Best Toaster Ovens
Perfect for large families, this countertop oven from Oster comes equipped with convection technology, which means it distributes heat quickly and evenly for thorough cooking and excellent results. The oven provides a large interior that can accommodate a frozen pizza, a whole chicken, a casserole, or even a pan of crescent rolls or chocolate-chip cookies. Large interior can accommodate pizzas, casseroles, cookies, and many more meals.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It toasts my English muffins and bagels just the way I like them, and I'm glad to be able to bake foods without the greater heat that my stove adds to the kitchen. A 12-inch pizza will fit fine inside, and a 9x13 pan will fit as long as it does not have handles. I am attaching photos: 9x13 pan with unit door open and door closed, 12-inch pizza pan with door open and door closed, and broiler pan with the unit door open."
"The best aspect with this thing is that it actually gets to, and holds within ten degrees, the temperature that its set for! It comes on automatically when you press the start button and it shuts off when the timer runs out. The ovens door closes tight and seems to seal pretty good and the rack inside fits tight enough in its groove that it can be pulled out a few inches without tilting down making it easier to take out what ever your cooking. Its no big deal but it makes it a bit awkward keeping it out of the way when moving the oven. The other thing is the crumb tray fell out of it first time I went to set it on the counter and landed edge wise on my bare foot. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes to heat up and lightly toast a pan of Honey Buns. At 350 they will be hot and a little soft, at 400 they will start getting a little crunchy on the edges and the frosting turning to caramel. Some of the smaller toaster ovens will toast faster and the bigger ones take a lot longer of course. To get shocked by this toaster oven you would have to take the cover off of it, get soaking wet and stand in a puddle and just to make sure have one hand on the kitchen faucet then grab the wires inside the case. Even then you would have to make contact with a bare section of the hot wire coming into the oven. In other words, if you use this toaster oven in the manner that it was designed to be used it is impossible to be shocked by it. The only way it could be a fire hazard is if you stacked a bunch of papers on top of it and had some fall down behind it then used it at 450 degrees. However, the handle stays close to normal room temperature and is perfectly safe to use when the oven is hot. I don't know what CDL has against this toaster oven or why he has gone to such length to make it sound like it was designed to kill you and burn down your house to hide it. It has all the same safety features that are required by law and is just as safe to use as any of its competitors are, and probably safer than a lot of them. But since I have 6 different clocks in easy view in my living room and kitchen this is no big problem."
"One tip, in the old unit I used to keep the tray in for everything and use aluminum foil so I din't have to clean to after cooking. Cook without it and you only have to remove the slide out bottom tray which is aluminum and clean it in the sink. Try using some of the presets, they are pretty good and you can adjust the toast darkness with the up and down arrows to where you like it."
"Mom loves it!"
Yes. Yes. Yes. Wattage. 1800. 1800. 1800. Heating Elements. 4 (quartz). 4 (quartz). 5 (quartz). Convection. No. No. Yes. Pre-set functions. 8. 8. 9. Accessories. Baking pan. Baking pan, broil rack. Baking pan, broil rack, pizza pan Compare Breville's Smart Ovens Why the Breville Mini Smart Oven? Smarter, better, faster, more efficient than your average toaster oven Element IQ Variable Power Distribution The Mini Smart Oven is equipped with Element IQ cooking technology, which adjusts the power of four individual quartz heating elements to cook food more evenly and quickly. In addition to dynamically distributing heat to different areas, the Mini Smart Oven can adjust the wattage of its heating elements for even more cooking flexibility. For example, toast needs to be cooked evenly on both sides without drying out the inside, so the Mini Smart Oven uses high radiated heat from above and below (1800W distributed between the four elements) to crisp the outside quickly. The little oven that can Small but powerful, the Breville Mini Smart Oven has many of the same features as the larger Breville Smart Ovens, but requires less counter space and and less-preheat time to accomplish the same tasks. Product Features Easy-clean, stainless steel housing with ribbed plate warming tray Non-Stick Interior with 3 rack positions 11” pizza, 4-slice toast capacity (0.45 cu ft. interior) Tempered glass door 4 quartz elements with Element IQ and 1800 watts of power for smart cooking Function dial with 8 pre-set cooking functions: bake, broil, roast, cookies, reheat, pizza, bagel, toast Back-lit easy-read LCD that calculates the correct the time and temperature, illuminating orange during preheating and cooking and blue once the cycle is complete "A little bit more" lets you extend the cooking time just enough to get the perfect result Easily removable pull-out crumb tray. Function dial with 8 pre-set cooking functions and each element adjusts automatically for the setting you choose, to deliver the right cooking temperature at the right time for the meal you are creating.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I find it annoying when you just want to pop the oven open to check what you are cooking that the whole thing slides out...and in my experience in the past it would sometimes catch and the door wouldn't close nicely when you wanted to close it back up...esp with a pan of food on it. I actually bought a little red silicone tool made to push and pull the hot oven rack in and out with and I store it in a small metal magnetic basket that is stuck to the side of the oven. The only thing I would want to make this better would be that Breville made one of their bamboo boards that fit the top of this oven. I bought a board that fits PERFECTLY on top of this little oven...the Architec Gripperwood Gourmet Sheesham Cutting Board, 10 by 15-Inch (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ZGN8Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and a set of 2 Silicone Baking Sheet Mat Liners 8½" X 11" (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F2LRL3Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) that I placed underneath the board for heat protection. Works WONDERFULLY....adds counter space, looks great, and it prevents the problems involved with my children turning the oven on when they've left something on the top of the oven...like the book my oldest was reading while making herself some toast a while back!"
