Best High End Convection Toaster Oven – Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven with Element IQ

Posted on May 2nd, 2011 by Shirley

The Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven is truly one of the best high end toaster ovens out there. Other than just looking good there on your countertop, this toaster oven really works and Breville took care of many little details that would keep skeptics going on for days.

Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven with Element IQ

More of A Small Oven
This convection toaster oven is a lot more than just a toaster. It can toast 6 slices of bread, perfectly, but it can also bake, broil and do anything an oven could do, in a smaller scale. The convection works great, and it’s quieter than most.

Toast come out good, whatever some people say, though it took a longer time (normal for a toaster oven). Pizzas have crunchy crust and lovely melted cheese toppings. Frozen waffles turn out soft in the middle and slightly crispy outside.

User-Friendly
The Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven is very easy to use. The controls have everything written clearly and it’s impossible to go wrong. There are markings on the glass door to show you which level you should place the rack for toasting, baking and broiling.

There are magnets that pull the rack out halfway when you open the door. That’s great for not burning your hand reaching in for the pan.

Easy to Clean
The crumb tray come out front and the walls are easy to wipe clean. Even the melted and dried cheese came off easily. This is an important point because it wouldn’t do to have a pretty toaster oven sitting there with grease and crumbs all over. Did I say this toaster oven look good? It looks AWESOME.

Ok, if I would have to pick at it, the control knobs do feel a bit cheap. They don’t look cheap, just feel light and less classy. But they work and that’s all that matters, I guess.

The Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven is not cheap, yet it has nearly 200 reviews in Amazon on an average of 1000-word each (on a rough guess) and 4-1/2 star rating. I’d say buy it without fear if you can afford it. Here’s the link: Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven

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Best Budget Convection Toaster Oven – T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite Convection Toaster Oven

Posted on May 1st, 2011 by Shirley

I’m completely in love with my Cuisinart TOB-195, but there are some of us who would rather not toast our wallets paying more than $100 for a convection toaster oven. The Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven is a nice convection toaster oven below $100 as well, but it is larger than most and if you prefer something that is more like a toaster than an oven, then the T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite Convection Toaster Oven is just right.

T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite Convection Toaster Oven

All-In-One
This toaster oven can do 6-slices toast, bake, broil, roast, keep warm, and it has the convection feature. It can fit a 9-inch pizza; the size is just right for regular toasting and light cooking. There is a warming compartment above the toaster where you can warm hot dog or burger buns while the meats are broiling beneath. It does get a bit hot though, so a good idea would be to keep the buns wrapped in foil.

Easy to Clean
The T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite Convection Toaster Oven is very easy to clean; there are no hidden spots to clear crumbs out of, and the crumb tray comes out from the front. Be sure to use the non-stick warming pan that is included for the warming compartment, or you might find bread crusts stuck to it. And reviewers have mentioned that the tempered glass door shouldn’t be cleaned with abrasive cleaner or it might explode.

Sliding Rack
The rack slides very easily and this is an important thing to note especially when you’re taking a hot pan out of the hot toaster oven. The rack might come out together with the pan and you’d better be ready for it.

Good Value for Its Price
This toaster oven is listed at $129.99 but this is a hot item and Amazon often has discounts for it. Sometime ago it was around $85 but at the time of this review it has gone up to $92.99. I wouldn’t buy this if it exceeds $100, and any number below $90 is considered good price.

Go to Amazon now and see if you can catch a good deal: T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite Convection Toaster Oven

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

Posted on April 29th, 2011 by Shirley

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

Posted on April 28th, 2011 by Shirley

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

Posted on April 27th, 2011 by Shirley

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

Posted on April 25th, 2011 by Shirley

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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How to Clean a Toaster Oven

Posted on April 21st, 2010 by Shirley

It’s a good thing to clean your toaster oven as often as you use it, and you should do it at least once a day if you use it daily.

Cleaning will keep your toaster oven free of smells, charred food and grease, which means none of that in your freshly toasted food too. It is a very simple task, once you know how to do it. Here’s how:

1. Make sure the toaster oven is turned off and unplugged. If you’ve just been using it, let it cool down completely first.

