Now that the winter months have (thankfully) passed us by, it’s the perfect time to do a summer wardrobe switch-up - replacing your bulky winter clothes and coats with your warm-weather outfits. And Lakeland’s 50L Underbed Vacuum Clothes and Duvet Storage Tote Bag (£16.99 at Lakeland) is the clutter-free companion you need to get the job done properly.

Yes, one of the golden rules of organising a wardrobe is to rotate your clothes as the seasons change. It’s traditionally best to do this in the spring and then again in the autumn, removing the clothes you no longer need and replacing them with the ones you will. This will stop your wardrobe from bursting at the seams, so you know exactly what’s in there - and where to find it.

But where do you store the clothes you won’t wear while they’re not in season? Well, vacuum storage bags have long been my go-to for safe and easy clothes storage in small spaces. And while they tend to all look the same, I can understand why shoppers are raving about Lakeland’s underbed option. After all, it’s genius.

When you have a small wardrobe, it’s well worth storing your seasonal clothes so that only the essentials are taking up space. But where storage baskets and tubs are bulky and not small-space friendly, vacuum bags can instantly make big things smaller - especially long winter coats and chunky knits.

Lakeland’s 50L Underbed Vacuum Clothes and Duvet Storage Tote Bag is so much more than just a regular vacuum bag, though, and technically it’s two bags in one. You can store your out-of-season clothes inside the inner bag, then vacuum out the air before zipping the outer bag for an extra layer of protection.

This is particularly handy for winter clothes, which are often susceptible to damage from clothes moths, dust, and moisture during storage. But by adding this extra, outer bag, you can keep your clothes in pristine condition - and pop it anywhere from under your bed to on top of your wardrobe or even in the loft if you really don’t have any extra space.

The beauty of Lakeland’s storage bag is that it’s also big - and its 50L capacity has been designed to hold a double duvet and four pillows if you’re also looking to switch up your bedding for summer. Then, with easy-to-carry handles and a viewing window, you can also remove your clothes if you’ve realised you’ve accidentally packed something you shouldn’t, or check on their condition as the months go by.

But if you think you have more clothes or bedding than 50L will allow - or that just seems like way too much - you’ll be happy to know that Lakeland also has this exact design in a variety of different sizes.

This includes a jumbo 87L version (from Lakeland for £19.99), or a standard 38L version (£14.99 at Lakeland). And if you’d rather not have the outer bag so you can stuff your winter clothes in an empty suitcase in the loft, you can buy the bags on their own from Lakeland - including this pack of 6 Lakeland Shrink & Store Vacuum Bags for £14.99.

Personally, I think the 50L version will be perfect for my smaller wardrobe - and I’m not the only one excited about this space-saving saviour, either.

The reviews of this Lakeland bestseller are seriously impressive, with a large share of reviewers giving it a perfect 5-star rating. One happy customer raved, ‘This is the best vacuum bag I have used,’ while another echoed this and wrote, ‘These are the best vac bags I’ve tried. They look neat and tidy and are so well protected.’

Many have also praised the outer bag for not only protecting the clothes but also protecting the vacuum bag itself.

One customer wrote, ‘I have been looking for something like this for ages. I have used previous vacuum bags, but often end up snagging the bag on something, causing it to re-inflate! The outer bag for this prevents that, and the handles make it very easy to get in and out of the cupboard.’

Wardrobe organising essentials

So, if you’re planning on switching out your winterwear over the next few weeks, I’d definitely consider this genius Lakeland product to help keep things organised.

I love being Ideal Home’s Cleaning Editor and Vacuums Expert, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t jealous of my colleagues who get to explore the prettier, decor-focused side of the home. After all, cleaning tools and vacuums aren’t known for their looks - unless you count the pastel-perfect SiMPLi Countertop Vacuum Cleaner for £12 at QVC, of course.

While I’ll always have time for the best vacuum cleaners thanks to their whole-home cleaning power, I’ve been obsessed with mini countertop vacuums since last year when I finally got my hands on Lakeland’s £9.99 viral countertop model. Since then, I can confidently say that I’ve used it every single day for small messes and spills.

But while my mini countertop vacuum is boring and white (like basically every other appliance out there), I’ve spotted that QVC is selling pastel-coloured alternatives in dusty blue, mauve, or sage. And as you can imagine, they’re going straight in my basket…

Last year, Lakeland won me over with its mini cleaning tools - most of which I still use today. The retailer’s £4 mini mop is still getting daily use in my bathroom, and the mini countertop vacuum has allowed me to clean up toast crumbs, spilt coffee grounds, and even dust my car dashboard every day since.

The countertop cordless I use is tiny, lightweight and portable (it’s about the same size as my palm) and comes with little brushes on the bottom to collect the loose debris it comes into contact with. It also comes with a USB cable, making charging easier than ever. But as the white plastic aesthetic doesn’t mesh well with my kitchen, I always hide it in the cupboard.

The SiMPLi Countertop Vacuum Cleaners are alternatives that would make a statement, though - especially if you want to copy the things people with tidy coffee corners always have. Coming in three pastel colourways, this QVC countertop vacuum offers all the same features and cleaning capabilities… but it’ll just look so much better doing it.

As I’m a huge lover of green, I’m personally leaning towards the sage colourway for my kitchen, but I really do love these mini countertop vacuums so much I might even buy the mauve as a home office crumb-buster too. But with the dusty blue also available, it’s a tough choice.

Of course, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t tell you that the QVC countertop vacuum is a little bit pricier than the Lakeland model I own. It’s £12.99 compared to Lakeland’s £9.99, and you’ll need to pay for postage and packaging too (which you can swerve by choosing the free Click + Collect option at Lakeland).

However, the QVC option does offer more by way of design and the stunning colour options, and it even comes with a little nozzle attachment for more targeted cleaning and a cleaning brush to keep the mini countertop vacuum in full running order.

Because of this, I don’t think the few extra pounds are worth it - especially when it’s so affordable to begin with. After all, you can’t buy too many cleaning tools for under £13.

How many is too many mini countertop vacuums? Asking for a friend...

When you need a good morning pick-me-up, instant coffee can do the job, but there's truly no better smell to flood your home than freshly brewed coffee. Whether you've used instant up until now because you don't have enough worktop space to dedicate to a machine, or perhaps it's to do with budget, because a decent coffee maker is expensive. I'm here with the answer to your caffeine-related woes, and it's the Lakeland Espresso 3-in-1 Coffee Machine, which I've spotted on sale for only £74.99.

Now with £50 shaved off its price tag, this Lakeland Espresso machine could be the best coffee machine for you. While we have yet to try this particular coffee machine, I'm already impressed by the product specs. It has a petite footprint, it is compatible with Nespresso pods and ground coffee, and it comes with a steam wand for frothing milk.

That is quite an impressive line-up for a machine that will cost you less than many pod coffee machines on the market, which don't include a milk frother. However, this deal is only on until the 18th March, so if you want to snap it up at this price, I'd act fast.

While we're yet to test this Lakeland espresso maker, we can more than vouch for the quality of Lakeland appliances. The team at Ideal Home has tested many a Lakeland own-brand appliance, from kitchenware to clothes airers and pizza ovens. All of which have been highly rated, so this espresso maker shouldn't be any different.

It's also very similar to the Salter Professional Espirista Coffee Machine, which we've reviewed and rated 4/5 stars. The two machines look almost identical, and both can make single or double espressos. However, the Salter one is only compatible with ground coffee and has a slightly larger tank — at 1.4L vs 1.2L.

This Lakeland espresso maker is proof that good things can come in small packages, as not only is it intuitive, but it can also be used to make hot water only, for tea or other purposes.

Included in the box, you'll also get a portafilter with stainless steel baskets and a tamping spoon. The manual explains how to brew pod coffee vs grounds, while it has a handy auto-shut off mode which activates after 25 minutes of inactivity — for those mornings you snooze your alarm a few too many times.

Price-wise, the Salter coffee maker is closer to £100, at £94.99 RRP from Amazon. Usually, the Lakeland model is £124.99, so it's currently a bargain you won't want to miss.

Alternatives

Here are several alternative best pod coffee machines we've tried and tested that deliver great value for money.

Lakeland's new-in section is the place to go if you want an insight into whats going to be big on the high street in cookware in 2026.

Alongside last year's best cookware trends, such as all-in-one pans and stackable sets, you can find what I think is about to be the next big thing: extremely durable Titanium cookware. Lakeland is putting their stamp on the trend with the Tri-Tanium Elite range (with prices from £34.99).

The eagle-eyed out there will be thinking that this has already been done, namely with the Titanium Always Pan Pro (£170 at Our Place), a product I gave 5 stars to in my review. But the big difference with Lakeland's version is the drastically lower price tag – here's how this cheaper alternative stacks up.

Lakeland's new Tri-Tanium Elite pan range

This new range from Lakeland features pans that the brand claims are 'built to take everything your kitchen can throw at it, and still come out shining'.

There are 3 Tri-Tanium products available at present: a 20, 24 and 28cm Frying Pan. Each is made up of three materials with properties which claim to make cooking easier: a stainless steel non-reactive interior, an aluminium core for even heating and a titanium outer for durability.

While the tagline of Our Place's Titanium Pan is 'virtually indestructible', Lakeland has opted to say that its titanium plasma coating is 'twice as hard as stainless steel'. Both pans are oven-safe but while the Always Pan Pro can withstand temperatures of up to 535°C, Lakeland's is only safe up to 230°C.

There's a focus on the non-stick element of Lakeland's Tri-Tanium pans too, so that you can use less oil in day to day cooking. There's a real benefit to being able to use metal utensils with this range too – it's something I absolutely loved when testing Our Place's version.

Of course, the price point of Lakeland's range is bound to make it appealing with shoppers. Even the most expensive pan in the range, at £44.99, is £125 cheaper than the Our Place version.

I haven't had a chance to get my hands on this new range just yet but Lakeland do have serious form for producing high-quality lookalikes when it comes to cookware. Our home economist and expert tester's view on the brand's lookalike Only Pan was very positive indeed in her 4.5 star review from last year.

While it remains to be seen whether the quality of these new titanium pans from Lakeland lives up to its marketing claims, it seems that durable, metal non-stick pans are here to stay in 2026.

Any cleaning product that's versatile enough to tackle two (or more) jobs at once gets my vote. So I was excited to put the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop to the test, as it promises to tackle everything from kitchen floors to tricky bathroom corners.

How does it compare to the best steam cleaners and mops, you might wonder? It's not flawless, but it gets the basics right where it counts...

In a nutshell

The Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop is a versatile, practical option for everyday cleaning, and I especially like the fact that it's chemical-free - a big win in a busy family home like mine. It heats up quickly and delivers steam that's powerful enough to tackle typical household grime across various surfaces, including floors and tiles.

I tested it around my home - on my kitchen floors and tiles, carpets and even my oven - and it handled the majority of tasks well. The triangular swivel mop made it easy to reach awkward corners, and the three steam settings gave me flexibility for different cleaning jobs.

I really liked how adaptable it is, as it easily converts into a handheld steamer for smaller jobs. That said, I did find the handheld unit a bit bottom-heavy and not the most comfortable to hold for long periods. The generous water tank was a highlight, though, as it meant I could tackle several jobs without worrying about having to stop to refill.

It's not perfect, and it did struggle to lift very stubborn grime. But for an affordable, chemical-free cleaner, I think it's a solid addition to a regular cleaning routine.

Specifications

• Capacity:  450ml
• Power: 1500W
• Weight: 4.5kg
• Dimensions: W:32cm ×D:18 cm × H:125 cm
• Steam settings: 3
• In the box: carpet glider and microfibre floor pad, window squeegee, small and large round brushes, tile nozzle, detail brush, crevice tool, instruction manual
• RRP: £69.99

How I tested

Unboxing, setting up and first impressions

The Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop arrived in a rectangular-shaped cardboard box that was light enough for me to carry. Inside, I was greeted with a further, branded-box cushioned in paper. I hadn't expected another layer of packaging, but it was reassuring to see that the product was well-protected.

Opening the box, it was clear that everything had been packed very securely, with several parts wrapped in plastic and placed on top of a layer of moulded cardboard. After removing all of the contents, my first impression was that there were a lot of parts and accessories, which were all wrapped individually in plastic.

I always prefer minimal packaging, and while I appreciate the need to keep the items well protected, some of the plastic wrapping felt a little excessive. Grouping certain parts together might have helped cut down on the extra wrapping.

The plastic was marked 'PE-LD 04', and after looking it up online, I discovered that while it can be recycled, it can't be done with general household waste, and needs to be taken to a specific drop-off point. While it was reassuring to know it was recyclable, it did feel slightly inconvenient and not the most eco-friendly solution overall.

There were a few parts of the mop to assemble, but thankfully it was relatively straightforward. First, I inserted the floor mop head into the bottom of the upright housing unit. To secure it in place, I needed to insert a screw (which was provided) into the back with a screwdriver. I was a little surprised it didn't come pre-assembled, but I imagine this is to prevent the mop from getting damaged in the box. Either way, it was easy to do and took less than a minute to secure firmly.

The handle is foldable for storage, so I simply pulled it upwards into an upright position until I heard it click into place. I then attached the handheld unit, which houses the water tank, and this clicked easily onto the front without any fuss.

