REVIEW - Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen (with AO.com)

One of my biggest sources of frustration in my kitchen comes from my oven. Whether it’s not having enough space because I’ve only got 2 shelves, or it’s trying to cook multiple things at the same time like the roast potatoes that want 180 degrees at the same time as the chicken that wants 160 degrees, I’m always frustrated trying to fit everything in.

When I go round to friends’ houses and see their double ovens I get very jealous. At the same time, my microwave sits in the corner taking up valuable worktop space and the only time that it gets used is when I need to defrost something. So I was delighted that AO.com gave me the chance to review and test the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen.

If you’ve not used AO.com before, I can highly recommend them. From the email telling you when your product is going to get delivered, to the text in the morning with your 1 hour time slot and then the friendly smile from the delivery man when he hands over your new toy, you won’t be disappointed if you give them a try.

 Let’s have a look at what you get with the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen.

When you open the box, you will be pleased to see that there are not many parts so it’s really easy to get set up and ready to go and start cooking.

First up you get the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen itself. It connects to the mains with just a single standard plug so there’s no difficult installation or setup. Plug it in, switch it on and you’re just about ready to go. You also get the instruction booklet that explains everything you need to know on how to operate the device as well as explaining the initial priming you have to do. 

Basically, you have to switch the hobs on for about 20 minutes and then switch the oven on for about 20 minutes to cure the elements. Once that’s done, you’re ready to start cooking.

Other than that, all you really need is something to cook on. You get a single shelf, the grill tray, and a handle and that’s it, so it’s really simple to get set up and get going.

Let’s take a closer look at the Mini Kitchen itself.

The Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen consists of 2 hot plates on top and then the oven/grill down below. The hot plates come in different sizes. You have the larger hot plate which is 1000w and then the smaller hot plate that is 750w. That gives you a little bit of versatility depending on the size of pot you want to use and the amount of food that you want to cook.

Down below you have the top loading oven/grill. It’s operated from a large, easy to hold handle at the front. One thing I like about the door is that it is not free-flowing. There’s different points in the opening mechanism. With the glass frontage, this stops any nasty accidents that could be caused if the door was able to just drop down and hit off the worktop below.

The whole unit is operated from 3 large knobs on the front of the device. The top knob adjusts the temperature all the way up to 230 degrees while the middle knob lets you choose which part of the device you want to operate.

One of the downsides of the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen is that you can only use either the hotplate or the oven at any one time, you can’t use both so if you want to use it as your main kitchen device you’ll have to be quite creative on the meals that you are going to cook.

Spinning the middle knob, the first position switches on the top element which is used for grilling. The second position switches on the bottom element which is used to keep food warm. The third position switches on both elements allowing you to use the device as an oven. Then you have the 3 positions that are used to operate the hotplates – either using the large one, the small one or both at the same time.

Finally, your third dial is the timer.  It’s a rotary timer that clicks as it goes and then sounds a ding when your timing is complete.

One other thing to notice on the timer, when you have the middle knob set to neutral, is that you can turn the knob anti clockwise to select a defrost option. What this does is rather than using heat like a microwave would to defrost your food, this switches on the fan in the device to circulate air around the food to help it defrost without heat. Using heat can often start the cooking process which is one of the negatives of using a microwave for defrosting.

Inside the oven, you have your shelf which sits flush on the built in runners and also your grill pan, also on runners, so you have plenty of space to cook lots of food in the Mini Kitchen.

The Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen can be utilised in many scenarios, from a Student flat to an apartment, a staff room or a staff canteen – but for me, the beauty of the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen is as an extra device in your kitchen to supplement your main oven. This gives you increased capacity to cook.

If I am entertaining, I can have the main meal cooking in the main oven while the party food or nibbles (like the homemade sausage rolls I cooked to test the device) can be browning away in the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen.

When it comes to the size of the device, while it’s a little bit taller and a little bit deeper than a standard microwave, it’s no wider meaning it won’t take up much extra space on your worktop but for me it’s a lot more versatile and a lot more useful than my microwave that I don’t use very often.

They say the proof is in the pudding, or in this case the sausage rolls, and they looked great even if I do say so myself and they tasted great. We certainly enjoyed tucking into them, all for the benefit of the review of course.

Let's recap some of the positives about the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen.

1. You get 2 hotplates of varying sizes and varying power which give you great versatility on what you want to cook.
2. The oven/grill down below – whether you’re defrosting, warming, grilling or using the oven, this little mini kitchen can do the whole lot without taking up too much extra space when compared to a conventional microwave.
3. For me, it’s a great additional device in your kitchen giving you extra capacity, more shelves and more versatility. For others, they might see it as a great little mini main device. If that is the case, just bear in mind that you can only use one of the hotplate or the oven at any one time so you’ll have to be quite creative on what you are going to cook with it.
4. Finally, the design. I love the black design. I think it’s very modern and eye-catching and will look pride of place in my kitchen.

So in summary, if you are looking to cure your oven frustrations or to gain additional cooking capacity in your kitchen, you won't go wrong with the very versatile Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen with it's boiling, frying, grilling, baking, heating and defrosting functionality. 

If you're looking to use it as a main device - have a think about what you want to cook. If you need to use the hotplate and the oven at the same time - you might need to do a bit more research. If not, then the Russell Hobbs Mini Kitchen definitely has plenty to offer.

(The views expressed in this post are entirely my own. While I received the product for free for the purpose of testing it and reviewing it, I was under no obligation to provide a positive review and my opinions are based on my own, honest assessment of the product.)