After the T10 robot vacuum cleaner, Ultenic wants to be talked about with an air fryer named K10. While these devices are on the rise, does the device manage to stand out? We cooked it to find out.
Cooking without fat and quickly, with the help if possible of a hint of connected options and the smartphone at hand: this has become extremely trendy. Electronics ” air fryer(read: air fryer) have mushroomed in recent months with the promise of cooking healthily, quickly and with minimal effort on your part.
After discovering the T10 robot vacuum cleaner, we tested the Ultenic brand K10 to find out if it could hold its own against Xiaomi and other brands that are establishing themselves in the category.
An elegant and compact device
The Ultenic K10 comes as a black plastic device (30 x 26.49 x 30.5 cm). The format is finally quite compact and elegant for a device that is similar to a mini oven and may be suitable for small kitchens, by stalling in a corner of the worktop. It rests on four silicone pads to prevent the assembly from moving and it is effective, unless you are really brutal in your gestures.
Self-proclaimed air fryer, the K10 in any case gives the appearance and size with its cube look with rounded corners. It consists of several parts: the touch screen with the controls on the top, the motor just below, then a copper-colored handle that opens a cooking drawer with a capacity of 5 l. On the back, there is a ventilation system with protection to keep it far enough away from a wall (the expelled air is very hot) and inside the drawer, obviously the spiral heating resistance which will cook your food.
The drawer of the K10 features walls covered with a non-stick coating (without Bisphenol A). It is supplied with a black iron grid to be positioned inside on the edges so that the food does not touch the bottom (especially your dishes or moulds). This will also allow air to circulate.
The drawer, which opens by pressing the button above the handle, and the grid are very easy to clean by hand. You can also put them in the dishwasher.
On the top of the K10 are the various controls with the on/off button at the bottom right, the button to start or pause cooking right next to it, 11 program presets, but also the plus and minus buttons for the temperature or the duration surrounding the digital display.
The grid for depositing food in the K10 // Source: FRANDROID – Melinda DAVAN-SOULAS
Ultenic K10 drawer and cooking grid // Source: FRANDROID – Melinda DAVAN-SOULAS
The device is electrically connected using a cable that is not very long (about one meter). It will be better to provide a socket near the place where the K10 will be placed.
The application: little better
To set up the connected part of the Ultenic K10, simply download the Ultenic application available on Android and iOS.
You add the device to the list and connect it to the home Wi-Fi network. You then have access to the same menu as that which appears on the appliance (the list of categories, the choice of temperature, cooking time, preheating or keeping warm). Then you click to start cooking. You can program cooking remotely, which you cannot do on the device directly.
Source: FRANDROID
Source: FRANDROID
Recipes are offered with all the information to make them step by step, the foods and elements needed, the duration and the temperature. You can even favorite recipes to find them more easily.
Only, the application is far from being refined. The translation is quite catastrophic (“The most favorite”, “The most cooked”, “Vegetarian”, formal formalities then the infinitive in the same recipe, “Donne 4” for 4 portions…). But that’s not to mention the classification of recipes by category that places garlic bread or pizza in the category… desserts.
Sorting by recipe category of the Ultenic app // Source: FRANDROID
The Desserts category of the Ultenic app is full of surprises // Source: FRANDROID
If you use the iOS application, you will also have the unpleasant surprise of having access to recipes, fortunately in French, but without the end of the sentences since the display has not been studied for it, even on the big screen. an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Under Android, everything is more successful. But that’s the only good point.
The Ultenic app on Android can be used // Source: FRANDROID
The iOS application is catastrophic for reading recipes // Source: FRANDROID
Ultenic announces compatibility with Alexa and Google Assistant. But other than telling the device to start or stop, we couldn’t find out what else the wizards allowed.
Ideal for kitchen, not very useful to connect
The K10 is above all an oil-free fryer for the good of your health, but this is not its main strength. It is used to cook just about anything you would put in an oven, broil or crisp, but with the time saving of preheating (non-existent). Meat, potato, pizza, cake, croque-monsieur, toast, reheating a dish, keeping warm, etc. he can do anything. Just ask it via the app or with the controls (11 presets) above to adjust the temperature of this mini oven and the cooking time.
The screen is quite bright and it is easy to follow the progress of the cooking with the digital display. The icons that appear make it easy to find your way around depending on the item being cooked.
There are therefore buttons for the duration and for the cooking temperature which can range from 75 to 205°. This covers the majority of dishes to be cooked. But not products – such as frozen pizzas – which require higher temperatures. To do this, you will have to go through the “Keep Warm” menu which is also used to defrost beforehand or opt for a longer duration at a lower temperature.
On the other hand, the commands will not allow you to plan a cooking. To do this, you have to go through the app. An app notification lets you know when cooking is done or if you need to stir halfway through. You will also hear a beep from the K10.
Cooking without oil (or recipe booklet)
The device announces a power of 1500 W thanks to its spiral-shaped resistance that we see inside, in the space where the drawer slides. But it is its Dual-Air technology that allows it to cook four times faster than a normal oven, in admittedly smaller portions (3 to 5 people).
The recipe book provided has the bad idea of being only in English, with measurements and doses in Anglo-Saxon metrics. Too bad, because it is of good quality and quite complete. But Amazon offers it in French in PDF format for download.
The app’s recipes are in French… or thereabouts. But they sometimes appear with bad translation of measurements ( inchesof the cups fluid ounces, etc.).
The recipe book supplied with the Ultenic K10 // Source: FRANDROID – Melinda DAVAN-SOULAS
The recipes are in English // Source: FRANDROID – Melinda DAVAN-SOULAS
But you can very well do without the application or the recipe book. We tried the fresh salmon in the Air Fryer which turned out to be cooked to perfection. Reheating dishes is done quickly, you can also place preparations in all kinds of molds on the grid and cook as you would in your oven. The advantage is hugely in the warm-up time that you don’t have to wait. You can start preheating if you wish via the “Pre Heat” button.
The main promise is obviously the cooking of fries without oil. And the bet is almost successful. Cut your potatoes into fries and throw everything in the basket. A “Shake” function tells you when to stir halfway through cooking. This will concern fries to prevent them from cooking only on one side and above all from drying out, vegetables,onion ringsor even chicken wings, if you enter the type of program on the app or on the top of the K10.
Note, however, that our first batch of fries turned out to be rather dry. In the second, with a spoon of oil added (put it rather at the bottom before putting the fries in the basket), and stirring well halfway through cooking, the result was very successful.
For anything that will be frying, the K10 promises that there’s no need for oil. However, we recommend that you add at least a spoon depending on the quantity and type of frying.
You can put the food in bulk on the grid or in a dish, aluminum packaging… It is above all the size that will limit the choice, because the dimensions are not huge. But it can be enough to cook a chicken of a classic size.
Ultenic K10 Pricing and Availability
The Ultenic K10 Air Fryer is available on the Amazon site as well as on that of Darty, Cdiscount and many others from 89 euros.