Finally, I attached the floor mop pad by placing it under the floor mop head. The pad has fastening straps, which I aligned with the gripping straps on the bottom of the mop head, then pressed the mop head down onto the pad. This step was a little fiddly due to the flexible base, but once it was in place, it felt secure and ready to use.

Once the mop was assembled, I was able to admire it in all its glory. I was impressed with the sleek, compact design, and the fact that it's foldable is a win for someone like me, who's short on storage space. Although it's corded, it has upper and lower cord wraps to keep the cable secure and out of sight.

The water tank holds up to 450ml, which is quite generous for a steam mop of this size, so this immediately impressed me, as it can be a pain having to refill water tanks halfway through a cleaning session. There's a water release button on the front of the unit, which I pressed before pulling out the water tank.

The tank cap is located at the bottom of the tank, rather than the top, which threw me off at first, purely because I'm used to top-loading tanks. It has a small cap, which turns anti-clockwise to unlock and remove. I filled the tank to the 'max' mark level indicated on the tank, replaced the cap, and slotted the tank back into the unit.

It wasn't until I plugged in the appliance, switched on the power, and pressed the steam button that the design really stood out. The water tank illuminates blue, which I think really adds a stylish, modern touch.

Using the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop

As a mop

To use the mop, I plugged the cord into a plug socket and pressed the power button. The three steam-level indicator lights on the front of the mop started flashing in rotation, and at the same time, the blue water tank light illuminated. After 30 seconds, the lights stopped flashing, indicating the mop had heated up and was ready to use.

There are three steam settings - Low, Medium and High steam - so I started with the lowest setting as I wasn't tackling any particular stubborn areas. The first thing I noticed was the noise - as it heats up and steam is released from the base, the mop is fairly loud and makes a chugging sound. Once the desired mode is selected, steam instantly starts emitting from the base.

Using the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop in the same way I'd use a traditional mop, I simply guided it back and forth. It didn't glide effortlessly across the floor as I expected, and it did require a bit of effort, but after only a few short passes, my floors were left noticeably cleaner. The floors were also dry enough to walk on straight away. And the most satisfying part? The mop pad was filthy! Considering I hadn't thought my floors were particularly dirty, I was impressed by how much dirt it lifted.

Next, I decided to put the highest setting to the test. I deliberately threw some Greek yoghurt on my kitchen floor, and then left it for an hour to partially dry. I switched the steam setting to 'High' and pushed the mop over the stain.

On the first pass, it did smear the yoghurt further across the floor, but after two short passes, the stain was completely lifted. The floors were left damper this time, which was expected given I'd used the highest steam setting. That said, they were dry enough to walk on within a couple of minutes.

There is a carpet glider attachment for use on carpets, which I was pleased about, as my carpets have been looking in need of a little TLC recently. The plastic mop cover sits over the base of the mop - at first, I thought I wasn't inserting it incorrectly, as I was expecting it to click in place. Reassuringly, though, it stayed in place when I moved it back and forth.

I decided to play it safe at first and started with the 'Low' steam setting. Steam was released from the bottom, but the carpets didn't get damp. This is normal for a glider, which is designed to refresh rather than deep-clean, so I wasn't expecting to see any visible results. I experimented with the different modes, but the results were similar. For particularly stubborn stains, I'd stick to a carpet cleaner or spot cleaner, but for a light refresh, the glider works well enough.

As a handheld steamer

Switching to handheld mode was really easy - there's a button on the front of the housing unit, and the handheld device pops out easily. As it comes with a few different tools, I started by attaching the jet tool and brush to tackle my kitchen tiles. Fitting it was straightforward; I just aligned the flat edge on the end of the jet tool with the flat edge in the main unit and pushed firmly until it clicked into place.

The first thing I noticed was the handheld unit felt a little bottom-heavy - the slim handle holds the water tank in the base, something I hadn't really noticed when I was using it as a floor mop.

I selected the 'High' steam setting as I knew my tile grouts were in need of a deep-clean. Once I got used to the balance, it was comfortable enough to manoeuvre. The steam was impressively powerful, and while reaching into some of the spaces was a little tricky, the small size of the jet brush made it perfect for getting in between the tiles. While it couldn't completely lift some stubborn grime, my tiles still looked noticeably cleaner and refreshed.

My oven door was another story. I was pretty embarrassed by the sheer state of it, so I wasn't expecting miracles. Much to my satisfaction, the steam cleaner managed to lift a lot of the stuck-on grime, leaving it far cleaner than I anticipated. The only minor drawback was that a larger attachment would have made tackling bigger surfaces easier, as I felt like I'd got a bit of a workout by the time I'd finished!

The window cleaning head only works with the dedicated window cleaning hose, but it was simple to set up. I clicked the hose into the main unit, attached the window head, and fitted the cleaning pad, tightening the drawstring with the clip.

Using it did take some getting used to as the length of the hose made it a bit awkward being able to hold the unit at the same time. I had to go over a few spots to avoid streaks, but once I got the hang of it, it was easy to use, and my windows were left feeling clean and refreshed.

Cleaning and maintenance

Cleaning the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop is straightforward, and it doesn't require much in the way of maintenance. After each use, I emptied the water tank and removed the floor mop pad or window cleaning pad before storage. I did throw the floor pad in the washing machine as it was always filthy after use.

The mop also has a descaling mode that kicks in after around 40 hours of use. I haven't got to this stage yet, but when the time comes, it sounds easy. The unit runs a six-minute cleaning program to remove limescale, and there's also a handy cleaning pin to clear out any debris from the steam outlets, keeping the steam flow strong and consistent.

How does the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop rate online?

I struggled to find many reviews online for the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop, except for five reviews on the brand's website. I assume this is because it's a relatively new addition to Lakeland's cleaning appliance range. However, it scored a 4-star rating overall, with customers generally providing positive feedback about its cleaning performance and straightforward assembly.

There was one user who echoed my gripe about the excessive number of plastic bags as part of the packaging. Another user mentioned that while it did an efficient job of cleaning surfaces, the corded design made cleaning windows a bit awkward.

How does the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop compare to similar models?

The Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop builds on an earlier 2-in-1 model, keeping the same upright and handheld design, but adding a few noticeable upgrades, including a larger water tank and a foldable handle.

It's worth comparing to the Kärcher Multi Up & Extra, which also combines a mop and handheld steamer. The Kärcher model really impressed me during testing with its cleaning power, but it does have a smaller water tank and isn't suitable for carpeted floors.

I also recently tested the Shark Steam & Scrub Automatic Steam Mop - and I would say this is hard to beat when it comes to blasting stubborn stains, and its rotating mop pads do much of the work for you. That said, it's not as versatile as the Lakeland model and comes at a higher price point.

For carpeted floors, the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop's carpet glider is a plus. In this category, the Vileda Steam Mop Plus - crowned the best steam mop in our guide - can also be used on carpets. It retails for a similar point, but while it doesn't include any attachments, it does have the edge when it comes to cleaning power.

Should you buy the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop?

If you're looking for an affordable, everyday steam cleaner that can handle a variety of jobs, the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop is worth considering. Its stand-out feature is the mop itself, which does a very capable job of steam-cleaning floors, and it's ideal for regular use.

The range of attachments adds to its versatility, making it suitable for tackling different cleaning jobs around the home, although some jobs may require a bit of elbow grease. It's not the most powerful steam cleaner out there, but it's more than enough to tackle everyday mess. If you want something that tackles deep-set stains, a higher-end model may be a better fit.

If you're short on storage space, the slim design and foldable handle also make it an ideal option, as it's easy to tuck away between uses.

Overall, for everyday chemical-free cleaning in a busy home, the Lakeland 2-in-1 Steam Mop is a reliable choice that offers good value for money.

I've tested many a vacuum cleaner now, and while the high-end, big-name models have rightfully earned their spot in our guide to the best cordless vacuums on the market, I'm also personally invested in budget-friendly alternatives. So, when I saw that Lakeland had released a 2-in-1 cordless vacuum for just £99.99, my interest was piqued.

Naturally, I was curious to see whether it could hold its own against pricier favourites from Dyson, Shark and Gtech. After using it around my flat for the past couple of weeks, I can confidently say that this little vacuum has impressed me far more than I expected.

In a nutshell

The Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 is proof that you don’t have to spend a fortune for a decent cordless vacuum. At just £99.99, it’s one of (if not the) cheapest cordless models on the market. And while it can’t quite compete with premium models for power, it still does a great job for everyday cleaning.

True to its name, it’s incredibly lightweight and easy to manoeuvre. Switching between stick and handheld modes is effortless, and you can even use it in handheld mode without using an attachment.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve used it throughout my flat – from vacuuming carpets and hard floors to freshening up furniture and curtains – and it’s handled it all with ease.

The main caveat is that you'll need to empty the dust bin fairly often, but it feels like a small trade-off when you consider the price. For anyone after a simple, affordable, and versatile cordless vacuum, the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 shouldn't be overlooked.

Specifications

• Weight: 3.2kg
• Dimensions: 13(D) x 26.5(W) x 54(H)cm
• Max. run time: 40 minutes
• Bin volume: 0.15L
• Charge time: 4 hours
• Modes: Regular, High Power
• Noise level: 80-85dB (tested by us)
• In the box: Main unit, aluminium hose, floorhead, small brush attachment, crevice nozzle, wall mount and accessories holder, charger
• RRP: £99.99

How I tested

Unboxing, set up, and first impressions

Despite the name of this vacuum, I was still surprised at just how light the box was when the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 arrived. I could easily lift it in one hand without any trouble.

Inside the box, everything was neatly arranged: there was a soft foam-style protective wrap around the main components (the kind of material often marked with the recycling symbol “04”), and each piece felt secure.

The “04” refers to low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film plastic, the kind used in shrink-wrap and plastic bags. It's preferable to polystyrene and PVC plastic (recycling symbol "03"), but I still would have liked to have seen everything wrapped in cardboard, which, from previous testing experience, I know does a fine job of protecting appliances in transit.

For a vacuum that comes in at the sub-£100 mark – very much budget-friendly for a cordless model – nothing felt cheap or flimsy when unpacking. The main unit, pole and floorhead all looked and felt solid. The crevice tool and soft brush attachment felt slightly more fragile, but overall, I was impressed.

Putting the Lakeland cordless model together was delightfully simple, too: just click the pole into the floorhead, attach the main vacuum unit to the pole, and slot the battery into place with a satisfying click. Before I started my first clean-up, I connected the charger and let it charge up.

Using the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum

Once I started using the Lakeland 2-in-1, the caveat to its ultra-lightweight build became clear. It’s wonderfully easy to lift and carry, but it definitely feels more delicate than other vacuums I’ve tested when in use. The floorhead doesn’t feel entirely secure on the pole – there’s a slight wobble when you move it back and forth – but after double-checking, it became clear that it was not actually loose. That’s just the way it feels.

That said, I was impressed with the overall performance of the vacuum from the get-go. For such a lightweight and affordable model, the suction is strong, and doing my flat from top to bottom didn’t feel like much effort. The vacuum glides smoothly across the floor, and manoeuvring it around furniture or into corners was straightforward. My carpets were left with those satisfying streak marks I always like to see after a good clean, and they simply looked – and felt – fresher.

The control buttons are super easy to grasp: a power button for switching the vacuum on and off, and a button to switch between the two power settings (regular and high-power).

I did need to switch to the higher setting when tackling the high-traffic areas in my living room, so this was a good test. The difference in suction was definitely noticeable, and the noise levels of the vacuum amped up to reflect this. I was glad to have the high-power mode, though, as it gives that extra bit of oomph needed for more stubborn bits of debris.

To get a clearer visual on the vacuum's pick-up power, I performed the flour test on both my hard-floored kitchen (vinyl, to be precise) and my carpeted living room. I threw a tablespoon's worth of flour onto the floor and ran the vacuum over the area to see how quickly it picked the flour up.

The Lakeland vacuum performed well on the hard floor. It collected almost everything in a single sweep, leaving only a few faint traces behind. I just needed to glide the vacuum over the same area once more to pick up the rest. For such an affordable model, that was an impressive result.

Unsurprisingly, the vacuum struggled a little bit more when it came to the carpet. This has been true of all the cordless vacuums I've tested, so it's not something I'd consider a downfall.

When I first ran the floorhead over the flour, I was worried it might push the flour deeper into the carpet fibres rather than lift it, but switching to the higher-power mode quickly solved the problem. It managed to pull up every last bit of flour in just a few sweeps, leaving the carpet looking clean and refreshed again.

I was a fan of the floorhead's LED light panel, too. It makes it super easy to see what the vacuum is picking up from the floor, even on gloomy days where natural light is sparse.

I will say that I've tested vacuums that sit more comfortably in my hand than this one. The Lakeland model lacks the ergonomic handle design of more expensive models, but I'd say it's nice to have rather than essential, and not enough to put me off recommending it by any means.

Another super handy feature of this vacuum is that it can be used in handheld mode without the need to use any attachments. This is one of my favourite things about my current vacuum, the Hoover HFX Cordless, which continues to vacuum after being detached from the floorhead. Basically, it means I can clean the edges of a room without needing to fetch an attachment, which is ideal for a lazy vacuumer like me.

