the Best Toaster oven

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fast convection cooking, consistently good results

Cons: cooking capacity, beep has one setting = loud, lacks timer shutoff, missing safety stop

The Bottom Line: 
It deserves a spot on your kitchen counter.

Author's Review
Cuisinart Convection Oven Review

I never liked baking, broiling, heating food in the big oven. It takes a while to pre-heat, feels like a waste of electricity when I only have one small item inside, and cleaning up can be a mess. And who cooks meals with a microwave oven? Now with evidence of how bad microwave oven usage is on the food you eat sprouting up everywhere, I don't even re-heat with the microwave anymore.

This little oven is great for personal sized or couple sized meals. Its the best toaster oven I've come across.

Learning curve:
10-15 minutes, easy

Everyday usage:
As easy to using as a microwave.

Toasting breads:
Features one touch, customizable settings. Defrost, shade selection, 4-6 slice setting, reheat

Allows you to configure the shades you prefer with consistent results, and a precise countdown timer of when you can expect your toast to be ready. Has a special bagel/thick bread setting and also a re-heat setting for when you toasted but didn't get to enjoy in time for the toast to be nice and warm. One other setting is a 'defrost' before toast setting - very thoughtful of them to include it as I often preserve an extra loaf of bread in the freezer to enjoy later.

Toasting not perfect, but good enough:
Yes, the unit does toast both sides of the bread. However, based on the recommended rack settings I've consistently gotten one side shades darker than the other side. However the crunchiness of the toast seems to be well distributed to both sides, and its more of a visual thing. In other words, the evenness of the toasting is not perfect, but it'll satisfy the average toaster more than any other toaster oven. In fact, if I don't look at the other side I wouldn't know the difference at the default toast setting. I'm sure your mileage will vary with the different type of toast you put in. I don't eat white bread so my tests have only been with wheat, and grainy breads.

I suspect the people that have really un-even toast did not read the user's guide and set up the rack in the recommended position.

The toasting however is consistent from toast to toast inside toaster, and set to set at the same settings.

Smart Toasting:
If I toast more than one set of toast, its smart enough to adjust for the current temperature and factor that into the toasting for subsequent sets of toast.

Convection baking:
This is what this unit is all about. The results are simply what you expect them. In the manual it claims that you can adjust the rated temperature a full 25 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the normal baking temperature when the convection feature is used. Also expect to bake about 35% faster than normal baking.

Temperature is adjustable in 25 degree increments up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Results are consistent which shows that Cuisinart really put their heads together to get that precise baking environment temperature. This feature alone is what sets this toaster oven apart from other toaster ovens and makes it a serious small sized oven for all your personal baking needs.

I've found that yes baking seems to be faster, and adjusting the temperature lower gives me satisfactory results while possibly saving a little electricity and time.

Timer:
There is a timer, and when used for baking is only audible. It does not shut off the toaster oven after the timer runs out, but it does give a very noticeably loud set of beeps. (When toasting breads, the unit shuts itself off.)

Contrary to what someone else wrote, you can adjust the timer while its working. But only to increase minutes or hours and not decrease them. However simply pressing timer again resets the timer to 0:00 and then add minutes and hours as necessary from there.

The unit has a safety shut off which will turn the unit off after 4 hours of operation. This is not adjustable and is completely automatic.

My shutdown timer:
I use a remote control appliance plug for turning the unit off when I hear the beep. It features a countdown timer as well so I can set it and forget it. Just look under X10 or any other home control hardware to accomplish the same thing.

Beeping:
The beeping is rather loud compared to conventional ovens. Its an electronic beep and beeps a few times when any of the following happens:

1. Toast is ready. (about 3.5 minutes for regular toast starting from start to finish)
2. Timer countdown reaches 0.
3. Desired temperature reached. (oven is pre-heated).

Cleanup:
Cleanup is simple enough. The interior and tray is not non-stick treated so if it gets a greasy in there expect to give it a good scrubbing with a damp soft cloth. The bottom tray slides out making it easy to empty the crumbs and the majority of the mess from day to day use.

The manual specifically asks you to not use aluminum foil to cover the drip tray or grill because it can cause a fire. I've been using my oven for a few months and cover the crumb tray with aluminum foil with no fires - but you've been warned.

The brushed steel exterior is easy to get dirty with fingerprints and grease. This is remedied by simply not handling the unit or touching the top and sides. It comes with 2 handles on the side for easy location adjustment.

Cooking capacity:
Internal cooking dimensions: 11.5-in. (L) x 9.5-in. ( D) x 5.25-in. (H)

Build Quality:
The unit is made in China like just about everything these days. 3 Year warranty says a lot. I have the brushed stainless unit. It is reasonably well put together for the price that you pay. I don't think it will survive a fall from the counter unscathed but it shouldn't break apart from normal day to day use. The first thing to break on the unit is likely to be the fan or the electronic touchpad with a tactile feel.

People that have the white version will no doubt see a shift in the white color after years of use because the unit gets so hot.

Other notes:
Its HOT!
The oven gets really hot during operation. I have the brushed chrome unit and the exterior of the unit can get hot enough to easily cook an egg on. I do not believe there is any insulation between the inside of my unit and the stainless exterior.

Bottom rack has no stop on it, so you have to be careful when removing things with the rack position in the low setting. I can't think of a reason why they did not put a safety stop there.

Tips:
1. Buy a wireless thermometer so that you know when the food is done. It can take a while figuring out how much faster the convection feature finishes cooking your food.
2. Get a wireless appliance control module so that you can shut off the oven from another room. Probably $30.00, but worth it if you like to 'set it and forget it.'
3. Read the manual for the proper rack positions to use.
4. Use one single layer of aluminum foil to cover the removable crumb tray for easy cleaning.
5. Exercise caution when removing food from the lowest rack setting as it has no safety stop.
6. Keep a set of oven mits nearby. Since there is not a whole lot of room in the oven a slight miscalculation can give you a nasty burn when removing or checking on food. I recommend the new silicone oven mitts.

Reasons why you should not buy this:
1. Its not big enough (for baking regular take and bake pizzas.)
2. You find the beeping really annoying - and I can see why this could be a problem.
3. You're waiting to try out the new B&D infrared toaster oven - who knows that could trump this unit.
4. You have young kids that like to toast bread, but are afraid they might be careless and burn themselves.
5. You need a readily wall-mountable solution.

Bottom Line: Does it deserve a spot on your kitchen counter?

Yes. Its a real quality toaster and at the price premium you really do get what you pay for. I use mine every single day.