Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer Review

Today, we’re going to talk about the Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer, and we’ve been putting it to the test in the kitchen. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to cook delicious meals, this might just be the air fryer for you. Whether it’s crispy fries, juicy chicken, or even baked treats, the Brio promises to get the job done. We’ve tried it all, and now we’re here to share our experience. So, let’s dive in and see if this air fryer is as good as it sounds!

Design & Build Quality

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer is a kitchen appliance that combines functionality with a sleek, modern look. Having used it, we can confidently say that its design makes it a standout on the countertop like Vexon Glass Air Fryer. The matte black finish feels premium and blends well with both contemporary and traditional kitchen decor.

Its digital display is large and bright, making it easy to read even from a distance. The touchscreen interface is user-friendly and highly responsive, with clearly labeled buttons that simplify cooking operations. It doesn’t take long to get the hang of its controls, which is a big plus for anyone who wants a hassle-free cooking experience.

In terms of size, the air fryer offers a great balance between capacity and countertop space. It measures around 14 inches deep, 13 inches wide, and 16 inches high. While it’s not overly bulky, it provides a generous 15.5-quart cooking space. This makes it ideal for larger families or anyone who enjoys entertaining.

From our experience, we were able to roast a 5-pound whole chicken without any issues, and there was still room for vegetables. It also handled 20 chicken wings, a full 8-inch pizza, and even 3 pounds of French fries with ease. The spacious interior is well thought out, allowing you to cook multiple items at once, especially with the four included racks. This feature proved incredibly helpful when preparing a meal for a gathering.

The build quality is another highlight of the Nuwave Brio. It feels solid and durable, with a stainless steel interior that ensures long-lasting performance. The door operates smoothly and features a transparent window, which was one of our favorite parts of the design. Being able to watch the cooking process without opening the door adds convenience and ensures you don’t lose heat during operation. The overall construction inspires confidence, and it’s clear that the appliance is built to withstand regular use.

From a design perspective, the Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer strikes an excellent balance between style and practicality. Its clean lines, professional finish, and well-designed display make it an attractive addition to any kitchen. At the same time, it feels robust and performs reliably, which are qualities you want in a product meant for frequent use. After using it, we’d rate its design a solid 9 out of 10 for how well it combines aesthetic appeal with usability. The look of the air fryer also deserves praise, and we’d give it an 85 out of 100 for its sleek and modern appearance. 

Cooking Capacity

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer truly shines when it comes to cooking capacity. Its 15.5-quart interior is designed to handle large quantities of food, making it a perfect choice for families or anyone who loves hosting gatherings. We tested it with various meals, and it performed exceptionally well across the board like Emeril Lagasse 26 QT Extra Large Air Fryer.

One of the most impressive aspects is its ability to fit a whole 5-pound chicken, which roasted beautifully and evenly. We also cooked 20 chicken wings in one go without any crowding, and they came out perfectly crispy. The spacious interior allowed us to bake an 8-inch pizza, which was cooked evenly from the crust to the toppings. Another test involved frying 3 pounds of French fries, and the results were golden and crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy inside. The four adjustable racks offer a lot of flexibility, letting you prepare multiple dishes simultaneously, which is a huge timesaver.

This Nuwave air fryer’s capacity is ideal for big meals and batch cooking. The design makes full use of the space, and the powerful circulation ensures that every rack gets proper heat for even cooking. Whether it’s a weeknight dinner or a feast for friends, the Nuwave Brio’s large capacity makes cooking easier and more efficient.

It delivers exceptional performance for its size and easily meets the needs of larger households or social occasions. It loses a few points only because the larger size might be a bit much for smaller kitchens or those who don’t frequently cook for groups. Overall, it’s a fantastic choice for those needing plenty of cooking space.

User Interface

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer features a user-friendly interface that makes cooking a breeze, even for beginners. Its digital touchscreen display is the centerpiece of the control panel, offering clear visibility of all functions as we experienced with COSORI 9Qt Dual Air Fryer. The screen is responsive to touch and well-lit, so you can easily operate it even in low-light conditions.

The layout is intuitive, with clearly labeled buttons for temperature, time, and various cooking modes. We appreciated the dedicated presets, which take the guesswork out of cooking popular dishes like chicken, pizza, or fries. Adjusting the temperature or time manually is straightforward, thanks to the up-and-down arrows. The addition of a built-in meat probe is a game-changer, ensuring precise cooking for meats without constant monitoring.

The delay and warm features add versatility, allowing you to plan meals around your schedule. One standout feature is the stage cooking option, which lets you set multiple cooking phases in one go—for instance, air frying followed by a warming phase. This makes it incredibly versatile and perfect for more complex recipes.