I was also pretty pleased when I realised that the Lakeland model has a handy flip-down brush head that sits snugly behind the main unit, ready to click into place when the main pole has been detached. This means that I could swap from regular vacuuming to handheld jobs with ease, which was handy given that the vacuum felt a little bit clunky to use around the edges of a room and furniture.

Finally, I always take into account a vacuum's noise levels when testing. No one wants a vacuum that creates a din, so I like to consider how an appliance sounds as well as how loud it is.

Happily, I had no qualms with the Lakeland 2-in-1 Vacuum in this area. Using a sound measuring app, I recorded 80-81 dB when the vacuum was in standard mode, and 85 dB when it was on the higher power. So, not a massive difference in volume between the two settings, and the noise itself isn't unpleasant by any means.

Using the attachments

While the Lakeland 2-in-1 can be used in handheld mode without using any attachments, it does still come with a crevice tool and a soft brush head as standard. Handily, the soft brush head doubles up as a wide-nozzle tool, so when you include the brush head that's already attached to the vacuum, you're basically getting four attachment heads in total. For a vacuum that costs less than £100, this is seriously impressive.

Cleaning with the attachments isn't exactly groundbreaking, and they do feel a little flimsy if I'm honest. But they get the job done, and I was satisfied with how my skirting boards and upholstery looked after I'd cleaned them.

Plus, the device feels just as lightweight in handheld mode as it does in upright, making it really easy to clean behind the sofa or under other bits of furniture.

I wouldn't call it the equivalent of one of the best handheld vacuums on the market, but the fact that it does a satisfactory job on handheld vacuuming chores is impressive. It's 2-in-1, as the name indicates, but it's seriously affordable compared to other models offering similar capabilities.

Battery and charging

It took just under four hours for the battery to go from flat to fully charged when I timed it, which is pretty standard for cordless vacuums.

The battery's maximum runtime is 40 minutes in standard mode, which, again, is fairly typical, if a little on the short side. The battery life drops to 10 minutes when used in high-power mode, which isn't ideal if you'll be using it in this mode for long periods. But I found that standard mode was perfectly adequate for general vacuuming.

The fact that the Lakeland 2-in-1 matches the battery life of some of our other favourite cordless vacuums shouldn't be overlooked, given how much more affordable it is. I also like that the remaining battery life is displayed on the vacuum's display panel, so you can see how long you've got left at a glance.

The battery can be removed and charged separately from the vacuum, but you won't be able to see the battery life creep upwards to 100. I chose to plug mine in in handheld most of the time; it was less messy than lying the full appliance on its side, but still meant I could see what charge the battery was on.

Cleaning and maintenance

The vacuum's bin capacity is where this model falls short, in my opinion. This is never usually a dealbreaker for me – how a vacuum performs always comes before how often it needs to be emptied – but the Lakeland's bin volume is enough of a nuisance to impact the overall experience.

After the first turn around my three-bedroom flat, the bin's contents had already surpassed the "max" line, and there was heaps of dust clinging to the HEPA filter. The user manual recommends emptying the bin after each use (which I don't have to do with my usual vacuum), but I actually had to empty it twice when vacuuming the flat in full. Letting the contents exceed the max limit took a while to sort out; I had to use a small brush to remove all the debris that had found its way to the filter, and remove both the filter and its container basket to do so.

It would have been nice if a small cleaning brush had been included, given that the vacuum's dust bin is so small. I already have one from a previous vacuum I've tested, but without it, I would have struggled.

Needless to say, having to empty the bin twice makes vacuuming the flat feel more laborious than usual. It's definitely something to weigh up before buying the Lakeland 2-in-1, especially if you'll be using it to vacuum large spaces.

Beyond that, the dust bin is thankfully easy to empty. It springs open at the click of a button and reattaches to the vacuum with ease.

The vacuum is missing the anti-hair wrap technology of more expensive models, which does mean that hair gets wrapped around the brush bar quite easily. I'd recommend keeping on top of this and cleaning the brush bar weekly to avoid it building up.

How does the Lakeland 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum compare to similar models?

There are so many brilliant cordless vacuums available now, but none are as cheap as the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. As such, when comparing this model to its peers, I keep circling back to the price point; its budget status changes how we evaluate any compromises.

Firstly, take the Dyson V8 Cyclone (RRP £349.99). It currently holds the spot for the best value cordless model in our buying guide, thanks to its strong suction, solid build quality and premium features. Compared to this, the Lakeland doesn’t match the same level of performance – the floorhead felt less secure and more delicate, for example – but as I keep mentioning, the Lakeland costs significantly less. If your budget is tight and you just need a capable everyday handheld/stick for light-to-medium duty, the Lakeland offers amazing value.

Then there’s the Gtech AirFOX Platinum (RRP £429.99). Our reviewer was impressed with Gtech's long runtime (80 minutes in eco mode), its powerful pickup capabilities, and the wide range of tools and accessories included. Again, the Lakeland probably falls behind the Gtech in all of these areas, but it also undercuts it by a large margin in price.

Should you buy the Lakeland 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum?

If you’re looking for a solid cordless vacuum that doesn’t break the bank, the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 should be it. I've mentioned the price a lot in this review, but that's because it really is unusual to find a cordless vacuum of this calibre for £100. We usually recommend budgeting around £250 for a good-quality cordless vacuum, which the Lakeland model significantly undercuts.

With this vacuum, you get decent suction power and the convenience of a two-in-one design, so no need to purchase a separate handheld vacuum as well. It’s easy to lift, easy to manoeuvre, and surprisingly satisfying to use – proof that a budget-friendly vacuum doesn’t have to feel cheap.

Of course, there are compromises. The floorhead feels a little flimsy, and you’ll need to empty the dust bin more frequently than with pricier models, which will likely become a nuisance in larger homes. But for smaller spaces or anyone who wants a simple, lightweight vac for everyday cleaning, the Lakeland is a great fit.

It won’t rival a Dyson or Shark for power, but considering the price, it performs admirably. It's a wallet-friendly choice well worth considering.

Badly stored cookware can make or break a kitchen – especially in those frustrating moments when you open a cupboard or drawer and are overcome by an avalanche of pan lids.

That's why, as Ideal Home's resident cookware expert, I'm always on the lookout for clever product solutions to make organisation easier. This time around it's Lakeland's Easy Store Pan range, with affordable options for all sizes of kitchen all featuring easy-stack pots and detachable handles.

We've reviewed dozens of the best saucepan sets here at Ideal Home including other options with detachable handles but this Lakeland version is the cheapest I've seen. Thanks to Black Friday, the 5-Piece set is now just £39.99, down from £69.99. Here's why these pans are a space-saving delight.

There's so much to like about this range at first glance. The most important thing to many will be the price of the 5-piece set, which I think is very reasonable given the range of pans you receive as well the quality of the materials – cast aluminium is a great option for everyday cooking thanks to its fast heating and cooling properties.

Though the real USP with this set is the detachable handle design which allows you to stack your nested pans into a cupboard without having to manoeuvre the full length of a frying pan or saucepan. The removable handle then clicks onto each pan by using a button mechanism for when you're cooking.

There is a caveat to this design system though – the product description outlines that you have to remove the handle when the pans are being heated and you should 'only attach to move between hob rings or from the hob'.

While the 5-piece set is £30 cheaper, the 14-piece version is more suited to those who need to deliver meals for a family. Featuring 2 saucepans, 2 frying pans, multiple handles and pan protectors it's a great find for those who need an extensive cookware cupboard but in reality have a kitchen on the cosier side to store that in.

One of the standout features of the 14-piece collection for me are the 2 additional storage lids. These can be used to cover leftovers in your saucepans straight from the hob (once your food has cooled, obviously) and save you a whole lot of washing up.

This detachable handle system is one that we're already familiar with here at Ideal Home from our Tefal Ingenio Emotion 22-Piece Cookware set review. Our reviewer Annie put this huge all-in-one pan collection to the test in her busy family home and loved the multi-purpose elements of it, including storage lids for the fridge.

As with this Lakeland set though, she did find it frustrating when trying to stir the contents of her saucepan that she couldn't keep the detachable handle onto her pot on the hob for too long, so that's something to consider.

I certainly hope this trend for clever, innovative cookware is one that sticks around especially as someone with a more compact kitchen. It's a great way to reclaim some storage space.

It’s incredibly irksome to go to cook dinner and discover that the fresh veg you bought just a couple of days ago has already spoiled. But having tested the Lakeland Stay Fresh Produce Keeper (£12.99), I can happily say that this is an issue I now rarely encounter.

With food prices seemingly always on the rise, I’ve never felt so committed to finding kitchen storage ideas that make food last longer. After all, you don’t want your hard-earned cash to end up quite literally in the bin.

Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you Lakeland's Stay Fresh Produce Keeps have revolutionised my life. But I do think they’re an affordable and effective way to keep your food fresher for longer. Here’s how they work.

Recently, I’ve been looking extensively for ways to extend the lifespan of my fruit and veg, and one of the biggest changes I made was where I shopped. I’m lucky enough to have a fruit and veg market on my street (which has been operating so long my mum shopped there when she was my age), and I’ve found that the fresh produce sold here is not only cheaper than what I used to get in the supermarket, but lasts way longer, too.

Paired with the Stay Fresh Produce Keeper, I found I was onto a winner. Where supermarket veg seemingly only lasted a few days in my fridge before going soggy, my market carrots and peppers (pictured below) have been sitting happily in my produce box for about a week and a half.

I’d like to point out that I haven’t just been experimenting with the lifespan of two carrots and a pepper for the past two weeks. The box was spacious enough to also house mushrooms, spinach and another two peppers, which have found their way into my meals over the last two weeks.

I have been impressed with the capacity of Lakeland’s produce boxes. You can fit loads of veg comfortably inside. My only qualm is that they are pretty bulky, and as the owner of a tiny fridge, I’ve had to be a bit clever about how I organise a fridge.

I own the 4L Produce Keeper (£12.99), and while I think the 2L Produce Keeper (£9.99) would be a handy accompaniment on another shelf, I struggle to see how the 7L Produce Keeper (£17.99) would fit. I also found the 4L box didn’t fit in my standard fruit and veg drawer, so if space isn’t a luxury, I’d recommend checking the dimensions.

Now, for how it all works. The produce keepers work as they store fruit and veg in their optimum environment. They have double layers where the inner basket acts as a colander to rinse food, while the outer basket doubles as a water reservoir.

The boxes have air vents to promote airflow, and there is even a handy day indicator, so you can check how long the veg has been in there for.

You can also use Lakeland’s StayFresh Sheets (£9.99) alongside. Lakeland claims these sheets extend the life of fruit and vegetables by up to 50%. This happens as the sheet absorbs ageing ethylene gases to slow the ripening process. They’re designed to slot perfectly into your produce keeper to extend the shelf life even further.

Honestly, I think it is the combination of buying better quality fruit and veg, as well as using a produce keeper, that has caused my fresh produce to last longer. They definitely work, and they are very affordable. If you have the space, I would recommend investing in one.

When the colder months roll in and getting washing dry becomes one of the hardest working bits of kit in my home. I've tested a few over the years, but the Lakeland Dry:Soon 3-tier heated airer and its cover, which is currently £85 off, is a model that has consistently appeared in our best heated clothes airer guide.

The bundle is currently £159.98 at Lakeland, right now from a combined £244.98, if you bought the airer (usually £199.99) and the cover (£44.99) separately. You're effectively getting the cover completely free, and a good whack of cash off the airer too. Plus, you've got free standard delivery and Lakeland's 3-year guarantee included, which is always a bonus.

Considering how quickly these sell out every autumn, I'd say it's well worth jumping on before stock runs low. Here's why we think this is a deal not to miss.

Lakeland's bestselling heated clothes airer is one of my favourites because it offers 21 metres of drying space, enough for around two full loads of washing. Plus, it's great for those who have limited storage space as it folds flat.

The running costs are also low in comparison to using a tumble dryer, at approximately 9p per hour, making it one of the most energy-efficient ways to dry laundry indoors in winter.

However, here's the reason why this deal is different to the rest: the cover. The heated bars warm up gently and evenly, which makes clothes dry faster. Teaming that with the fitted cover will make it even more effective as it'll help trap warm air inside.

The cover features mesh panels and sides to stop the heated airer from overheating, and these also allow moisture build-up to escape.

So, if you're tired of waiting days to dry your clothes, this bundle really is worth the investment.

For me, investing in a heated clothes airer has really paid for itself several times over in saved tumble dryer cycles alone. And now that there's a deal like this for both a best-selling airer and a cover, it's the best time to buy if you're still on the fence.

But hurry, this discount definitely won't stick around for long, so snap one of these up while stocks last.

Heated clothes airer deal alternatives

This is not the only heated clothes airer on offer at Lakeland for a limited time only. Here are our top picks to snap up quickly.

Will you be getting your hands on one of these Lakeland Dry:soon heated airers? Let us know in the comments.

Autumn has arrived, and so has the condensation. While I’ve often struggled to keep on top of the moisture build-up on my old windows, I’ve recently got my hands on a condensation-busting tool that’s made it easier (and cheaper) than ever. Enter: the sellout £2.99 Lakeland Condensation Mitt.

Yep, removing condensation from my windows has become a daily task on my to-do list to prevent damp in my Victorian home this winter, and I was lucky enough to snap up the Lakeland Condensation Mitt before it sold out the first time.

