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Best Large Convection Toaster Oven – Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie

My friend has been raving about this toaster oven of hers, so I decided to take a look at it and if it is that good, write a review on her behalf. We went to her dinner party the other day, and she made two 12-inch pizzas and a roast chicken with this Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie.

Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie

At First Sight
My first impression was, “my, this is a large toaster oven”. The interior measures about a foot deep, 13 inches wide and 10 inches between burner coils. It is two-tiered and you can bake two 12-inch pizzas at one time.

Convection and Rotisserie
This Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven comes with rotisserie spit, forks and handle. Just take out the racks and you can rotisserie up to 5lb chicken in it. The fat drips off and is collected beneath, and the meat turns out juicy and tender. If you don’t use the rotisserie, you can roast up to 7lbs bird.

The convection feature works well. It saves a lot of cooking time and this definitely mean saving costs as well.

Not a Proper Toaster
This is more like a small oven, really. Imagine using this to toast 4 slices of bread when it can bake two 12-inch pizzas. Even logic will tell you it’s going to take up too much time and energy for simple toast.

Great Price
At first I thought it must be expensive to buy this Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven since it was larger and comes with convection and rotisserie, but my friend gleefully informed us that she got it for $85. It was perfect for her because she has a small kitchen and she has been using it to cook practically everything.

I checked at Amazon and this Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie is definitely selling for $85 (at a discount) right now plus free shipping.

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Best Compact Toaster Oven – Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven

Toaster ovens are a combination of a toaster and an oven, sort of like a more versatile toaster and a smaller oven. They come in various sizes but if you want a really space saving one for basic use, go for the Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven. This is a really ‘cute’ toaster oven.

Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven

Compact and Great for Basic Toasting
Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven takes up less than one square foot of your kitchen counter top, it’s really compact and built with two levels, which makes it about 13 inches high. It is hot when being used though, so you should expect to leave some space around it, and never store stuff on top of toaster ovens.

That being said, this toaster oven is just for toasting and reheating. Don’t think about baking a pizza in it, because it won’t fit. It’s all VERY basic, I must stress again, and nice if you need it to toast bread, open face sandwiches, bagels and the like.

No Temperature Control
Yes, you got that right. There is no temperature control on this cute little thing. But since I wouldn’t use this toaster oven to bake anything, there’s no need for it. Once you got the time right for your preferred brownness of toast, you can just set the 15-minute timer to the time needed every time. You can see inside the toaster oven so no worries about getting a piece of charred bread.

What I Didn’t Like
The Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven is not easy to clean. I like to keep my toasters clean because having burnt bread crumbs inside is totally unsightly, but this toaster oven is designed in a way that bread crumbs will fall all over instead of sitting nicely inside the crumb tray. It takes me more time to clean it out every time compared to other toaster ovens.

All in all, I think another reviewer summed it up well, that this is more of a toaster, and less of an oven. The Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven is a little bit pricey for its value, but it’ll serve you well if your purpose is to get a toaster that will do some reheating as well, and takes up little space. Read more reviews here:

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Best Convection Toaster Oven – Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler

I’m so happy I got the Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler! It is definitely the best toaster oven ever. This toaster oven is more like a mini-oven. Since I got used to using toaster ovens to prepare all possible meals, having this toaster oven is just perfect.

Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler

Great Features:
1. Convection
Convection fan keeps the whole interior at the same temperature by rotating the air, and this really saves cooking time plus the food is done evenly. Saving cooking time also meant saving energy costs.

2. Digital controls and LCD display
There are people who love to know the exact temperature while cooking and want their toast out at the same level of brownness every time, so the Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler lets you punch in temperature and shows it in the LCD display. I didn’t mind because I’m the sort that goes for personal taste but it’s quite fun to use digital controls instead of dials.

3. Fits 12″ pizza pan
The interior is large enough for everything I would want to cook. The whole toaster oven is 16 inches x 17-3/4 inches x 9-5/8 inches. I have used it to bake pizzas, roast chicken and make batches and batches of cookies and muffins. It’s so great to use!

4. Heats up fast
This toaster oven really heats up fast. Previously I often forgot to heat up my toaster oven before baking and had to wait quite a long time, but with this one it is always ready in a flash! It has a beep to notify when the temperature is right too, how cool is that.

5. Non-stick walls
These are superb for cleaning up. Nothing sticks hard and it is easy to wipe clean after each use.

6. Defrost and toast in one operation
I usually make simple toast with my pop-up toasters, but I prefer to use toaster ovens for defrosting. So if I had frozen bagels or pizza slices I want to toast, I just hit the toast button and the defrost button right after, and this toaster oven will do it all in one operation. Saves time!

Less Great Features:
1. Could do with an interior light
Since the interior is large it is rather dark inside. I don’t really check on the food often but an interior light that can be switched on when needed will be a plus.

2. Crumb tray at the back
This is one thing that I don’t like, but what with the Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler doing so well in all other aspects I can bear with this one thing.

The Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler is the best convection toaster oven for function, performance and price. It even looks good! Grab the 51% discount at Amazon right now or you might just regret it tomorrow.

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Best Budget Toaster Oven – Black & Decker TRO480BS Toast-R-Oven 4-Slice Toaster Oven

This Black & Decker TRO480BS Toast-R-Oven 4-Slice Toaster Oven is the one to get if you’re looking for a basic and cheap toaster oven to do simple stuff. This is also the best budget toaster oven for first timers – not too big, no frills, just toast!

Black & Decker TRO480BS Toast-R-Oven 4-Slice Toaster Oven

Not As Big As It Seems
I was looking for a basic toaster oven for my daughter, who is going to college soon, and I was greatly attracted by the price tag of this toaster oven. The dimensions were wrong on the Amazon product description, and at first I thought it was too big. Luckily helpful reviewers mentioned that the correct size was actually about 15 3/4″ wide, 8″ high, and 9″ deep.

That’s just nice for toasting bread and bagels, reheating a couple slices of pizzas or other food, and you can even bake small batches of cookies or muffins in it. My daughter won’t be doing a lot of baking, just toasting and reheating, so it’s the right size for her.

Works Great As a Toaster
I was quite surprised that this Black & Decker TRO480BS Toast-R-Oven 4-Slice Toaster Oven toasts evenly, despite not having convection. It does take slightly longer than my pop-up toasters but that is to be expected, as it has a larger area to heat up, and a toaster oven’s advantage over pop-up toasters is being able to toast other stuff other than simple toast.

What are the Nice Features?
My daughter is all excited over the keep warm function. She feels that she will have irregular hours in college and it will help keep her dinner warm in the toaster until she wants it. And the crumb tray slides out in front, which is really convenient especially for small kitchens (reaching to the back is such a pain).

What isn’t Nice
No digital controls, only dials. This might frustrate some people who want food done exactly the same way every time, because you need to get used to turning the dial to set the exact toasting time and temperature. And even if you tried a hundred times, it might not be possible, who knows.

Well, if you think you can put up with the dials and this toaster oven sounds good to you, grab the Black & Decker TRO480BS Toast-R-Oven 4-Slice Toaster Oven at Amazon now while the 37% discount is still there. It ships free too!

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