We tested the raclette without the smell: like the smell of despair

A winter must-have, raclette warms you as much as it does with its electrical resistance. One still has to be prepared to welcome him within their walls. Because in addition to its caloric benefits, this cheese specialty releases flavors that can irritate even the most sensitive peninsula during and after Sunday dinner. Raclette and its scents make the house smell like textiles and the cinnamon-raspberry-makeup remover scent of a mother-in-law can be hard to guess. What if it was finally possible to make raclette without the smell? In any case, that’s Severin’s promise with its new Seonto device.

A raclette-girl combo with an integrated hood

Launched at a suggested retail price of €179, it claims to be able to neutralize odors using a small centrally integrated hood with activated carbon filters. A metal grid is also provided to retain the grease, just like in a kitchen hood. As for the raclette, the device is equipped with a 1900 W resistance and comes with eight pans, while the metal plate placed on the resistance can serve as a grill to replace the side and traditional charcuterie.

With such promise, we obviously wanted to test out the new tool that’s supposed to revolutionize raclette, and we didn’t have to look long to find the guinea pigs. is rarely written. Digital He showed such team spirit and cooperation. We even had to leave some editors behind, with bloated bellies and faces. Sorry, that’s at least one pan per person, it’s out of the question to pass them by and wait too long between two slices of melted cheese…

So here we are, eight of us gathered around a well-stocked table: cheese, cold meats, sliced ​​mushrooms and onions and, of course, the famous cionto in between. The appliance is plugged in and ready to heat up. All you have to do is turn it on and Laure hopes that the hood and its three filters (one metal, two activated carbon) will do their job. Our much-loved head of mobility has actually washed his magnificent mane (he’s a chef, eh…) and doesn’t intend to smell like cheese, saviard though he is. We also had the “good” idea of ​​locking ourselves in what was actually a meeting room that wasn’t particularly spacious, with no ventilation. So the risk is maximum.

Sensible ventilation, but not very effective

A small touch control panel allows you to start heating and ventilation independently, with three choices for the former and two for the latter. A good point. A hood is not required during preheating. It’s not very noisy (51 dB (A) at 30 cm), but we’re better off without it, so we can do as much as possible without it. After 6 minutes, the device indicates that it is hot and therefore it is time to start ventilation. Most throw their pans under the resistance loaded with gargantua cheese, while others add mushrooms and onions to grill on top.

Very quickly, a light smoke forms on the grill, and you can see some of it escaping directly into the hood in the center. Another part goes away, but we won’t stop smoking. On the other hand, the smell of cheese will eventually fill the room, and even leave it. Fellows three doors down will confirm to us that they leave the table, their eyes black and their bellies still rumbling…

With a cover to hold over the hood inlet, the suction is focused on the sides and works quite well on the grill, but it’s definitely not powerful enough to smell cheese coming out the sides and back. can catch Grill measuring 30 cm on each side. Perhaps it would have been better to make holes directly in the center column, below the surface of the grill, to absorb the smell of the cheese. As it stands, the hood doesn’t seem to do much for the latter.

Everything comes in time to those who wait.

And if it disappoints with its hood, Seonto unfortunately doesn’t stop there. We noticed during feeding that he would regularly turn off his resistance, and it would last for several minutes each time. Maybe it’s a way to limit the smell…so there’s no risk of burning your slice of cheese, even at maximum power. Alas, this also means that it melts very slowly and you have to leave it under resistance for an average of 5 minutes before you can let it flow over the potatoes. It is very slow – and we are very hungry! Some would say that this doesn’t allow us to “beat ourselves up too much,” but let’s admit that we’re the type to double up on cheese slices, at the risk of prolonging the wait (if our expected not age).

That said, we appreciate the places provided to keep the pan safe from resistance when not in use. It’s far from the first on the market, but still commendable. You never really know what to do with your pan after the last cheese. Stored this way, the pans don’t risk damaging the table when they get hot or mess up the plates, and cheese residue doesn’t get burnt. We didn’t face any particular problems while cleaning, but we mustn’t forget to remove the hood.

To do this, simply lift the cover and slightly remove the metal casing from the bottom. By turning it over, the filters are removed one by one, ending up on a metal grid that has retained some grease. If the hood is far from fulfilling its promise, we have to admit that it worked well, even if the carbon filter didn’t look too dirty at the end of our meal. All filters are hand washable.

The pan and grill plate can be put in the dishwasher, but the second one takes up a bit of space. In any case, they came out of our dishwasher unscathed or nearly so. Their non-stick coating did the job well.

If we appreciate the easy cleanup of the Seonto – we’ll ignore the time spent scraping off the cheese drippings that are usually easy to avoid with square pans made to fit cheese slices – , it does not eliminate the odor that still permeates our offices. FINISH If you’ve been waiting to make odorless rislettes to entertain your friends at dinner, you can keep the treats warm now.