Now that it’s back in stock and I’ve witnessed its magic for myself, I can’t gate-keep this autumn must-have. But you’ll have to be quick, as it’s already selling fast again…

If you’re reading this and the Lakeland Condensation Mitt has already sold out again, I can only apologise, and I’ve popped some alternatives below to make up for it. But after buying mine during its first wave of popularity, I can understand why it’s selling like hot cakes.

Made to fit over your hand (yep, exactly like an oven glove), the condensation mitt allows you to remove the condensation from your windows with a simple wipe. It’s made from a soft microfibre material that instantly absorbs moisture and leaves a streak-free finish in its wake.

In fact, it can soak up to 100ml of water at a time. For reference, I have 8 large double-hung windows in my Victorian house, and the condensation mitt tackles all of them with ease. It’s also been bone dry and ready to use again by the following morning, and it's machine washable at 30°C.

It’s the mitt design that’s impressed me the most, though. With more control when wiping my windows, the shape and size allows me to get right into the corners to keep them dry and prevent damp and mould build-up both around my windows and my house as a whole.

However, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I told you that it was perfect, and it’s important to remember that the Lakeland Condensation Mitt is only a £2.99 product. It’s definitely not the most high-tech product I’ve ever seen, and I’m not entirely sure how long it’ll be able to tackle a daily onslaught of water.

So, for particularly bad windows and for moisture-prone rooms like my kitchen and bathroom, I’ve still been using my Kärcher window vacuum - which just so happens to be reduced for Amazon Prime’s Big Deals Day event - as I can also use it on my bathroom mirror and shower screen.

But for everyday, quick condensation removal, the mitt has become a welcome addition to my morning routine, and I think it’s well worth the bargain £2.99 price tag. Considering it's already sold out once, I can only assume that Lakeland shoppers feel the same!

So, will you be snapping up the Lakeland Condensation Mitt? I've already told all of my friends and family to buy one, so you'll have to be quick before it sells out again!

Lakeland is seriously upping its cookware game, this time offering an affordable Tri Ply alternative to HexClad's £129 best non-stick frying pan, with pans available from just £24.99 from the range via Lakeland.

In the last few months, the success of the Lakeland's multifunctional Only Pan has already led to a sellout and then a restock of the range online. And let's be honest: there's more than a passing similarity to the ever-popular Always Pan from Our Place in look and in its cheeky name.

Now, the brand has debuted another premium-looking range, which appears to my eye to be heavily influenced by none other than the Gordon Ramsay endorsed cookware brand HexClad. Here's a look at how the two pan ranges compare.

The tagline of Lakeland's new Tri-Ply range is 'All the tech, without the hefty price tag', with the retailer's 28cm Frying Pan coming in at £94 cheaper than HexClad's cheapest offering in the same type of pan.

Lakeland's version, like HexClad's, boasts an aluminium core and a stainless steel surface which is where hybrid pans like these get their names.

Within the Lakeland range, you'll find a 28cm wok and frying pans of three different sizes: 28, 24 and 20cm. The wok is the most expensive pick of all at £37.99 and comes with a glass lid for that price.

While our expert reviewer Helen McCue tried and loved HexClad's more expensive pans, we're yet to test drive these Lakeland alternatives for ourselves. But the brand does have a good track record when it comes to the its own-brand versions of the best air fryers, with our Lakeland Adjustable Air Fryer review as just one example.

What do you think of this new lookalike range? Would you give it a go in your kitchen?

When the weather turns damp and it's not quite the time to ramp up the heating just yet, drying your laundry might seem like a daily battle.

However, I've found a portable heated airer that's especially useful when space is tight or when you only need to dry a few items at a time: Lakeland's Dry:Soon Foldable Heated Airer, which is 20% off right now for a limited time (£79.99).

Like a number of the best heated clothes airers, it's light enough to move from room to room, compact for storage, and most importantly, makes laundry day far less of a chore. You can quickly freshen a school uniform, dry a couple of jumpers or take the edge off slightly damp towels. But there's more. Here's why this foldable heated airer is a must-buy.

This particular heated clothes airer can dry up to five items at once, which is perfect for times when you don't have a full load to deal with or you just need to freshen up a few special items. Because it's foldable, it tucks neatly away when not in use, collapsing from 150cm down to 28cm.

That makes it not only a space-saver at home but also ideal for popping in the car boot if you're heading off for a weekend away or staying somewhere without reliable drying space.

One of the standout features is its built-in fragrance dispenser, which you can use to banish any hint of damp odour while adding a fresh, clean scent of your choosing to your clothes.

This little touch makes a big difference if, like me, you've ever found laundry smelling less than crisp after being dried indoors. It's a really thoughtful addition that sets it apart.

It's also compatible with Lakeland's range of accessories, including clip strip smalls dryer and soft grip trousers and skirt hangers.

And reduced to £79.99 for a limited time, it's also one of the most affordable heated airers in Lakeland's range. But hurry, because I know these will sell out fast.

Lakeland sale picks

This is not the only heated clothes airer on offer at Lakeland for a limited time only. Here are our top picks to snap up quickly.

Will you be getting your hands on one of these Lakeland Dry:soon heated airers? Let us know in the comments.

As someone who lives in a small home with limited storage (but still wants to live in a clean and tidy space), Lakeland has really scratched my itch for mini cleaning tools over the past few months. Their latest, genius invention? The £9.99 Lakeland Mini Countertop Vacuum. Yep, you read that right… It’s only £9.99.

While it’s not as big as the best handheld vacuum cleaners (and certainly nowhere near as big as the best vacuum cleaners), the beauty of this countertop vacuum is its small size. It doesn’t promise to tackle big messes, but it’s instead designed for quick, on-the-go clean-ups for kitchen worktops, dining tables and desks. And since it arrived on my doorstep, I’ve become a little bit obsessed with it.

I’m no stranger to Lakeland’s mini cleaning tools, as I’m also the proud owner of the 3-in-1 mini vacuum (which actually sold out multiple times, it was that popular) and the mini mop - and I use both countless times a week without fail. But I have to admit that I think the Lakeland Mini Countertop Vacuum may be my favourite one yet.

Offering high suction power with minimal noise, a 30-minute run time and USB charging, the square design is ideal for gliding along kitchen worktops and scooping up any leftover crumbs or debris on your sides with the little brushes on the bottom. Then, it sucks it up into the dust canister inside, which can then be emptied into the bin in seconds.

And as someone who can’t use my bean-to-cup coffee machine without getting coffee grounds everywhere, it’s become my go-to for post-coffee cleanups and for sucking up the pesky crumbs that come out of my toaster in the morning.

But the biggest perk, in my opinion, is the fact that the compact design is so easy to store. I tend to either leave it on top of my coffee machine or on my spice rack, and it’s so small and unassuming that it doesn’t get in the way at all. However, it’s still within reach to whip out when a cooking disaster occurs.

Of course, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t tell you that this product definitely isn’t a groundbreaking feat of vacuum engineering. But at just £9.99, what do you expect?

And while it certainly feels plasticky and is unlike any other handheld vacuum cleaner out there (which is both a positive and negative), I genuinely see myself using it every day. Even if that’s just to suck up the crumbs left on my keyboard after my afternoon pick-me-up (AKA my 3 pm biscuit date).

And even if it breaks in six months’ time, I’ll be happy because I already feel like I’ve got my money’s worth from it. That’s because, while I typically use the ‘Staddag’ cleaning technique to clean the other areas of my home once a week, I like to give my small galley kitchen quick cleans every single day - and this mini tool suits that perfectly.

It means I don’t have to whip out my full-size vacuum cleaner, and I don’t even need to grab my smaller mini vacuum from the cupboard. Instead, the countertop vacuum is already on my side and ready to go.

I genuinely love this countertop vacuum cleaner so much, I've already bought another one to keep upstairs! And I highly recommend you grab one too.

At the tail end of last year, one of my favourite celebrity chefs Nigella Lawson shared that one of her ultimate kitchen appliances is a rice cooker, which she says she uses at least three times a week for quick, tasty lunches and dinners.

Following in her footsteps, I had to test out this rice cooker from much-loved kitchen brand Lakeland to see whether it was worth the extra investment over just one of the best saucepans. Here's why I've cleared a spot for it on my worktop.

At a glance

With this product, you get perfectly turned-out white or brown rice every time. There's a separate program for each, and all you need to do is prep the rice in the way you would if you were cooking it on the hob (wash it and add water, as well as any additional steps you'd usually do). Such excellent results mean that I've been using this product as much as Nigella uses her Judge rice cooker.

Porridge is another setting available, though the timings are iffy. It all ties into the biggest problem with this cooker: all 3 programs have different timings (white rice, brown rice, porridge) and you can't tweak the number of cooking minutes outside of that.

However, one positive aspect of this cooker is the delay function. You can delay the process from 1 to 12 hours, so if you want to wake up to hands-free porridge or set it off in time for dinner. It's limited by the fact that you can't use it with fresh ingredients, however.

There's also the option of using this rice cooker to make entire meals. I've been throwing in rice, stock, chicken, veg and seasoning and setting mine off on the white rice setting. 40 minutes later and there's four portions of nutritious lunch and dinner ready to go.

If you have the cash to spend and need a good-sized rice cooker, I can wholeheartedly recommend this one, even if the porridge setting needs work.

Specifications

• Capacity: 1 litre
• Dimensions: 29 x 24 x 24 cm
• Weight: 2 kg

Getting started

Seeing as the capacity of this rice cooker is only 1 litre, I was skeptical that it would be capable of the amount of portions that Lakeland claims (4 to 6 persons).

In reality, while it's not big by any account, it is a fair-sized appliance, taking up a little less space than my compact air fryer (which you can read about in my Our Place Wonder Oven review). Essentially, it still has a noticeable footprint, it's not miniature. It's not as small as something like the Judge rice cooker that Nigella swears by (£24.95 at Amazon), which only has a 300ml capacity. If it's one to two portions you want, go for that one.

The interface on the front is easy to work out. Simply prep your rice, turn the appliance on and press the button for the program you want. Each program has a timing attached to it (that unfortunately can't be changed) and once this timer runs out, the cooker will keep whatever is inside warm until you're ready (for up to 12 hours, incredibly!).

Cooking

First things first: it's foolproof for cooking white rice.

All you need to do is apply the prep process you usually would when cooking rice in a saucepan, but pop it into the cooker instead and press one button. You can then get on with cooking the other elements of your meal or just walk away from the kitchen altogether if you're pairing it with leftovers.

40 minutes later the machine will beep and you press the button on the top of the lid to open the cooker up. In the bottom your perfectly cooked rice will be waiting, which it has been for me on every occasion I've used it.

Some user reviews feel that 40 minutes is too long to wait for rice (compared to 25 minutes on your hob), but I think it doesn't feel overly long if you make it the first step of any other meal prep.

The quality of rice also far exceeds what I've ever managed on the hob, which makes up for the extra time. The keep warm setting also means that if your accompaniment to the rice takes longer to cook, it'll still be the perfect temperature when you come to serve up.

Brown rice generally takes longer to cook, so its preset time is extended here to 60 minutes. I think it's the right amount of time and the resulting rice tastes great.

When browsing Instagram for recipe inspiration, I came across a method using a rice cooker of throwing in rice, stock, chicken, veg and seasoning and leaving the usual rice-cooking program to work its magic. In search of an easy lunch I tried it out and was very impressed by the ease of the process. For a hands free dinner it's pretty genius, though you do have to be vigilant about overcooking the meat.

The last setting, porridge, also has a 1 hour timer setting which isn't to everyone's taste, especially according to user reviews on Amazon.

Many people think this huge amount of time makes your oats overcooked. I'm not much of a porridge connoisseur meaning that when I tried it out I didn't find too much of an issue with it, especially as I was being vigilant and standing over the pot but it is another problem that could be solved by customisable timings.

Lakeland also recommends against using the delay setting if you're cooking with fresh ingredients (like milk), which might spell trouble if you're wanting to use this to wake up to a pre-cooked breakfast.

What's it like to clean?

A large amount of steam builds up in the process of the rice cooking which means that cleaning this cooker regularly is essential to keep it working properly.

On the inside of the lid there's a removable disc that you can take off to properly clean once the cooker is cleaned. Though this is a good feature, it is a little laborious to do repeatedly and there is an argument for making the whole thing easier to maintain.

How does it compare to similar products?

For under £50, this is not the most affordable choice on the market for the size you get but it is from a retailer you can trust (Lakeland) which is worth investing in. If you want to size down and only need one to two portions at a time, then Nigella's recommendation, the Judge cooker at £24.95 from Amazon, comes recommended by our Deputy Digital Editor Rebecca Knight too.

If, alternatively, you want to amp up what a cooker like this can do, there's no better brand to turn to than Ninja. The Ninja Foodi Possible 8-in-1 cooker went down an absolute storm with our tester in our review, and the brand now has an updated version which includes a rice function. It will set you back £119.99 from Ninja and you get 7 other modes thrown in too.

Should you buy Lakeland's Digital Rice Cooker?

If you want to move away from microwave rice or find the business of cooking it on the hob too hit and miss, this relatively inexpensive rice cooker is sure to be a hit in your home. The porridge mode is less straightforward (though I found no real issue with it a and some users love it) but still a useful addition, as well as the keep warm and delay settings.

