Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer — how hot is this Charlie's Angel's convection oven?

When I got the chance to review the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer — I was stoked. Because let's be real: she's America's sweetheart and a total queen. I opted for the lavender shade — one of my favorite colors and one that I thought would complement my pastel blue backsplash.

As someone who lives in a hot climate and is currently experiencing one of the most intense heat waves in history, cooking in an oven is a huge no-no. I’ve used some of the best air fryers in the past and have enjoyed getting the “oven experience” without the dark side of that (turning my entire apartment into a sauna).

I’ll be testing a few different foods in the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer to see how they fare against my standard American diet. I’ll be judging its effectiveness and I’ll be hoping you don’t judge my diet too harshly (sorry not sorry for loving bacon and cookies!).

Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer review

TLDR: What I thought of the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer

The Beautiful Air Fryer by Drew Barrymore looks like your standard air fryer, with a few notable improvements. You won’t find any buttons, knobs, dials, or thingamabobs on this small kitchen appliance thanks to the touchscreen display. It also has its signature gold handle and accents which give a touch of elegance.

The air fryer has four functions — air fry, roast, dehydrate, and reheat — and comes with an instruction manual that has a chart of common foods with their recommended function and cook time. Neither the Dehydrate nor Reheat functions came with such directions, which seems like a missed opportunity.

All that to say, I’m giving this air fryer four out of five stars. Let’s dive into why!

The air fryer itself is, indeed, beautiful as the name implies. When it’s plugged in but not turned on, the power “button” (again, not a button but a glowing touchscreen light) glows faintly. Tap the power button and the full screen appears with all four cooking functions.

The basket is a fairly typical size at six quarts, and although the separate crisping tray is nice to have, it fits a bit strangely inside the basket. It has padded feet on all four corners, and I had to really make sure I pressed firmly in the center to get it to fit. There’s no preheating required for this air fryer, and it has a 60-minute auto shut-off safety function. I did not test this function, mostly because I was ready to eat each time I popped some food into this air fryer!

Testing the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer

Bailey Cain

Hey, I'm Bailey Cain, a freelance writer for Real Homes. I previously tested the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore coffee maker, and I've been testing the air fryer to see how the collection stands up in the market.

Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer specs

• Power (watts): 1700W
• Capacity: 6 quarts / 5 pounds
• Temp settings: 90–400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Functions: Air Fry, Roast, Dehydrate, and Reheat

Unboxing the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer

The air fryer comes in a cute and colorful box with a lovely little photo of Drew and a message from her that reads, “Make Something Beautiful.”

The packaging itself was minimal: a plastic bag and two pieces of cardboard cutouts that contour the air fryer to protect it in transit. I read the instruction manual and gave the basket and the crisping tray a quick wash so I could get started.

Making food in the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer

Cooking bacon

It’s breakfast time in this reviewer’s home, so bacon it is! Normally I fry bacon on the stovetop and just deal with the fact that I’ll be spending 20 minutes afterward cleaning up all the splattered grease. I was curious and hopeful that this air fryer would give me that precious time back.

I laid out three thick-cut slices of bacon and followed the cooking guide. Roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes. And that was it for prep! No oil required. I noticed some rattling going on while the machine was operating. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it wouldn’t affect my bacon.

After the eight minutes were up, I opened the drawer and found that one of the slices had flown on top of another slice. Surprisingly, this didn’t impact the cook — the bacon was that perfect in-between of meaty and crispy. And I was very happy that cleanup was a breeze. Because it’s nonstick, it only took a quick swipe of a soapy sponge to get the residue off of the crisping tray. Success!

Cooking a frozen hash brown

As I let the bacon cool down, I quickly washed the basket and added in my next target: a frozen hashbrown (it’s called a balanced breakfast!). There wasn’t a recommendation for this particular food, so I did my best guess and chose: Air Fry at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for seven minutes. 

Somehow this temp/time guess was right on the money. The hashbrown came out nice and crispy with the most gorgeous shade of golden brown. It was evenly cooked through, with no cold spots in the middle (a real concern when you regularly cook frozen potato products #IYKYK). 

Just like with the bacon, I didn’t use any oil or cooking spray for the hashbrown. I was feeling pretty good that in just 15 minutes combined, I had already made two-thirds of my breakfast (I scrambled eggs during the 'brown frying). Given that bacon alone would take longer than that on the stovetop, the air fryer was starting to impress me.

Baking a cookie

I am a chocolate chip cookie fanatic, and I’m not afraid to say it. About once a month or so, I whip up a batch of brown butter choc chip cookie dough and portion it out into individual scoops. I’ll freeze the dough balls and, as such, I am always about 10 minutes away from a freshly-baked cookie.