Overall, the user interface balances simplicity with functionality. While it offers many advanced features, they are not overwhelming, making it suitable for both novice and experienced cooks. The only minor downside is that it can take a little time to explore and fully utilize all the advanced settings if you’re not used to multifunctional appliances.

Cooking Versatility

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer stands out for its exceptional cooking versatility, making it a one-stop solution for preparing virtually any meal. With 100 built-in presets and 50 DIY memory slots, this air fryer caters to both convenience and customization, whether you’re cooking simple fries or complex gourmet dishes.

From searing steaks to reheating leftovers, its preset options are perfectly tuned for a wide variety of meals, ensuring optimal results every time. The rotisserie function is a star feature, allowing you to prepare restaurant-quality roasted chicken or kebabs effortlessly. It’s complemented by the air fryer’s spacious cooking chamber, which ensures even browning and crisping without needing excessive oil.

The dehydration mode broadens its functionality further, enabling you to make healthy snacks like dried fruits, jerky, or vegetable chips. Its dedicated baking preset adds another layer of versatility, making this appliance suitable for desserts like cakes and cookies unlike Ninja DZ550 Foodi Air Fryer. Moreover, the high-temperature range, which goes up to 425°F, provides flexibility for tasks like searing and broiling, while the lower settings are ideal for slow cooking or keeping food warm.

What truly sets it apart is the ability to combine different functions in a single session, thanks to the stage cooking feature. For example, you can program the air fryer to start with a searing phase and transition seamlessly into warming mode without manual adjustments.

The combination of advanced presets, a wide temperature range, and multiple cooking modes ensures this air fryer is not just limited to traditional air frying. Whether you're cooking for a family dinner, meal prepping, or exploring creative recipes, the Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer proves itself to be a highly versatile and reliable kitchen companion.

Frying Quality

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer excels in delivering exceptional frying quality, setting a high standard for modern air fryers. Its ability to produce crispy, golden textures with minimal oil makes it a healthier alternative to traditional frying methods without compromising taste or crunch.

The secret to its superior frying performance lies in its 360-degree hot air circulation technology, which evenly cooks food from all angles. This ensures that every piece, whether it’s fries, chicken wings, or onion rings, is uniformly crisp and well-cooked, with no soggy or underdone spots. The high-powered heating element, paired with a wide temperature range, allows for precision frying. You can tweak the temperature to suit specific recipes, from low heat for delicate items like fish fillets to high heat for robust textures like fried chicken.

Another highlight is its adjustable fan speed, which gives you the ability to control how aggressively the hot air circulates. This means you can achieve the perfect balance of crispiness on the outside and tenderness on the inside for a variety of foods. The fryer also prevents excessive drying, keeping items juicy and flavorful.

What’s more, its large cooking capacity ensures that you can fry substantial portions in one go, ideal for families or gatherings. The basket is thoughtfully designed to avoid sticking, making it easier to achieve even browning across all items. Additionally, the presets for popular fried foods are calibrated to deliver consistently excellent results, taking the guesswork out of the process.

The frying quality of this appliance is further enhanced by the fact that it requires little to no preheating. The quick heat-up time ensures that food starts cooking almost immediately, reducing overall preparation time while still delivering outstanding crispiness.

Food Making Time

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer truly amazed us with how fast it cooks meals without compromising quality. It feels like a lifesaver, especially on those busy evenings when we don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen. With its 2024 Advanced Turbo Convection technology, it felt like magic watching it work. Meals that usually take forever in a traditional oven were done in a fraction of the time.

Take, for example, the night we wanted fries and chicken wings. Normally, this would mean 30 minutes of waiting with a regular oven, but with the Brio? The fries were crispy and golden in just 10 minutes, and the wings were juicy and perfectly cooked in under 20. We couldn’t believe it the first time! It’s incredible how the 6-blade 5-inch heating fan and 1800 watts of power circulate heat so evenly. Every bite felt like it was cooked by a professional chef.

One of the most impressive moments was when we roasted a whole chicken. This is usually a weekend-only thing for us because it takes over an hour in a standard oven, but with the Brio, it was done in about 40 minutes. Not only was the skin crispy and golden, but the inside was tender and juicy. No dry chicken here—just perfect, evenly cooked goodness.

What stood out the most was how evenly everything cooked. We didn’t need to flip or stir things constantly, which is such a relief. The food came out evenly browned, and we didn’t have to worry about one side being undercooked while the other was burnt. It’s rare to see this level of consistency in an air fryer.