Just when you feel like every type of air fryer has been done, another one crops up. That's the case with this Lakeland 2-in-1 air fryer, which combines the mid-week-meal-friendly drawer design with the usefulness of a classic built-in oven.

I put it to the test to see if its worthy of joining the ranks of the best air fryers. Here's how I got on.

In a nutshell

This air fryer and oven from Lakeland offers a mixture of cooking methods, making it super flexible, along with a range of presets and the option to sync and match each compartment, making for easy use and efficient cooking.

It looks pretty good and is easy to use, with thought given to making it pretty intuitive and not over-complicated, and is also easy to clean, which is always a bonus.

I tested it out on the Ideal Home testing protocol recipes of homemade chips to bacon, freezer food, and a simple chicken breast, and it met the mark on all of them. And all for a £129.99 price tag, which isn’t bad at all.

Product specs

• Type: Air fryer and oven
• Dimensions: 41 x 39 x 31cm
• Cooking area: 11L (3.5L & 7.5L)
• Weight: 7.5kg
• Maximum temperature: 200C
• Cooking modes: 8
• Power: 2400W
• Colour: Black
• Material: Aluminium, plastic

Who tested this air fryer?

Unboxing and first impressions

At first glance, the Lakeland 2-in-1 Air Fryer Oven stands out from the crowd, thanks to the fact it’s a hybrid of the drawer-style air fryers, and the ones that resemble an oven. With this, you get both.

A 3.5L crisper drawer, as well as a 7.5L air fryer oven. Not only does this mean you can cook different elements of your meal separately in the same way you can with air fryers that have multiple drawers like the Phillips dual-basket steam air fryer, or a handy separator like the Salter XL Air Fryer Oven, but you can use the compartment that lends itself best to certain items - like chips in the drawer section, vs fish fillets or chicken in the oven side.

Packaging wise, it’s well-protected without being overkill, and it’s easy to unbox and get set up. It’s fairly big, which it would be with a total 11L capacity, but also looks pretty good on the side thanks to its sleek appearance and digital display.

The oven side comes with two racks and two trays, so there are plenty of options when it comes to cooking.

There are eight preset functions, and it’s fairly easy to navigate cooking in either compartment, thanks to the simple case of being able to switch from easy to read number one and number two.

If you want to swerve these, there’s also the manual option, where you can simply adjust the temperature and time - and do this for each one individually.

Or ‘match’ and ‘sync’ options, either to just set everything for the same temperature and time, or to let it work things out for you so everything is cooked at the same time. Looks good, sounds good, but is it really that simple?

Cooking

Chicken

I start with the basic test of a chicken breast. I go for the oven side, though I could easily use either.

There’s a chicken preset (along with fries, fish, seafood, steak, pizza, chicken wings and vegetables) so I pop it on this. In the chicken goes using one of the trays, and there’s a light that automatically comes on so you can see what’s going on through the viewing window.

The oven automatically stops when you open the door to check progress, which is a nice touch, then starts again once everything’s back in and the door is shut. After the allotted time the chicken isn’t quite up to the temperature it should be to be cooked, but it’s fairly easy to increase the temperature and time while it’s cooking to add on some minutes.

After around 20 minutes, my chicken is cooked and looks easily as good as if I’d cooked in a traditional oven - I just didn’t need to worry about preheating a whole built-in oven for it, which is always useful.

Homemade chips

The second test is homemade chips from scratch.

I chop potatoes into fries, toss them in oil and seasoning and put them in the crisper drawer on the fries setting.

This sets it to 200C for 23 minutes - given the standard Ideal Home test is 15 minutes I check them after that period of time and while they’re on their way, they’re nowhere near cooked, so I trust the Lakeland presets and pop them back in.

Like other air fryers, the drawer makes it easy to shake the chips to ensure they cook evenly. They’re actually still not quite done when the 23 minutes is up, though that could be due to the amount I’ve got in there. It’s worth remembering that this drawer is only 3.5L so if you overload it you’re going to affect the cooking time.

About five minutes more and most of the chips have crisped up and we’re ready to go. So like any cooking, it’s just a case of checking your food to make sure it’s as you like it, since so many of these things vary depending on how much you’re trying to cook and your own preferences.

Bacon

Bacon is another staple Ideal Home test, and I decide to take advantage of the different cooking areas to test a rasher in each. One goes in the drawer, one in the oven, and I compare them.

I pop them in at 200C for 10 minutes, using the ‘match’ function to make it nice and easy. Both cook easily in that time, and pretty evenly too, without any real need to turn them over.

The oven side - given the bacon is on a rack sitting above a tray - is a tiny bit crispier, though not much. And it comes with the disadvantage that I now need to scrub the rack where it’s slightly stuck, whereas the non-stick insert in the drawer is indeed non-stick and super easy to clean.

Either way, it’s good to know that if I had a whole house full I could probably use both sides to do bacon sarnies for everyone, and the difference wouldn’t really be that discernible.

Frozen fish

A frozen food test is always useful when it comes to gadgets like this. My go-to is a breaded fillet of fish, mainly as it goes perfectly with homemade chips.

So while my chips are crisping away in the drawer side (as above) I pop the fish into the oven side.

Given there are cooking instructions on the pack, I follow those and put it in for 35 minutes at 180. It’s the first time I’ve had both sides cooking for a prolonged period of time but it’s not annoyingly loud at all.

My decibel meter reads 64dB for both sides - and when I later check for an individual reading of the drawer, it’s 61dB, which is higher than some of the more quiet gadgets on the market, but also less than others - and not distracting really for a kitchen gadget.

What's it like to clean?

Unlike some air fryers, it seems like someone somewhere has thought about cleaning.

The oven side is easy enough to do - though it’s worth remember that nobody likes scrubbing oven racks, and you may have to do so if you cook something that’s going to stick.

What this does have, though, is a removable door which is a nice touch, making it easy to slide out and remove to clean, before popping back in. The drawer side is super easy, removing completely to allow you to give it a wash, along with the non-stick insert that is also easy to clean. Both elements actually live up to their non-stick promise too, which is refreshing.

How does it compare to similar models and predecessors?

This is the first air fryer and oven I’ve come across that has the flexibility of both styles - drawer and oven - and while I’m concerned at first that it’s just a gimmick, it’s actually quite useful.

Despite these different cooking methods, it’s still quite simple though - especially compared to some of the more swanky air fryers out there, and is refreshingly easy to use.

It hasn’t got some of the bells and whistles that some more upmarket (and expensive) versions have, but it’s got everything you need to cook different foods at the same time, but properly and easily. It’s easy to clean, and seems to be well thought-out, which again isn’t always the case.

Should you buy the Lakeland 2-in-1 Air Fryer and Oven?

The Lakeland 2-in-1 might not boast any game-changing technology or crazy gimmick beyond it’s combination of two different cooking methods (drawer and oven), but it doesn’t exactly what it says on the tin, and provides an efficient, easy way to cook meals using just one gadget.

It’s intuitive without being over-complicated, and sleek without being over-engineered. And at £129.99 it’s fairly reasonably priced, making it a worthwhile purchase in my opinion.

It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t appreciate a really good ice cream, even if you only indulge while on holiday. And because ice cream flavours are endless, if you make it yourself, it’s a dessert that you really can get creative with.

I’ve recently become very picky when I walk down the supermarket ice cream aisle. I scour the labels and try to avoid the brands that are stuffed with additives, stabilisers and preservatives - which, by the way, is most of them. So it does feel like making ice cream at home, with one of the best ice cream makers is the answer.

This Lakeland Digital ice Cream Maker is one of the cheapest you can buy from the brand. So while I don’t expect the same results as the flashy ice cream makers that cost several hundred pounds, I am hoping that it still offers good functionality. Scroll down to see if my frozen creations hit the mark.

Lakeland Digital Ice Cream Maker product specs:

• Weight: 2.7kg
• Size: 23.5cm height x 20cm diameter
• Timer: 5-45 minutes
• Capacity: 1.8 litre bowl with working capacity of 720ml
• Watts: 12W

Unboxing and first impressions

My first impression of the Lakeland Digital ice cream maker is that it's pretty compact, lightweight and it looks straightforward to assemble.

The parts consist of an outer plastic bowl, a freezer bowl with a hoop that it slots into, and a transparent lid with a hole for pouring in your ingredients. Then there’s the paddle that churns the ice cream and this attaches directly into the main motor unit. On the top of the motor there’s a timer and the controls.

The bowl has to be frozen upright for around 12 hours before you can churn any ice cream. So I immediately found space for it in my freezer. But at 15 cm tall and 19cm diameter, it had to go in my deepest freezer drawer and took up a good ¼ of the drawer - definitely something to keep in mind if you’re usually short on freezer space.

The digital timer defaults to 40 minutes every time it’s switched on. However it’s adjustable in increments of five minutes simply by pressing the arrows on either side of the display. The timer can’t be adjusted once it’s started churning though, to do that, you have to switch it off and back on again.

Be aware that once you’ve pressed the power button to switch the ice cream maker on, you have a window of about three seconds to begin adjusting the timer, otherwise it starts churning and counting down from 40 minutes.

Likewise, after you’ve set your selected time, it waits for the three seconds and then starts churning automatically. Once you’re used to it, this is fine, but it took me by surprise the first couple of times and started churning when I wasn’t expecting it.

What's it like to use?

Vanilla ice cream

Who doesn’t love a good vanilla ice cream? This classic treat was the first thing I churned in this ice cream maker. I went with the vanilla ice cream recipe from the manual. It includes a wholesome set of ingredients; whipping cream, whole milk, vanilla pods, egg yolks, and sugar.

There’s some pre-prep to do like whipping the cream and boiling the milk with the vanilla, but nothing too taxing. I started off with chilled ingredients, but once I’d made up the mixture I popped it back in the fridge to chill for a further 30 minutes.

Once I’d assembled the parts, including the frozen bowl that had been in my freezer overnight, I started it up and set the timer to 25 minutes. It automatically started churning and as it did, I slowly poured in the ice cream mixture using a jug. Which, admittedly, was a better plan than trying to ladle it in from a bowl - I abandoned that messy method very fast!

Because there’s a timer, you can leave it to churn and do other things, but you do need to keep an eye on it, particularly towards the end of the time. The churn times vary depending on the temperature of your ingredients as well as your kitchen, so you may need to stop it sooner or add more time depending on the consistency.

Interestingly, there’s no audible signal when it finishes. Instead, it simply stops churning. When it stopped, the ice cream was still too soft, so I switched it back on for a further 5 minutes to try and get it a little firmer. When it next finished churning it was slightly firmer, but still a soft serve texture.

I scooped it out and into a tub that I put straight in the freezer. The ice cream texture was at the sweet spot that meant it was easy to scoop out. If I’d let it continue for too much longer, it would get too hard and I’d be battling to dig it out.

Naturally, I tasted it several times while scooping it out into the tub and the flavour was divine. I could happily have eaten a bowl full of this super soft creamy vanilla ice cream straight from the churner, but I restrained myself and let it chill down to a firmer texture in the freezer. Though I suspect my restraint had more to do with the fact it was 9am and raining, than anything else.

I left it in the freezer for a couple of hours, at which point it was soft enough to scoop out easily, but firm enough to hold its shape in the bowl without collapsing and melting too quickly. There were no ice crystals and it had a light, creamy texture, and the perfect vanilla flavour.

Making sorbet

This sweet and tangy sorbet is made with just lemons, sugar, and water. But because you use hot water to dissolve the sugar, the mixture has to be made in advance, to allow time for it to cool before churning.

I churned it for 40 minutes, and it still had the texture of a slushy drink. So it does have to go in the freezer for a few hours to reach a firmer, more frozen sorbet texture. Thankfully though, even after being in the freezer overnight, it remained soft enough to scoop out easily.

The texture was smooth without any icy chunks, and the combination of the refreshing sour lemon with the sweet sugariness is unbeatable on a hot day. It’s also, as I found out, a great base for a cocktail or mocktail.

Making frozen yoghurt

This is another recipe (chocolate orange frozen yoghurt) from the booklet that came in the box. Now, while they’ve called it a frozen yoghurt, it does also contain cream and milk, so it’s probably more of a hybrid between a frozen yoghurt and an ice cream. Nevertheless, dark chocolate and orange is right up my street so I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

It’s pretty easy to make the mixture. You start off by warming the milk with the sugar and cocoa powder - essentially making a hot chocolate. Then, once cooled, this is mixed with all the other ingredients, including orange juice and rind, yoghurt and cream.

This time the recipe doesn’t give a churn time, it just says to churn until it reaches the desired consistency. So I set the timer to 30 minutes and kept an eye on it. After 45 minutes, it was still too soft to serve, so I popped it in the freezer for a couple of hours.

The flavour was excellent and after a stint in the freezer it was firm enough to shape into balls with an ice cream scoop. After several hours in the freezer it did go pretty solid though, so I had to leave it out on the side for 30 minutes to make it more scoopable. Nevertheless, it was super enjoyable, rich, and creamy with no ice crystals.

What's it like to clean?

Because of the nature of the ingredients, I found that for the most part a rinse under some warm water removed the majority of half frozen residues. Then a little warm soapy water was needed to rid it of the grease from creamy ice cream mixtures.

None of the parts can go in the dishwasher. And the manual says you should wait for the freezer bowl to warm up to room temperature before cleaning. Though I found this really tricky as I was so keen to get it cleaned and back in the freezer as soon as possible, ready for the next batch.