This past year I learned something life-changing: you can air fry cookie dough. Yes, it’s true. I don’t need to turn my apartment into a sweat lodge just for one cookie. Since then, I’ve been ditching my oven and using an air fryer to whip up one at a time. I digress.

My standard setting is 300 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes for a single cookie, so for this Beautiful Air Fryer, that’s exactly what I did on the Air Fry function. As I usually do, I laid out a square of parchment paper underneath to prevent the dough from falling through the crisping tray. Two minutes in, I heard this whooshing sound and just hoped that it was NBD. After the eight minutes were up, I opened the basket and found a perfectly baked cookie…and a wrinkled piece of parchment off to the side.

So despite a bit of paper aviation, this air fryer can definitely bake a cookie. (You’re welcome for the pro tip.)

Reheating a sausage patty

I’ve been on my meal prep game, which means I baked several sausage patties days ago and will reheat one every now and then. So when it came time to make my lunch wrap, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I popped the sausage patty into the basket and selected Reheat at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for six minutes. I opted not to use oil (are you sensing a theme here?), for no reason other than I didn’t think it needed it. 

As expected from my previous trials with this air fryer, it came out nicely. Because this was already cooked before, the color or look of the sausage patty didn’t change during the Reheat. Hot, fresh, ready to be wrapped up in a big tortilla — this sausage patty was another success for the Beautiful air fryer.

Cooking a steak

For my final test, I went big and went home (kidding, I was already home!) by deciding to cook a steak. NGL, I was skeptical about this one. I’ve seen and heard of others cooking steaks in air fryers before, but never have myself. I’m a Texan and I’m pretty sure I’d be disowned if I cooked a steak on anything other than an outdoor grill with George Strait playing in the background.

I chose to go with everything I’ve ever known and opened the air fryer drawer, rubbed a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper on the steak, and pray it turned out okay. I followed the cooking chart guide and went with roasting at 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

Don’t tell my dad, but this turned out pretty good. The outside edges got crispy and brown, while the inside was a moist and juicy medium-rare. Although it doesn’t compare to a grill with that nice, smoky flavor, this was a decent alternative if you need to cook a steak indoors and without a stove/oven. I probably wouldn’t do a steak in the air fryer again, but it was still a fun test and worked out!

Cleaning the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer

The instruction guide asks that you clean the air fryer basket and crisping tray after every use, after they’ve cooled completely. You can also wipe the exterior of the air fryer with a soft, damp cloth, though I didn’t need to do that during my testing.

The guide also states that you can wash the basket and crisping tray in the top rack of a dishwasher. I try to avoid using mine, especially for large items, so I went with the old soap and sponge method. They advise against using metal utensils and abrasive cleansers so you don’t damage the nonstick coating.

Honestly, everything is so non-stick that I feel like I could’ve just pursed my lips and blown the food residue off. Taking the more sanitary route, I rinsed the basket and crisping tray in hot water and with a quick swipe of a soapy sponge, all traces of bacon, cookie, and steak were gone. (Don’t worry, I cleaned everything in between each food.)

Is the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer right for you?

At just under $80, I’d say the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer is worth the money. It’s easy to use, looks great on a countertop, and makes single-serve cookies a reality. What’s not to love? 

If you're not sure that this is the right air fryer for you, then see some more convection ovens that we recommend just below...

Where to buy the Beautiful by Drew Barrymore air fryer

The Beautiful by Drew Barrymore Touchscreen Air Fryer can be purchased at Walmart.

How we test

There are several different factors that we look for whenever we're testing an air fryers at Real Homes. We make a point to test out as many different features as we can and cook popular foods, as well as more unique meals. During testing, our reviewers make notes on several factors: 

• Power: The best air fryers are able to give your food a crispy, brown exterior with minimal oil, and they often cook faster than traditional ovens. In addition to the wattage of air fryers, we consider things like how long it takes to cook different foods, how well the ingredients are cooked, and whether recipes need to be adjusted to achieve the expected results. 
• Ease of use: Is the control panel intuitive to use? Does the tray slide in and out easily? Can you hear the end signal from the next room when the TV is on? I consider all these factors (and more) to determine whether appliances are convenient to operate. 
• Safety: We’ve heard horror stories about air fryers melting countertops or setting food on fire, so safety is always a top priority when I’m reviewing appliances. To this end, we look at things like the device’s safety features, construction quality, and overall design, noting if it gets overly hot during operation, turns off as expected, and overall feels safe to operate. 
• Clean-up: There are some people out there who enjoy washing dishes, but we're not them. After cooking (and devouring) a homemade meal, we want the clean-up to be as quick and easy as possible. We look at whether components are dishwasher safe, and if not, evaluate how easy it is to keep them clean.