"Now to the cooking: First thing I did after following all the directions to prepare the oven for first use, was broil a 1.5" thick filet mignon. That thickness put it very close to the quartz cooking rods and I was a little nervous about how that would work out. I went by Omaha Steaks' cooking chart to determine the time and got a perfect result. Unlike my stove's oven, the door should be all the way closed when using the Breville's broiler. After cooking the filet, I wiped the inside of the oven and the glass door to remove grease. I also wiped off the oven's rack and pulled out the crumb tray to see if it had any grease on it. The toasting can look a little spotty and the underside is not as dark as the top side, but the proof is in the eating. If I'd closed my eyes and eaten the toast, I would not have noticed the spotty look or the paler underside. Some have mentioned their fear that the heat of the oven will harm the power cord. Another thing about the cord is its design: it's kind of hard to describe, but it's made so you can put your finger through a loop to pull the plug from the wall. Someone also mentioned the open areas around the door as if that meant there was a poor fit. I wouldn't put my hand on the stove top or door when baking or broiling something. I had to go to Breville's website to order the broiler pan and rack (I wasn't pleased that the shipping costs more than the item). I have no children in my house, but if I did, I wouldn't let them use the oven until they're mature and have been carefully taught the rules to follow to avoid burns. Some complaints I've seen in a few reviews indicate the customer did not read the instructions before firing up the oven. There's an item I recommend you buy along with the oven: Winco 3-Prong Star Ice Tong, Stainless Steel. ANOTHER UPDATE: It took me a month to notice that the door handle on my oven was a tad crooked. Up close to it, I didn't notice it, but one day I glanced at the oven from across the room and it jumped out that the handle wasn't straight. There was no way for me to adjust it and it wasn't a big deal, but I did email Breville to tell them they had a quality control issue. The next day a Breville rep called and told me they were sending me a new oven. Update after years of use: See that photo I posted of the side of the oven showing some sort of staining I couldn't wash off?"
"I can't really speak on even toasting because I don't like eating hard toasted bread, but this toaster nicely crisps up my bread and I love it! Cons: Cannot mount under cupboard. Cannot place anything on top of it during and immediately after use. ( burned a plastic lid just by toasting something) although someone on here placed a wooden cutting board on top and that would work!"
Panasonic "FlashXpress" Technology Toaster Oven featuring 1300Watt double "Infrared Light" for cooking up to 40% faster than conventional toaster ovens, Instant heat eliminates preheating, 6 cooking menus with illustrated preset buttons, Automatically calculates the cooking time for a variety of foods: Bread (Toast, Waffles, Bagels), Frozen Food (Pizza, Hash Browns) and Reheat (Rolls, Breads, Leftovers), Digital Timer (up to 25 minutes and Temperature Settings (250 Degree F to 500 Degree F), Square Shaped Inner Tray which is perfect for pizza up to 9" in diameter of 4 slices of bread, Removable Crumb Tray for easy cleaning, Reminder Beep lets you know when food is done, Interior Light allows you to view your food while cooking, Measures 10 1/4" (H) x 13" (W) x 12" (D), 7.5 lbs., White. Smart toaster oven with automatically calculating cooking time function and control over the heat for variety foods.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"UPDATE: Oh, and pardon me for taking so long to mention that it's the only appliance that can reheat chilled leftover pizza without burning it like a regular toaster oven or turning it rubbery and limp like a microwave oven."