How does it compare to similar ice cream makers?

If you’ve extra cash to burn, and you like the idea of being able to whip up several flavours of ice cream without a 12 hour wait between each one, you should take a look at our Ninja Creami review. In true Ninja style, it’s an innovative ice cream maker that works in a totally different way to most. But its three tubs allow you to make three different flavours. Though you do have to freeze your mixture for 24 hours first.

At the time of writing, I’m also reviewing the Cuisinart Ice Cream & Gelato Professional (available for £279.00 from Amazon). It’s worth pointing out because there’s no bowl to pre-freeze. The ice cream maker itself chills and freezes the ice cream as it churns. However, this does mean it comes with a pretty hefty £300 price tag. So it’s probably only for the most serious ice cream fans.

Should you buy the Lakeland Digital Ice Cream Maker?

With its affordable price tag and simple settings, this makes the perfect entry-level ice cream maker. It’s not too big to store and yet it allows you to make endless delicious frozen treats at home.

The biggest drawback is having to make space in your freezer for the bowl. And if you’re the type of person who wants to spontaneously make ice cream whenever the mood takes you, you’ll need to leave it in the freezer all the time. Otherwise it’s a 12 hour wait for it to chill down enough.

However, if, like me, you’ve started paying more attention to all the additives in many shop-bought ice creams, this is an easy-to-use and inexpensive route into homemade ice cream. You can experiment with flavours and avoid all those nasties, whilst having fun at the same time. All the recipes I tried were delicious, although most needed a bit of extra time in the freezer to reach the desired consistency.

About this review, and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Helen was delighted to try this ice cream maker in the middle of summer. And while she was let down by the less-than-ideal British weather, it wasn’t too much of a chore to make and taste several frozen treats to see if it was up to the job.

In the last year we’ve seen two of the biggest air fryer brands release innovative flexible air fryers. These models feature one large cooking zone that can be divided into two separate zones as needed. They’re some of the best air fryers around, so it’s no surprise that we’re starting to see other brands launch this style of air fryer.

I’ve previously reviewed both the Ninja FlexDrawer and the Instant VersaZone and they were both top performers. The Lakeland version is most similar to the Instant Versazone in both design and price. But notable differences include the 10 preset cooking functions.

So, to see if the Lakeland Adjustable air fryer has got what it takes to rival the big brands, I set it up in my own kitchen. Given that it’s price and size is similar to the Instant VersaZone, I wanted to know if it’s as good.

Lakeland Adjustable Large Drawer air fryer product specs

• Capacity: 9 litre  (or two 4.2 litre)
• Presets: Fries, chicken, shrimp, bake, pizza, steak, fish, dehydrate, reheat
• Weight: 7.2kg
• Size: (H)31 x (W) 40 x (D)34cm 
• RRP: £149.99

Unboxing and first impressions

When I first removed this air fryer from the box, I was pleased that despite its generous 9 litre capacity, it sat comfortably on my available stretch of worktop. The top third of the air fryer is kind of shrunk in comparison to the base. And I think this design is why it doesn’t look too big or imposing. 

The drawer has two handles, despite this it can only be removed as one large drawer. When I first removed it, it was really stiff and I had to push my thumbs hard into the air fryer while I pulled on the handles. It also requires force to get it back into position. I’m hoping this is something that’ll ease with use and I’ll let you know later in the review.

Inside the drawer there’s one large perforated crisper plate in the base. When you want to use it as two separate cooking zones a small divider section slots into a groove down the middle of the drawer. The divider is flimsy and the groove it slots into isn't very pronounced, so it doesn’t sit as securely in place as I’d like.

When the divider is in position there are obvious gaps that will allow air to pass between the zones. So it’s probably not going to be ideal if you want to use extremely different temperatures in the two sides simultaneously. That said, I can’t really see many scenarios when you’d need to do that, so it shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.

The touch control panel is on the top. It is very slightly angled to make it easier to use, but as I started to play around with the controls, I noticed I was unconsciously going on to tip-toes to get the best view. For context I’m 5ft 3in, so if you’re shorter than me, it could be a problem.

The controls are straightforward enough to use. Simply press button 1 or button 2, followed by the time/ temp button to adjust the settings for each side. Or, if using it as one zone, set side one and then select ‘match cook’ to repeat the settings on the second side, then the whole drawer will cook as one.

There are a series of preset cooking functions along the bottom of the control panel. And once I’d discovered that the images don’t double as touch control buttons, it was easy to select them using the arrow buttons to either side.

I looked in the manual for details on the preset functions and discovered that apart from dehydrate and reheat, they all cook at 200C and it’s just the preset time that varies. This feels like a bit of a con to me, I can’t see the point of cluttering the control panel with so many presets that are all virtually the same, other than the time.

The manual provides some basic cooking times for meat and chips as well as three different recipes. And the presets are all adjustable between 80C and 200C, the timer can be adjusted in 1 minute increments up to 60 minutes.

What is it like to use?

One of the first things I cooked was frozen breadcrumbed fish fillets. I made use of the fish preset which defaults to 20 minutes at 200C. I removed the divider which allowed plenty of space for my two awkwardly shaped fillets. 

To use it as a single zone without the divider, there’s not a simple button to press, nor does it automatically detect that the divider has been removed. Instead you have to set up zone 1 and press ‘match cook’ so that zone 2 is cooking with the same settings. It’ll then function as one big zone. But this is a clunkier setup than I experienced when reviewing the comparable models from Instant and Ninja.

There’s no auto preheat function, so I popped the fish straight in and pressed start. About two thirds of the way through the cook time, there’s a shake reminder. So at this point I turned the fish fillets. And I ended up removing them after 18 minutes, because they were cooked through with a beautifully crunchy breadcrumb coating.

It’s worth pointing out that I found this air fryer to be quite noisy. It registered at 69dB on my noise meter, which probably doesn’t mean a lot. But it's safe to say it’s noticeably louder than my usual air fryer and many others that I’ve recently reviewed.

The large single zone mode was also useful for air frying a medley of vegetables. It allowed plenty of space for my pepper, onion, and mushroom mixture to get evenly browned and roasted. I cooked the vegetables at 190C and they developed a perfectly roasted texture in just 15 minutes. They were beautiful with warm goats cheese in a salad.

The thing about the upward facing control panel that started to get on my nerves during the time I was reviewing this air fryer, was that its position means I can’t see the timer from the other side of the kitchen. I have to keep returning to it, to check how long is left, which is frustrating.

Bacon was next on the menu and I opted for the single zone mode again so that I could space the rashers out nicely. I used the bacon preset, this cooks at 200C for 7 minutes. The settings were perfect and the bacon came out with rendered fat that was crisp, but not over cooked.

To try out the two zones cooking simultaneously, I cooked up some homemade chips alongside frozen vegetarian chicken style nuggets. Following the tips in the instruction manual I gave my freshly cut chips a good wash and a dry before lightly coating in oil.

With the divider in place, I added the chips to one side and selected the ‘fries’ preset. In the neighbouring cooking zone, I popped in six nuggets and set the timer for 10 minutes. This is where the ‘smart finish’ button comes in handy. It ensures that despite the difference in cooking times, the two sides will finish cooking simultaneously.

As I mentioned earlier in the review, the divider doesn’t provide a tight seal between the two zones. Since the chips were cooking for 10 minutes before the nuggets, this was a good way for me to check if the hot air from the chips had made its way through to defrost or even start cooking the frozen nuggets too early.

Just before the nuggets were due to start cooking, I opened the air fryer and checked them. The breadcrumb coating had started to defrost, but they were still frozen solid. So despite being a tad flimsy, the divider seems like it's up to the job.

In the end I added five extra minutes to both the chips and the nuggets. The result was great, pleasingly crunchy nuggets and crisp, golden chips. The ‘smart finish’ function did its job and everything was ready to plate up at the same time.

Jacket potatoes were another success. I microwaved four small potatoes until soft, then coated them in oil and salt. After just 20 minutes at 200C, the skins were crisp and delicious.

I tried out the bake preset a couple of times, thankfully the temperature is adjustable because there are very few things I’d want to bake at 200C in an air fryer. I decided on an ambitious banana and chocolate chip loaf cake.

My loaf tin fit perfectly into the air fryer, though for interest I checked a Victoria sandwich tin and that also fits. I had to wing it a bit in regards to the time and temperature. I plumped for 170C and set the timer for an hour so that I could keep checking it and switch it off when cooked.

After about 25 minutes, the cake had browned enough but was still way too gooey inside. So I loosely covered the it in foil, scrunching it onto the edges of the tin so that the fans didn’t blow it around. Then, after a total cook of 50 minutes, the cake had baked through.

In hindsight I think the temperature could have been slightly lower, as the finished cake was drier than usual, but otherwise it was a resounding success. 

I make homemade granola every week and now always bake it in an air fryer. I adjusted the bake function to 165C and set the timer to 20 minutes. I had to open it up and stir the granola around several times during the bake, but because the drawer is so roomy, there’s plenty of space to stir it and ensure it cooks evenly. It was crunchy and golden at the end of the timer.

It wasn’t until writing up this review that I noticed a small line in the manual advising that you should preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes before adding food. Needless to say, I didn’t do this for any of the above foods, and they all still cooked well and in the expected times.

Out of interest, the drawer didn’t become any easier to remove or replace, even after I’d used it several times.

Cleaning

Usually I’m annoyed when an air fryer drawer can’t go in the dishwasher. And while it would be nice to have the option, the size of the drawer makes it impractical to wash in a dishwasher, it would just take up too much space.

The non-stick coating works well though and a bit of washing up liquid and warm water did the trick to remove all the grease and grime. Although, I noticed that unless I dried it immediately, it dried with unsightly water spots on the front of the drawer.

How does it compare to similar air fryers?

The Instant Vortex VersaZone has a similar price and capacity. Its angled control panel is easier to see, making it more user friendly. It doesn’t offer preset cooking modes for common foods, but instead has various cooking modes including roast, bake, and grill. The drawer is easier to remove and replace, plus it can go in the dishwasher. 

With its 10.4litre capacity the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer offers one of the biggest air fryer cooking zones around. It’s a top performing air fryer that’s great for families. But, it comes with a budget-busting price tag in excess of £250, which is a bitter pill to swallow.

Should you buy the Lakeland Adjustable Large Drawer air fryer?

In terms of how this air fryer performed, I couldn’t fault the results. Foods were cooked, crisped, and browned as well as in any other air fryer. But I had some issues with the design and usability. 

It’s noisy, and the position of the control panel got on my nerves, because I couldn’t see the timer from across the kitchen. The drawer was stiff to remove and replace, and the divider doesn’t slot securely into position.

If you think the things that annoyed me wouldn’t bother you, then based on performance alone, it’s certainly up to the job. Plus, Lakeland has an excellent returns policy, so there’s peace of mind if you decide you’re not happy.

Lakeland is a major retailer selling most home appliances, but did you know the brand also manufactures its own range of kitchen and outdoor must-haves?

The latest addition to that collection is the new Lakeland Gas Pizza oven, which we reckon is a dead ringer for fan favourites from some of the best pizza oven brands on the market. And with the success of Lakeland's own range of the best air fryers, it's fair to say it's a launch we're excited about.

The Lakeland Gas Pizza oven is priced at £299.99. With this oven, the brand promises you can easily master the art of pizza at home, and sling out 12-inch pizzas in your garden all summer long, with a heat-up time to 500°C in just 15 minutes. We took a first look at this brand-new release from Lakeland to see how it stacks up against the favourite pizza ovens we've already tried and loved.

Lakeland Gas Pizza Oven first look

As the name very much gives away, this is a gas-powered pizza oven, which means that the time it takes to get up to the correct heat for Neapolitan pizzas is minimal, as is the case with our top-rated gas pizza oven after testing it, the Ooni Koda.

After just a short time, you'll be ready to pop your pizzas in this oven, and the sheer heat of the pizza stone will mean that you'll only need to wait a couple of minutes before you've achieved that lovely crispy base that you're used to enjoying from your local pizza place.

The foldable legs also mean that this oven looks like a fairly portable buy, which is similar to the Gozney Roccbox. The Lakeland Pizza Oven is also quite lightweight at just 10kg, so it looks like it'll be a great option to take along to the beach or to a friend's house for alfresco dining. 

Along with this oven, Lakeland has also released an extensive range of pizza oven accessories, including an interesting-looking topping station for £39.99 and an affordable pizza rocker for £14.99, which I personally find is essential when making homemade pizzas. 

In terms of comparisons, I'd say that this oven strikes me as pretty similar to the Ooni Koda 12 inch oven, which retails for £349.99. When we tested the Koda we found it to be an easy 4.5/5 star buy, so we'll most definitely be testing out the new Lakeland version for ourselves, to see if it compares as a more affordable buy.

However, if you'd prefer a larger oven and would love to use your outdoor kitchen for cooking large cuts of meat and other dishes, then the Gozney Dome might be the best choice for you, which has a large 16 inch opening. It was a sell out success a couple of years ago, and our reviewer found it to be a total must-buy. 

Whichever oven you opt for, it's definitely the right time of year to start thinking about your outdoor dining situation. We're just hoping it won't be long until it's warm enough to enjoy a pizza in the sun!

