Drew And Cole CleverChef Pro From HighStreetTV.com Review

Reviewed by Claire Giles

As a family of five I cook large family meals everyday and often use a slow cooker to make stews and curries but I have never used a pressure cooker before. I remember my grandma many years ago having a pressure cooker and it being a massive, ugly looking silver metal pot so I was really impressed and surprised when I unboxed the CleverChef Pro. It was sleek and sophisticated in design, charcoal colour and a lot smaller than I expected. It wasn’t much wider than the slow cooker I already have, just taller and fitted nicely on my kitchen counter.

The CleverChef Pro is a 50-in-1 digital pressure cooker and multicooker. It has a 4.8L capacity so ideal for families as it produces 6+ servings. It comes with a large inner pot, stainless steel basket and stainless steel trivet. These can all be stored inside when not in use. The power cord is removable and can also be stored inside. It cooks up to 90% faster than conventional cooking methods enabling you to create healthy, delicious meals in minutes. It has a digital menu with pro precision technology that gives the ideal cooking time and temperature for 50 pre-set cooking programs making it so easy to use

Once you turn it on, on the main screen are six cooking style options:
Pressure Cook, Slow Cook, Multicook, Steam, Saute, Sous Vide and DIY.
You simply turn the control knob to highlight the cooking style you want and press the start button that is located in the centre of the control knob to select it. The display then shows you all the programs available under that cooking style. Again you turn the control knob to scroll through the programs and highlight the one you require and press the start button to select it. The display then shows the details of the program you have selected such as ideal cooking time and temperature which are pre set. On this screen you can amend the cooking time or temperature if necessary ( NB you cannot adjust the cooking temperature for pressure, steam or keep warm programs). Once any adjustments are made, if necessary, you scroll to highlight start on the display and then press the start button. Then simply leave it to cook and walk away. It really is that quick and simple. Using the DIY cooking style allows you to customise and adapt your favourite recipes. There is a timer delay function on the program screen that allows you to delay the start time for up to 24 hours so that you can have meals hot and ready at a time that suits you. After each program ends the CleverChef Pro automatically switches to keep warm function to keep your food hot for when you’re ready to serve.

The only other button on the CleverChef Pro apart from the control knob is a back button which you use to go back on the digital display screens or to cancel cooking. In the User Manual there is a program list for each cooking style which shows the ideal pre set cooking times and temperature for each program. The digital display cleverly changes colour from blue which it is when you are selecting programs to orange once the cooking / heating process has started. It turns blue again once cooking is complete and the keep warm function starts. The inner pot is made of premium non-stick coating and can be washed in a dishwasher for easy cleaning. The basket and lid can also be placed in a dishwasher.

Locking the lid in place is easy. A padlock symbol on the lid lines up with an arrow on the pot so you can tell when it’s locked and unlocked. The pressure release valve is located on the lid. It has a switch to easily open and close the valve, though it is recommended that oven gloves and tongs are used to open the valve after cooking due to the hot steam that will be released. There are two ways to release the steam depending on what you are cooking. Either slow release where you leave the valve shut after cooking is complete to slowly let the steam release or fast release where you open the valve and let the steam just release quickly. On fast release a lot of steam is released quickly so I would recommend opening it near your kitchen’s cooker extractor hood if you have one.

It comes with a user manual which is very thorough and easy to understand. No recipes are included in the user manual. You either have to go to the Drew & Cole website or download the Drew & Cole Recipe app for recipes. I downloaded the recipe app which was really user friendly and filtered it to CleverChef Pro recipes.

I picked a few recipes from the app to try that were similar to things I usually cook as my kids can be quite fussy eaters. First, I tried Chicken Tikka Masala. The recipe on the app lists the ingredients needed and the cooking method. Usually to create this I would use 2 / 3 pans and cook a lot of the ingredients separately then continually stir and check on it whilst it was cooking. It was so much simpler in the CleverChef Pro. Firstly I selected the saute cooking style and then chose the chicken breast program and saute the onions, garlic and spices for a few minutes. I used the back button to cancel the saute program and go back to the main menu. I then locked on the lid, closed the pressure valve and selected the pressure cook cooking style, then chicken curry program and started the program. I just left it to cook and in just 14 minutes it was ready. I allowed the steam to slow release for 15 minutes after cooking and then opened the valve carefully to release any remaining steam before opening the lid. I added cream and lemon juice to thicken the sauce slightly as it was a bit runny and served. I was surprised at how tender the chicken was after just 14 minutes of cooking in the sauce. As it was all cooked in one pot and pressure cooked the flavours were amazing.