Honestly, the speed and results have changed how we cook. We’re eating more homemade meals now because it’s faster and easier than ordering out. You can whip up delicious, healthier food in minutes, and the results are so much better than what you’d get from a microwave or traditional oven.

Temperature & Stability

The Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer truly impressed us with its temperature control and stability, taking the cooking experience to a new level. Right from the start, it was evident that this air fryer is engineered to provide precise and consistent results.

One of the standout features is its ability to set temperatures in 1°F increments, which gave us total control over the cooking process. Whether we were baking, air frying, or dehydrating, we were able to fine-tune the heat exactly how we wanted. The temperature range spans from 50°F to 425°F, which offers incredible flexibility for a wide variety of recipes. The ability to choose such specific temperatures for delicate items like baked goods or low-and-slow recipes, such as roasting vegetables or dehydrating fruit, made a huge difference.

What really impressed us, though, was the stability of the temperature during cooking. With other air fryers, we’ve sometimes experienced slight fluctuations in heat, but the Nuwave Brio maintained a steady temperature throughout the cooking process. We cooked everything from crispy chicken wings to perfectly roasted sweet potatoes, and each dish came out with consistent results. Even when we opened the door to check or toss the food, the Brio quickly returned to the set temperature without any noticeable dip.

This stability really shone during higher-heat settings, such as when we were searing steaks. The Brio’s Turbo Convection technology circulated the heat evenly, giving us a beautifully seared exterior with a juicy interior every time. There was no need to babysit the air fryer; it kept the temperature steady so we could focus on other parts of the meal.

Additionally, we noticed the air fryer’s rapid recovery time when we adjusted the settings. Whether we increased or decreased the heat, it would quickly stabilize and get right back to cooking, without wasting time or energy.

Preheat Speed

The preheat speed of the Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer was surprisingly quick and efficient, which really stood out in our experience. As anyone who's used an air fryer knows, preheating can be a bit of a waiting game with some models, but the Brio makes it feel almost effortless.

Thanks to its advanced Turbo Convection technology, the Brio heats up in no time. We found that it typically reached its set temperature in just a few minutes, which is impressive for an air fryer of this size. Whether we were setting it to 400°F for crispy fries or 350°F for baking cookies, it consistently preheated faster than we expected. In fact, we didn’t need to wait long before we could start cooking, which saved us time and kept everything moving smoothly in the kitchen.

What made the preheating experience even better was the clear indicator on the display. Once it reached the desired temperature, the Brio would notify us with a simple “Preheat” message flashing on the screen, so there was no guesswork involved. This helped us avoid over- or under-cooking our meals while ensuring we didn't waste energy.

The fast preheating time also meant we could go from zero to cooking much faster, which is especially helpful when you’re in a rush or when preparing multiple courses at once. It’s not just about speed, though; the Brio’s quick preheating helped maintain even cooking throughout the entire meal, without losing any of the food’s natural moisture or crispiness.

Easy to Clean

From the moment we finished using it, we were pleasantly surprised by how simple it was to keep everything spotless and ready for the next round of cooking.

One of the standout features is the non-stick interior. After cooking, there was hardly any food residue left behind, even after using it for greasy foods like fries and wings. A quick wipe down with a damp cloth took care of most of the mess. For more stubborn bits, the removable baskets made it easy to access and clean thoroughly without any hassle.

The baskets and trays are also dishwasher safe, which is a huge convenience. After a long day of cooking, we just popped them in the dishwasher, and they came out looking brand new, with no food particles stuck in the corners. It really saved us time and effort compared to other models we’ve tried, where you had to scrub every nook and cranny by hand.

Additionally, the air fryer’s exterior is smooth and doesn’t have any hard-to-reach grooves or crevices that could trap grease or food. That made wiping down the entire unit super easy. Even after cooking several meals, we never had any issues with built-up grease or grime, which is a huge plus when it comes to long-term use.

One of the things we really appreciated is that the odor from previous meals didn’t linger, as some air fryers tend to absorb smells. The Brio's materials and design keep everything fresh, so it always felt clean and ready for whatever we wanted to cook next.

Final Verdict 

We highly recommend the Nuwave Brio 15.5Qt Air Fryer to anyone looking to make cooking faster, easier, and more enjoyable. It offers exceptional versatility, reliable cooking results, and a design that makes cleanup quick and painless. If you’re in the market for a high-quality air fryer that delivers on all fronts, the Brio is definitely worth considering. Whether you’re new to air frying or a seasoned pro, it will elevate your cooking and help you prepare delicious meals with ease.