One of the many features of the $995 Brava smart countertop oven we really liked when we reviewed it back in 2018 was a 5MP camera that live-streamed the food inside as it cooked. What we didn’t like was that that camera was the only way to actually see inside the oven to ensure food wasn’t being overcooked or burned: an issue that’s now resolved with the new Brava Glass and its groundbreaking door with a window.
Unlike conventional electric ovens that rely on metal heating elements that can take a lot of time and energy to preheat an oven to a specific temperature, the Brava’s big innovation was its use of six lamps inside that cooked food using a combination of visible and non-visible light. Its creators claimed the interior of the Brava smart oven could be heated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit in less than a second, and cooking an entire meal used less energy than would be needed to preheat a conventional oven.
As long as you were only feeding a couple of people, and kept a watchful eye on what you were cooking, the Brava mostly delivered on its promises, even if it wasn’t considerably faster than a conventional oven given cool down times needed between batches of food. But the “watchful eye” part was completely dependent on an app on a mobile device, and when you’re bustling around a kitchen prepping a meal, you don’t want to be constantly reaching for a mobile device with dirty hands.
The new Brava Glass’s solution is to borrow a feature you’ll find on even a $20 toaster oven: a door with a glass window featuring a 97% tint that keeps the heat trapped inside while allowing users to see their food cooking without having to reach for their phones. The Brava Glass carries over the same features and functionality of the original, including cooking modes like roasting, baking, toasting, and even air-frying, as well as multi-zone cooking inside so meats and veggies can be cooked at the same time (in specific pairings) but at different temperatures. And there’s still a live-streaming camera inside the oven, so you can keep an eye on what’s inside even if you’re not in the kitchen.
What’s most surprising about the Brava Glass is the price. When we reviewed the original Brava smart oven, it sold for $995, but is now available on Brava’s website for $1,295 as part of a “Starter Set” that includes pans and temperature sensors, or a larger “Chef’s Choice” set for $1,695. The new Brava Glass, which will ship in early 2023, is only available as part of a $1,995 “Chef’s Choice” set that includes “two glass trays, two metal trays, a muffin tin, square pan, loaf pan, egg tray and the cast iron chef’s pan.” As with hotel rooms, airplanes, and houses, you’ll be paying a premium here for a view.