The kids didn’t believe you could bake a cake in the CleverChef Pro so they picked the Nutella Brownie recipe to try next. It was a simple four ingredients recipe all mixed together in a bowl then added to the inner pot. I simply then closed the lid leaving the pressure valve open and selected the multicook cooking style, bake cake program and adjusted the time to 30 minutes and started the program. 30 mins later I tested it with a skewer. It was a bit too googy still (personal taste) so put the lid back on, selected the same program again and adjusted time to 5 minutes and started cooking again. After 5 more minutes it was perfectly cooked. It tasted very nice though a bit drier than when cooked in a conventional oven.

I was intrigued to find out how the CleverChef Pro would handle cooking large pieces of meat. I usually cook an extra large chicken in the oven for Sunday lunch so I cooked it in the CleverChef Pro instead. I found the Roast Chicken recipe on the app to check the method and the cooking time and was surprised to find out it would only take 50 minutes to cook a 2kg chicken. The chicken was rather large and I honestly wasn’t sure it would fit in the inner pot but it actually fitted easily. First, I seasoned the chicken and pierced the skin several times. I selected the saute cooking style, then chicken breast function and added a small amount of oil to heat. I placed the chicken inside the inner pot breast side down and browned it for several minutes. I then turned the chicken around in the pot, added stock and used the back button to cancel the saute function and return to the main menu. I locked the lid in place and closed the pressure release valve. Then selected the pressure cook cooking style, chicken whole program and adjusted the time based on the weight and started cooking. I was dubious that the chicken would cook in 50 minute which is much faster than in an oven. After cooking ended I used the slow release method for the steam before removing the lid. I checked the chicken juices were running clear and then removed the chicken. I discarded the stock then washed the inner bowl and replaced it. I added boiling water to the pot and put the trivet and basket inside. I added peeled and quartered potatoes to the steamer basket and locked the lid into place with the pressure valve closed. Selected the steam cooking style, then veg potatoes and adjusted time to 8 minutes and started cooking. Once cooking was complete I cancelled the program using the back button and used the quick release method for the steam. I removed the steamer basket and trivet, discarded the water and dried the inner pot. I added oil to the inner pot, added the potatoes. I selected the multicook program, crispy and adjusted the time to 20 minutes and started cooking. After 20 minutes I quick released the steam, opened the lid and shaked the potatoes around in the oil and then using the same program cooked them for a further 20 minutes. I then quick released the steam again and removed the potatoes. Whilst the potatoes were cooking, I carved the chicken which was juicy and tender and perfectly cooked after just 50 minutes!. I served the chicken with the potatoes and it was a residing success with the whole family. The chicken was really tasty and the potatoes were slightly crispy on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside. This was all cooked using just the one pot (though i did have to clean it once in between).

I have already saved several other recipes on the recipe app I can’t wait to try. I can definitely say I will be using the CleverChef Pro a lot if not daily. You can make so many things in it from soups, cakes, stews, curries, meat, potatoes, veg, lasagne, eggs, pasta, rice and so much more.

My favourite thing about the CleverChef Pro is that everything is literally cooked in one pan, rather than several pans and trays. Once it is cooking you can simply walk away and leave it to cook. No need to keep going back to stir or check on it.

Ideal for families or people with busy lifestyles. Just put everything in the inner pot, choose your program, set timer delay if needed and know you will have a hot meal ready and waiting for whenever you need it. Also great for batch cooking meals.

It honestly was so easy to use, hassle free and produced great tasting meals in minutes. Ideal for an experienced chef or cooking novice alike. The kids ate everything I cooked in it which considering how fussy they can be about their food is high praise indeed. Retailing at £79.99 on Highstreettv.com this is relatively affordable for what is a good quality product especially with how many different things it cooks and how many other pieces of kitchen equipment it replaces.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £79.99

This product can be purchased from Highstreettv.com here.