"I broke one of the infrared bulbs (while cleaning it) last week. Fortunately I found out that they have started to make this oven again. They had stopped (or at least stopped importing them) when I checked a couple of years ago for a friend of mine who wanted one. But this "new model" is exactly the same as my "old" one except the name on a couple of buttons has changed, and also it's now silver instead of white. If you're looking for something of that sort, then I highly recommend you check out one of the Breville or Black & Decker models. This Panasonic toaster oven will NOT cook a chicken. This oven works by infrared light. You can Google to find out exactly how this works, if you want the specifics. This oven works WONDERFULLY for the following items: * Toast - using whatever bread you like. however thick you like. * Toasting bagels or English muffins. * Heating pastries or croissants. * Baking biscuits (Pillsbury frozen buttermilk biscuits are my favorite). * Heating frozen appetizers such as breaded cheese sticks, chicken fingers, etc. Either a small whole pizza or a slice of a large pizza. * Frozen garlic bread. * Cookies. Though the guide says that you can bake cakes and pies in it. The oven has some preset buttons on the front where you can also choose from "light" (shorter cooking time) to "dark" (longer cooking time). If you are not using the preset buttons, this toaster oven has a timer up to 25-minutes. If you want to bake something on the "higher-end" of the timer, then use the "down arrow" to start with and it will go from 25-minutes backwards."
"Great (but funky) toaster oven. Other toaster ovens where you pop a corelle plate in and heat it up aren't quite so aggressive at heating up the plate itself. This thing is great for "combo cooking" 1-2 minutes in the microwave, 2-3 minutes in the toaster oven and almost everything will work great! Because there is almost literally zero pre-heating step for the oven, a regular toaster oven might take 2-3 minutes to come to temperature, while this one will immediately give you 2-3 minutes of full-temp cooking time. 6) I'm a huge fan of toaster ovens vs. toasters. I'm not going to microwave pizza rolls or cheese sticks (soggy, unevenly heated), and I'm not going to pre-heat a full oven for 5-10m to cook 5-10 cheese sicks for 10-15 minutes. Most toaster ovens have an issue that it's convenient to put things on top of them, but for cooking times of less than 10m I haven't noticed any extreme heat, with ~6 inches clearance around the device."
"After less than two months, toaster has malfunctioned, due to bad timer -- it takes two full toasting cycles at "dark" for medium toast."
"We bought the toaster in Jan this year and initially we loved it as it doesn't take up much space on the counter and toasts very well."
Best Toasters
Cuisinart's Metal Classic Toaster has a smooth brushed stainless housing with polished chrome and black accents. Product Features Smooth brushed stainless housing with polished chrome and black accents Custom control: 6-setting browning dials, dual reheat, defrost and bagel buttons with LED indicators 1-1/2-inch wide toasting slots Extra-lift carriage lever Slide-out crumb tray Convenient cord wrap Instruction book Limited 3-year warranty Toasting Tips Toasting is a combination of cooking and drying of the bread. Breads with very uneven surfaces (such as English muffins) will require a higher toast setting. Never insert any hard or sharp instruments into the slot, as this could damage the toaster and cause a safety hazard. Product Dimensions The Cuisinart 2-Slice Metal Classic Toaster measures approximately 10.75" x 7.13" x 7.13". Custom control: 6-setting browning dials, dual reheat, defrost and bagel buttons with LED indicators.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The reheat button comes in handy, especially when I space out - which happens a little more often these days ;) There are lots of toasters that claim to have a retro look but this is unique in it's old school feel. If it were me, I'd send the unit back in a New York second because Cuisinart needs the feedback, and more than that, the reviewers need a toaster they can count on."
"will burn the toast on the highest setting which is actually good because we sometimes buy the whole seed bread from the local bread shop and that would take two passes in the old toaster but once is enough on high in this one."
"I like the bottom button on either row; it is a toast cancel/release button. If you get impatient or worry that your toast is burning you just push the button on either side of the toaster and it cancels the heat and pops up the toast. You can literally pop your bread or bagel from the freezer and defrost it in the toaster."
"Nice looking and easy to clean."
"The knobs for browning the toast are calibrated a lot different than the previous one I owned."
"Our previous Cuisinart toaster from about 15 years ago was much heavier and substantial."
"The toast appeared to be good, but when I went to move the toaster, I almost burned my hands. One would think making a toaster by what I have always considered a reputable company would not be that hard."
"It's fairly common to get a piece of bread dark brown on one side, and almost white on the other."