If you haven’t got yourself an air fryer yet, where have you been? Lakeland has been one of the brands helping lead the way by converting us to the quick and easy cooking appliance, and they've joined the flex drawer revolution with their new Lakeland adjustable drawer air fryer.

These styles of adjustable drawer air fryers have quickly claimed the top spots in our best air fryers guide. They provide all the perks of a dual-zone air fryer, with the added perk of being able to adjust the size of the two drawers to what you're cooking. 

The Ninja FlexDrawer air fryer currently holds the crown as the best one we've tried, however, if you're looking for a more affordable option the Lakeland Adjustable Drawer Air Fryer is currently on offer and a steal at £119.

Lakeland’s  adjustable drawer air fryer 

We think the new Lakeland Adjustable Drawer Air Fryer is a great alternative for the more expensive Ninja FlexDrawer Air Fryer we love and for several reasons. Both have a large drawer capacity that can be divided to allow you to cook two different things at once, to different temperatures and times, making them handy, multi-functional machines.

'This new adjustable Lakeland air fryer follows the trend that we've been seeing all year with our favourite small appliance: the opportunity to create more than one zone when cooking,' Molly Cleary, our e-commerce editor at Ideal Home and in-house air fryer tester and expert.

'Kicked off by Instant and Ninja with the Instant VersaZone and then the Ninja FlexDrawer, this new style has been an instant success thanks to its versatility. Rather than have to pick between two drawers or one, you can set your air fryer up however you'd like on any given day,' she says.

'That's why it's no surprise that Lakeland has created its own affordable version, which looks intriguing, especially with the slimmer top half. We will be testing this air fryer out in the future to see how it measures up against the likes of Instant and Ninja!' 

The Lakeland model and Ideal Home’s much-loved Ninja model don’t appear to be too far apart in capacities and capabilities, despite the Ninja's bulkier build and the Lakeland air fryer's slimmer construction.

While Lakeland’s affordable air fryer has a 9L capacity which can be split to create two 4.2L capacity drawer’s, Ninja’s has a larger 10.4L capacity, which can be split into 5.2L zones for two independent and multi-functional cooking zones.

Both full-size drawers are touted as being large enough to cook a fully-sized chicken in, and both allow you to time your food so that, if you are utilising the two drawers, your separate meal components can cooking at the same time.

Lakeland’s model has an auto shut-off feature if the machine isn’t used for a certain amount of time, and while Ninja’s doesn’t have that, it does switch to a low-power Standby mode if not used in a 10-minute time period.

Ninja’s model is arguably more sophisticated, with a digital touchscreen control panel and more pre-set cooking programmes than Lakeland (including roast, ‘max crisp’, prove, dehydrate and rehydrate), but that is reflected in the price of £269.99. Plus, Lakeland's air fryer does have a few handy pre-set programmes, including bake, dehydrate and rehydrate, as well as special modes for cooking fries and chicken.

But what Lakeland’s Adjustable Large Drawer Air Fryer may be lacking in the technical, it makes up for with a more affordable price of £149.99. And that’s before the current discount of £30, taking this air fryer to the very reasonable price of £119.99.

We can’t wait to try it out and see how it matches up!

Lakeland has launched a new and exclusive Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet, which embraces a similar method to the cult favourite Drying Pod, but in a larger, square frame. The best part? It's currently on sale for less than £100.

The best heated clothes airers have easily become the non-negotiable buy for the colder months to dry clothes quickly without having to rely on a tumble dryer. In recent years, we've endured periods where heated airers were like gold dust on the market, with Lakeland's models being at the top of the watch list for those looking for heated airers in stock.

The Lakeland Dry:Soon Drying Pod has always been a long-time favourite at Ideal Home, with our very own Deputy Digital Editor, Rebecca Knight, rating the brand's heated airers highly. So naturally, the launch of the new Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet is right up our street.

• Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet, was £129.99 now £90.99 at Lakeland

Lakeland Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet

Worries about energy bills are still as high as ever, so it's no surprise that there's no topic quite as hot as the heated airer vs dehumidifier debate for drying clothes indoors. If you've decided a heated airer is the best option for your home, Lakeland has released yet another versatile heated airer model to add to the equation for your consideration.

Lakeland's Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet features a powerful 1200W built-in fan heater and heat-trapping fabric cover to ensure your clothes dry as quickly and efficiently as possible. The sturdy stainless steel frame holds up to 10kg of laundry, with space for up to 12 items of clothing to hang across two racks.

If you're already familiar with Lakeland's Dry:Soon Drying Pod, then the Heated Cabinet isn't much different except in its silhouette. However, we actually think that this new, square design solves a lot of the problems we've encountered in the past with the cylindrical design.

'The Dry:Soon Drying Pod features in our guide to the best heated clothes airers because of its speedy drying times,' begins our Ecommerce Editor and in-house heated airer expert, Amy Lockwood.

'The only problem we have with it is the fact that it can only hold 12 hanging garments at once, and its cylindrical design can make hanging clothes a little tricky,' she continues. That's where the new design comes in clutch.

'The Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet still only holds 12 items, but the shape does look a lot easier to work with, with the rectangular design mimicking a classic wardrobe, allowing for clothes to slide in and out with ease.'

The new Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet, just like the Drying Pod, is easy to move once assembled and just as easy to pack away if you need to claim the extra space back. Not to mention, the cost of running a heated airer is cheaper than the cost of running a tumble dryer, setting you back just pennies per hour this winter season.

With cold and dreary weather continuing to sweep the UK, the chances of drying your laundry outside are still looking pretty low. So, do yourself a favour and consider snapping up a heated airer to wave those January woes away.

If Lakeland is best known for anything, it's (arguably) their inimitable heated clothes airers, which are among the best-heated clothes airers on the market. In fact, they're also a best-selling product among their customers, with people won over by how easy they are to use, and the fact that they dry wet clothes in mere hours.

However, there's one thing that is also undeniable about Lakeland's heated airers, and that's that they are pricey. While the most basic heated clothes airers out there start at around £40, Lakeland's options tip the scale (at their most expensive) at around £200, making them a definite investment for most of us. Plus you need to shell out extra for the cover to make them really worth it.

But Lakeland are currently offering some very rare discount Dry:Soon heated airer and cover bundles.

Lakeland's Dry:Soon heated airer deals

At the moment, Lakeland are offering some bundle deals on their heated airers. Typically you would need to buy the heated airer and the corresponding cover that speeds up drying time separately. Since these covers cost an additional £45, we were excited to see Lakeland offering a deal where you could buy both together and make a tidy saving. 

Lakeland is offering this bundle deal on the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer and the two smaller alternatives. 

While the savings on these bundles obviously won't allow you to recoup £100's, there are some of the best discounts you're likely to see on these Lakeland products, as they really aren't on offer that often.

It's unlikely that they'll see much more of a price reduction around Black Friday or similar sale events, so if you want to save a least a little bit of cash on these airers, we'd argue that now could be the best chance you'll have all year!

These heated airer's are really good. I know from hands-on experience testing the Deluxe Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer and the regular Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer at home. They were very easy to manoeuvre and fold away when not in use – and if you're wondering how expensive heated clothes airers are to run, you'll be pleased to know that most of Lakeland's airers cost less than 10p per hour.

But most importantly, the Lakeland airers are super speedy at drying clothes – generally, I found that (when turned on), the airers will dry a full load of laundry in around 4/5 hours. If you're wondering if the extra cover is worth it, it really is as you can slash that drying time down even further with one as it improves the heated airers efficiency. Plus they can be zipped up and used as storage covers when your heated airer is not in use.

So with winter having firmly made its arrival, and some rare discounts on the airers at the moment, why not give them a try?

In the midst of the current bed bug scare we’re facing in the UK, sales for everything bed bug-related have soared. Including this Lakeland mattress vacuum, with sales rising by 211% in the last week alone, according to the company’s report. Call it the bed bug epidemic effect. 

But is a mattress vacuum like the Lakeland Mattress Vacuum with UV what you need to combat bed bugs? Whether that’s for prevention or if you do indeed find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having the pests invading your home. 

We put it to our pest experts to advise whether we should also be running out and bagging this £49.99 gadget as many Brits have. This is what they had to say about it.

Is this Lakeland mattress vacuum what you need to combat bed bugs? 

As we find ourselves in the middle of a bed bug crisis, it’s only natural we’re searching for ways how to get rid of bed bugs. So is this mattress vacuum one of them?

While the Lakeland vacuum is not designed specifically to combat bed bugs, the company claims that the hot air from the vacuum heats the mattress, drying any moisture within as well as drying any present bed bugs which helps to eradicate them. In addition, the UV lamp function is apparently lethal to the pests, while the vibrations from the appliance disturb the creepy crawlies. But do they actually?  

‘Vacuuming is a key part of a broader process for ridding yourself of bed bugs but alone won’t be effective in combating the pests,’ says Dr. Jonathan Kirby, pest expert at NOPE!.

Mihail Velev, Fantastic Pest Control's pest technician, continues, ‘Dealing with a bed bug problem needs to be done quickly to prevent it from turning into an infestation and vacuuming your mattress is one of the first and most useful steps in managing such a problem. Although it won’t eliminate the problem entirely, vacuuming is a control measure.’

So while a mattress vacuum like this one is effective as one of the steps taken, even the best vacuum cleaner won’t completely and single-handedly rid you of bed bugs. 

How to use a mattress vacuum to get rid of bed bugs

If you do come across signs of bed bugs in your bed, then vacuuming your mattress should be one of the steps taken. But it should be done in tandem with other precautions.

‘It should follow on from washing all affected items at 60°C and come before treating affected areas with a pesticidal spray to kill bed bugs on contact,’ Dr. Jonathan recommends.

Mihail adds, ‘For better control, it’s recommended to vacuum regularly, at least once a week. When doing that, focus on the seams, folds, and crevices of your mattress where bed bugs tend to hide. Besides that, use a vacuum cleaner with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to ensure that even tiny particles, such as bed bug eggs, are captured, preventing them from being released back into the air.’ The Lakeland mattress vacuum is indeed fitted with a HEPA filter.

What you do after you hoover up the pests is as important as how you do it though. ‘If you hoover the bed bugs, you need to make sure there is a bag in the hoover and empty it immediately after you have hoovered otherwise the bed bugs will simply crawl back out,’ warns Sarah Beck, operations manager at The Pest Master.

‘Bed bugs can be spread around very easily and hoovering them up without changing the hoover bag or emptying is a sure-fire way of moving them around the property.’

Vacuum cleaning your mattress can also be done alongside steam cleaning it as steam does kill bed bugs.

Is the UV lamp function effective against bed bugs?

‘The UV light feature of the vacuum cleaner provides disruption and can damage the DNA of bed bugs, leading to their death,’ Mihail explains. ‘It can be effective in killing bed bugs, their eggs and nymphs on the surface of the mattress or other areas. Besides that, the UV light can act as a supplementary treatment method, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the vacuuming process.’ 

‘However, when using a vacuum cleaner with this feature, keep in mind that the UV light has limited penetration power and it will likely not reach bed bugs hidden in cracks, crevices or deep within the mattress.’

So while this gadget is effective in tackling the bed bug issue, it can’t deal with it alone. As Mihail says, ‘Because vacuuming alone won’t completely eliminate a bed bug infestation, it should be part of a comprehensive integrated pest management strategy that includes other methods, such as thermal treatments, insecticides or professional help.’

Not everyone will have a need for a countertop oven, so this is a somewhat niche cooking appliance. But if you’re looking for an oven to pop in an air bnb, holiday rental, or granny annexe, where you don’t anticipate much cooking will take place, it could fit the bill. Likewise, if you have an Aga that gets turned off in summer and you want a small oven that you can use in the warmer months, but hide away in winter when the Aga goes back on, this is ideal. I tried out this version from Lakeland to see if it can rival the best air fryers and to see if countertop ovens are about to be the next big thing.

Perhaps you enjoy large gatherings and need something that you can set up to give extra oven space when you’re catering for a crowd. Whatever your situation, this little oven offers a unique solution. At £199 it’s more expensive than some of the cheaper built-in ovens you can buy but with the added rotisserie function as well as a keep warm mode, and the ability to put it wherever suits, it’s a versatile option.

I tried it in my home for two weeks and cooked a variety of sweet and savoury foods to test out how it cooks, bakes and grills. And I absolutely had to try out the rotisserie too. It’s a decent little oven that’s up to the job for most cooking tasks. It’s small though, so some things need to be cooked in batches. And like my built-in oven, there are some foods that cook up better in an air fryer. So read on to see what foods it cooks up a treat and which ones had me reaching for the air fryer.

Lakeland Digital Mini Oven product specs: 

• Functions: top and bottom oven, top oven, bottom oven, keep warm mode, yoghurt mode, top grill, top and bottom grill, custom mode
• Settings: fan, light, rotisserie, timer
• Power: 1800 Watts
• Dimensions: 50 x 44 x 35cm
• Cable length: 90cm
• Accessories: baking tray with handle, wire rack, crumb tray, rotisserie rod with forks and handle, 
• Dishwasher safe accessories: no

Unboxing and setting up 

Since it’s bigger than one of the best microwaves, this oven does come in a cumbersome box. It’s awkward to lift and move around, and for some people, a second pair of hands might be useful to get it out of the box and onto the worktop..

