Wonder Oven’s reheat mode to prepare the leftovers.
That left only the 6-cup muffin pan so I whipped up a batch of double chocolate batter. I did use muffin cases in each of the holes and filled them about two-thirds full with the batter. Within 10 minutes, the muffins were baked through and they were really crunchy on the top. It was also nice to make just 6 muffins rather than a full batch as there was only going to be two people eating them. That meant we could spread them across a few days and they were still nice and fresh.
As with all Our Place products, cleaning the Wonder Oven Baker’s Kit is a dream. With just hot water and washing-up liquid, any dirt or grime lifts right off. You don’t need to scrub them; a simple soak will suffice. They dry quickly too and you can store them in your Wonder Oven or the box they came in if you have the cupboard space.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Wonder Oven Baker’s Kit. The three tins are surprisingly versatile and you can make a wide variety of things in them. It’s often considered that smaller appliances like this don’t cater for many people but you could easily feed four with the quantity that fits in any of the pans. As always with Our Place releases, these pans are simple to use, will save you time and are high quality. What are they going to come up with next?
Released by: Our Place Release date: 15th October 2024