Best Convection Ovens
Yes. Yes. Yes. Wattage. 1800. 1800. 1800. Heating Elements. 4 (quartz). 4 (quartz). 5 (quartz). Convection. No. No. Yes. Pre-set functions. 8. 8. 9. Accessories. Baking pan. Baking pan, broil rack. Baking pan, broil rack, pizza pan Compare Breville's Smart Ovens Why the Breville Smart Oven? The Breville Smart Oven began with the simple fact that different foods require different methods of heating: some, like baked goods, need to be cooked evenly; others, like meats, need to be seared on top. An oven that does the thinking for you The Smart Oven is equipped with Element IQ cooking technology, which adjusts the power of the five individual quartz heating elements to cook food more evenly and quickly. In addition to dynamically distributing heat to different areas, the Smart Oven can adjust the wattage of its heating elements for even more cooking flexibility. For example, broiling requires high heat from above in order to melt and brown, so the Smart Oven activates 1500W of high heat from the top elements of the oven. On the other hand, toast needs to be cooked evenly on both sides without drying out the inside, so the Smart Oven uses high radiated heat from above and below (1800W distributed between four elements) to crisp the outside quickly. Product Features Easy-clean, stainless steel housing with ribbed plate warming tray Non-Stick Interior with 3 rack positions 13” pizza, 6-slice toast capacity Tempered glass door Magnetic auto-eject rack 5 quartz elements with Element IQ for smart cooking Back-lit easy-read LCD that calculates the correct the time and temperature, illuminating orange during preheating and cooking and blue once the cycle is complete Function dial with 9 pre-set cooking functions: bake, broil, roast, cookies, reheat, pizza, bagel, toast, warm Temperature and time dial with auto shut-off and sound alert Easily removable pull-out crumb tray. 9 present functions: Toast, Bagel, Bake, Roast, Broil, Pizza, Cookies, Reheat and Warm.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"After setting up and doing the 15 minute burn in I used the oven twice for some hamburgers and toasted buns. After a 15 minutes unplugged the display has returned to normal (I have not tried to recreate the issue). It works well when you don't have to mess with glitchy LCD screens and over sensitive dials. UPDATE: After some more time with the oven I decided to get a thermometer and make sure I was getting the right temperature to see if the other reviews had some truth. The thermometer I just purchased reads roughly 100 or more degree cooler than what the ovens display says it should be at when the preheat is completed."
"The first oven had temp accuracy issues - as verified by two thermometers: an analog oven thermometer as well as a professional thermoworks digital probe thermometer (rated to 700F). The second oven was fine with temp control, but its internal fan didn't work. Breville to this point has been supportive to keep replacing these ovens, but I've just had a very negative experience with a Breville support rep. She claims that the oven is working fine, and that the oven will never sync with the temperatures shown by home thermometers. I very much appreciate their support policies to replace the ovens, but the bottom line is that each of the three ovens I've gone through have never worked as they should."
"Purchased in 2010 and it was in use daily, but today the side melted and caught on fire where one of the bottom heating elements meets the side."
Best Rotisseries & Roasters
Weber's kettle barbecue rotisserie includes a heavy-duty electric motor, a wooden rod handle, and (more importantly) a counterbalance for smooth turning and less motor wear. When your turkey is too heavy for the rotisserie, the rotisserie turns until the heaviest part of the bird gets to the top of the rotisserie. Porcelain enameled ring elevates the rotisserie to optimize grilling space.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I thought there was a fit problem with the collar extension and the kettle before I put the chicken on, but the next day it all seemed to settle in after the metal had cooled."
"If you don't plan to keep the rotisserie attached to the kettle during non use, you can use the cover for the 22 inch kettle."
"Weber rotisserie is a fabulous addition to my grill."
"The thing that I was concerned about was reading how someone felt that the rotisserie didn't fit their grill like it should. Be sure it being put on a 22-1/2 grill, don't expect it to fit like a glove and you won't be disappointed."
"This is my second one, because I finally left my first one at my parent's house, as they kept askingme to bring it to cook Turkeys and Prime Ribs - you can do a 20lb Turkey with 10lbs of Charcoal and it will be the Juiciest bird you will EVER have in your life - No matter the size of the rib roast - 90 minutes and you have medium on the ends and rare in the middle so the whole housefull is happy."
"When I was growing up we always went to the market or fairs where the smell of rotisserie chicken would fill your nostrils and get you mouth watering before you actually see the stand where they would sell it. Later on, my parents replaced their oven and bought a model with a spit and since then we could create the food ourselves."
"Towards the end you can push them closer towards the middle for more heat and crisping of the skin.... Can't wait to use it for a turkey, ham, and ribeye roast for the holidays."
"I previously thought these were only really good for rotisserie chicken - and after using this to make chicken I can confirm, yes, this is probably the best way to cook a whole chicken."