As I opened it up, I found an inner box within the outer box and it has thick plastic corner protectors on each of the eight corners. While this does keep it well protected during delivery, it means there are several chunky plastic pieces to dispose of.

The oven itself is surrounded by cardboard inserts with a few plastic bags, which is all pretty easy to recycle. At first as I was unboxing it I thought some accessories were missing, but they’re packed underneath the lower protective cardboard insert - good job I checked thoroughly before phoning Lakeland!

Setting up isn’t too tricky, I plugged it in and slid the shelf and tray into place. There’s also a crumb tray that slides in below the bottom element. I left the rotisserie accessories inside the oven when I wasn’t using it and simply placed them on top, when cooking.

Before use, the manual advises running it at the maximum temperature for 15 minutes. And my advice is to open windows or do this near an extractor fan, because it did give off quite a strong chemical smell when I did this.

First impressions

The drop down door opens easily, but immediately I was struck by how uncomfortable the handle is to grip. It has hard plastic edges that feel like they need sanding down and smoothing off. Thankfully, it’s not something you hold onto for very long so I soon got over it.

The manual is basic, it doesn’t give any suggested uses for each of the settings, which I would like to have seen. It also would have been useful to get some suggested cooking times for the rotisserie. Nevertheless, it does contain all the information needed to set up and use the oven.

Overall, the controls are very straightforward to use, simply select the cooking function, using the bottom dial. Then the dial above it sets the timer which starts counting down after the oven has preheated. And once the timer finishes, it switches the oven off which is a great safety feature.

The top two dials allow you to set the temperatures individually for the top and bottom elements. The only other controls are four small buttons, one to start/ stop, one to engage the rotisserie, another to start the fan if using, and the last one switches on an internal light. Frustratingly though, all the little screens within the dials stay lit unless you switch it off at the plug.

Cooking

Baking granola

Baking up a batch of homemade granola is a weekly occurrence in my house, so it’s something I had to try. I switched on the top and bottom heat, set it to 160oC and put the fan on for good measure. After only two and a half minutes, it beeped to tell me it had preheated, which took me by surprise as I’d expected it to take a bit longer.

I popped the granola on the baking tray, but used baking paper since it’s not non-stick. I stirred it every 10 minutes, but it took a lengthy 40 minutes to brown sufficiently, which is double what I give it in my built-in oven. A week later I tried it again at the higher temperature of 180oC but it still took 40 minutes to brown.

Lately, I’ve been baking my granola using the bake function on my air fryer. It can cook a batch of granola in 15 minutes, so this oven felt a little slow in comparison. That said, it did the job, I’d just turn up the temperature dial even more next time to speed things up.

Baking cookies

After the granola was slow to cook, I was a little concerned about how a batch of cookies would turn out. My go-to cookie recipe advises cooking at 180oC for 8-10 minutes. I set the oven to top and bottom heat at 180oC and again, it took two and a half minutes to preheat.

I could only fit five cookies on the tray at a time, so ended up doing it in four batches because none of my other baking trays fit in the oven. Nevertheless, to my surprise each batch cooked to perfection in the suggested 10 minutes. They were perfectly cooked, but gooey and delicious, I couldn't ask for more.

Cooking potatoes

Yes, I know there’s an energy crisis and I know I could cook a baked potato in the microwave in a fraction of the time, but I simply love an oven-baked potato with that crisp crunchy skin that you only get when it’s cooked for a long time in the oven. So, I preheated the oven to 180oC and set the timer to 2 hours. To my delight, my two medium size (200g) potatoes were super crisp on the outside and fluffy in the centre in around 1 hour 45 minutes.

I also tried making roast potatoes, which is the kind of thing you might cook in this oven, if you’re buying it near Christmas to give you additional oven space. I preheated the oven to 220oC, which again took only 2 ½ minutes - I’m beginning to think it just has a default preheat time.

I added my par-boiled potatoes to a tray of hot oil. This time I also put the fan on to make sure they cooked evenly. After 20 minutes I attempted to turn them, but they had stuck to the tray so I had to be forceful with the spatula.

I turned them again after 40 minutes, and after 60 minutes they were done. Crisp, golden roast potatoes with fluffy centres - a great result. A word of warning though, both the door and the top of the oven get quite hot and I recorded 60-80oC on the top of the oven and 50oC on the door. Thankfully the handle and the controls stay cool.

Roasting vegetables

I chopped up a mixture of onion, pepper, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes and roasted them at 200oC for 40 minutes, then turned the temperature up to 220oC for a further 10 minutes. The result was slightly caramelised and lightly charred roasted vegetables, that made the perfect addition to pasta and a jar of pesto.

Grilling bacon

The highest temperature available when using the top grill is 180oC, so that’s the setting I went for. And to my surprise the preheat took 4 ½ minutes - not the standard 2 ½ that I’d got used to when using the oven. Anyway, I added bacon to the wire shelf, with the baking tray directly below to create a standard grill pan style arrangement. 

I followed the instructions in the manual and left the door open during grilling. The bacon took a respectable 10 minutes to reach my perfect combination of crisp rendered fat, with meat that’s still moist and soft. Admittedly, my air fryer does the job in around half the time, but the result was similar.

Cooking rotisserie chicken

Despite the instructions giving no advice on timings for the rotisserie, I decided to go big and do a whole chicken. I used the top oven only, since this is what’s recommended and preheated it to 180oC. Adding the chicken to the rod and tightening the forks onto either end was quite straightforward. But you do have to really push the forks firmly into the chicken to make sure it’s secured and doesn’t move around as the rotisserie spins. 

There’s a useful handle to help with loading the chicken into the rotisserie slots on either side of the oven. And once it’s in position, you just have to press the rotisserie button to start it turning. The internal light is really good and I kept switching it on to check on progress, luckily it switches itself off after a few minutes to save energy, because I kept obsessively watching it!

After 1 hour 20 minutes my meat probe confirmed that the chicken was thoroughly cooked inside. At this point I smothered it in chilli sauce and put it back in for a further 20 minutes to brown the skin further. The finished chicken didn’t have super crisp or overly browned skin, but the chilli sauce meant it was very tasty and the meat was very moist and succulent.

Heating frozen breaded foods

Lastly, when making a lazy caesar salad, I cooked up some breaded chicken tenders and some Southern Fried breaded Quorn nuggets. I’d usually cook both of these in an air fryer and unfortunately the results in the oven didn’t live up to the crunchy, crumb and speedy air fryer cook time. Even though I set the oven to 220oC, the chicken took the best part of 30 minutes and the Quorn needed almost 25 minutes. And neither had the texture we’ve come to enjoy from our air fryer. But if you’re used to cooking things like this in an oven, I’d say it’s a comparable result - if a little slower.

Cleaning 

I’ve got mixed feelings about cleaning this oven. On one hand I love the removable crumb tray in the base of the oven, it slides out and is a great solution to the problem of cleaning under the bottom element. However, the manual doesn’t say any of the accessories can be washed in the dishwasher, which is annoying and I would have preferred a non-stick tray.

The stainless steel interior of the oven is pretty easy to keep clean if you regularly wipe it over. But I’d advise using baking paper on the tray to avoid things sticking, which will be tough to remove. And although the exterior has a glossy finish, I didn’t notice too many greasy fingerprints accumulating and when they do, they wipe away easily.

How does it compare to similar models?

As I’ve already mentioned, for some foods you might be better off with an air fryer such as the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1. It’s £50 cheaper at around £149.99 and can cook brilliantly crisp breaded foods, plus it’s a great option for chips and bacon. Furthermore, with additional functions such as bake, grill, roast and dehydrate mean it’s a multi-purpose appliance. It’ll take up less space on your worktop too, but the downside is that it doesn't have the internal capacity that the Lakeland Mini Oven offers.

Alternatively, you could opt for a multi-cooker for maximum flexibility. The Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 offers air frying as well as grill and bake functions but has the added benefit of being able to saute, pressure cook, and slow cook - it’s a real work horse that’ll earn its place in your kitchen. It’s a similar price to the Lakeland Mini Oven, but again the capacity is far smaller so it won’t suit everyone.

Should you buy the Lakeland Digital Mini Oven? 

This oven did surprise me with its ability to bake delicious cookies and create crisp roast potatoes and jacket potatoes. And the rotisserie function is an enticing added extra for meat lovers. I’d say it’s certainly up the job if what you need is a small oven for occasional use. But keep in mind that it can’t take full size baking and roasting trays.

If you’re simply looking for something small, you might be better off with a multi-functional air fryer, but it depends on what you intend to cook. For baking cakes, cookies and pies the Lakeland Mini Oven will trump an air fryer every time, so my best advice is to consider exactly what you want to use it for so that you can choose the most appropriate appliance.

About this review, and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK and was allowed to keep this Lakeland Digital Mini Oven after the review.

Helen used this cooker at home to make meals and snacks for herself and her husband. She tried to use as many of the functions as possible and used it in place of her usual built-in oven and trusty air air fryer.

One of our top-rated air fryers, the Lakeland Digital Crisp Air Fryer is currently on offer for under £70 – it's a deal not to be missed.

When it comes to the best air fryers, we think Lakeland's Digital Crisp Air Fryer is a formidable competitor that definitely deserves more of a spotlight. In our review, we gave it a glowing 4.5 stars for its affordability and size.

The model sports a good middle-sized capacity and sleek touchscreen design that's sure to look fabulous on any kitchen worktop.

Lakeland Digital Crisp Air Fryer

The Lakeland Digital Crisp Air Fryer is currently on offer for only £69.99 in-store and on the Lakeland website, down from its usual £119.99 price point.

We love this air fryer for its user-friendliness and convenience, especially when you consider the things an air fryer does better than an oven. It's a perfect size for serving up to 2-3 people, and the detachable basket makes the job of cleaning an air fryer not so daunting.

If you haven't managed to get your hands on an air fryer yet, despite the hype, we think there's no better time than the present – and we have people in our team who can vouch for this quality model.

Ideal Home's Deputy Digital Editor, Rebecca Knight, uses this air fryer as her main kitchen appliance and it's safe to say that she loves it.

'I've been using the Lakeland digital air crisp since November and it's safe to say I'm obsessed. I'm an air fryer newbie, but it is so simple and intuitive to use with the digital screen and a number of presets to help guide you as you get used to cooking with it. I love the round sleek shape which slots neatly into a small corner of my kitchen.'

'The round basket is occasionally a pain as most extra air fryer gadgets aren't made for that shape, but it does so much already it's only been a minor issue.'

'It is used at least once if not twice a day in my house, whether that's whipping up a batch of chips or warming up a croissant. The beeping noise at the end is so loud, not even my partner can miss it when he's at the other end of the house.'

This air fryer is definitely worth considering (especially at its currently discounted price point) and could quickly become a staple in your kitchen.

As we welcome the rise of the chillier months, we're also regrettably faced with the fact that hanging up your washing outside is no longer a suitable feat. Therefore, we think it's safe to say that it's officially heated clothes airer season – and if you're yet to jump on the wave, we recommend doing it sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.

It's no secret that homeowners and renters alike have previously flocked and wiped shelves clean to get their hands on the best heated clothes airer money can buy, especially given that they're a foolproof solution to save energy at home – which is in need of more than ever now that the (albeit, rogue) heatwaves are long behind us.

If you were around last year to see the heated clothes airer craze in full motion, then you likely remember the frenzy that led to a shortage of heated clothes airers virtually everywhere. Lakeland's sellout heated airers, in particular.

So, if you'd rather skip out on a repeat of last year where you had to search high and low for where to find heated clothes airers in stock, here's where to nab our favourite Lakeland pick-ups now so you can save money on the cost to run a tumble dryer and dry your clothes fast this autumn season.

Our favourite Lakeland heated clothes airers to shop now or regret later

With rainy weather returning to the UK, there are likely many of us who plan to turn our heating back on and stay inside our homes rather than go out. In fact, Lakeland has reported a 117% week-on-week increase in sales for heated clothes airers – and we're only just entering the third week of September.

Given the heated clothes airer's reputation of being a back-to-back sellout (irrespective of brand or retailer), there's no better time than now to add one to your autumn shopping list.

The Ideal Home team can vouch for how their heated clothes airers were game-changers during last year's autumn and winter months.

Our Deputy Digital Editor, Rebecca Knight, is a proud owner of the Lakeland Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer and our Ecommerce Editor, Molly Cleary, has the Electric Heated Clothes Airer from B&Q which they're ready to dust off again for the colder weather.

Whether you've got the budget to invest in the Lakeland Dry:Soon cult favourites or are looking for the cheapest heated clothes airer to run and are looking to snag one at a price tag similar to Aldi's heated clothes airer, rest assured that there's something for everyone.

Where else can you find heated clothes airers in stock?

• Robert Dyas: Get the Haden 194138 Heated Winged Airer for just £40
• Very: Get the Our House Winged Heated Airer for £65
• Argos: Get the heated electric indoor clothes airer for £55
• ManoMano: Get the extra large winged freestanding heated clothes airer for only £49.99
• John Lewis: Get the 3-tier heated indoor clothes airer for £100
• Studio: Get the Black and Decker heated winged airer for £50
• Amazon: Find heated clothes airers from £25.50

So, the ball is in your court. If you've got your sights set on joining team 'heated clothes airers' or are looking to upgrade, consider this your sign to do so before it gets too late.