2. Take out the crumb tray and dispose of the crumbs. Actually the crumb tray should be emptied after each use, otherwise the crumbs will burn black and stick hard to the tray. Take out the racks too.

3. You can use soap, water and a non-abrasive sponge to scrub the tray and the racks clean.

4. Wipe out the insides of the toaster oven with the soapy sponge. Don’t put the toaster oven into water, you will drown it. If there is food buildup in there, use a synthetic scouring pad and warm water to remove it.

5. Rinse the sponge clean and repeat process until the walls are clean of soap residue.

6. Spray Formula 409 or vinegar solution on the exterior of the toaster oven and wipe it clean with a sponge or lint-free cloth. Do the same for the glass on the door.

7. Wipe everything dry and replace the racks and crumb tray.

8. Make sure your hands are dry before you plug in the toaster oven.

That’s it and you have a clean toaster oven again!

Go to my Best Toaster Oven blog for more tips and toaster oven reviews, or you can read my posts on How to Choose the Best Toaster Oven or What can You Use a Toaster Oven For.

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What can You Use a Toaster Oven For

Posted on April 20th, 2010 by Shirley

Before I got my first toaster oven, I wondered whether I would ever use one, and what I would use it for. It didn’t occur to me then that a toaster oven is very useful for meals from breakfast, appetizers, desserts, and snacks, to regular lunch and even dinner parties.

Here are the foods that a toaster oven can help you prepare, categorized by cooking method:

Toasting

Toasting is associated with bread products. You can make plain toast, garlic bread, toast with toppings (open-faced sandwiches), toast bagels, English muffins, and more.

Heating

Heating or reheating your leftover food, or a slice of frozen pizza.

Defrosting

Some toasters have the defrost option for frozen food (e.g. meat, pizza, etc.).

Baking

A toaster oven can bake anything an oven can, in a smaller scale. I do everything from pizza, brownies, muffins, small cakes, cupcakes, cookies, potato-in-jacket, pot pies, and pasta like macaroni and lasagna.

I love baking small batches of stuff in my toaster oven because it saves electricity and I can have fresh snacks every time.

A tip for the cookie lovers, pipe out the cookie dough on the sheet and freeze them instead of baking them, then scrape off the frozen pieces of cookie dough and keep them in the freezer. When you want a few cookies, just take out as many frozen pieces as you want and bake them. Fresh cookies without the hassle!

Broiling

Broiling basically means grilling, except it’s done with heat only coming from the top. My toaster ovens have done ribs, chops, burger patties, steaks, fish, sausages, fillets and more.

Roasting

Roasted vegetables like bell pepper and asparagus are really nice for appetizers, or you can cut them up small, poke them through a stick with slices of chicken or beef and make kebab.

Sometimes I miss the campfire times and make my own s’mores with the toaster oven. It’s very easy, just sandwich a marshmallow and two squares of chocolate between graham crackers, then place them neatly on the tray and wait for the marshmallow to roast.

Rotisserie

Some larger convection toaster ovens lets you rotisserie the whole chicken. If you are wondering what rotisserie means, it means skewering the chicken with a metal rod and roasting it while it is rotated in the oven.

Want to know how to choose the best toaster oven? Read my guide post here.

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How to Choose the Best Toaster Oven

Posted on April 19th, 2010 by Shirley

The best toaster oven is an affordable, useful, and safe kitchen appliance that can make good meals out of simple ingredients, while a bad toaster oven is just a nuisance and takes up the kitchen space.

So how do you choose the best toaster oven then? Once you’ve seen a model you like, there are a few important things to consider:

Size

You will be placing the toaster oven on the kitchen counter near an electric outlet, so the first thing you want to do is measure the space on your kitchen countertop to make sure it can fit.

If you are looking for a space saving model, here’s a well-rated compact toaster oven: Sanyo Space Saving Toasty Oven. Isn’t that a cute name? :)

Capacity

On the other hand, you’d want to know how many servings the toaster oven can make at one time. If you’re buying a basic toaster oven for toasting and heating, there are four-slice and six-slice models.

If you intend to bake 12-inch pizzas or roast whole chickens, make sure the toaster oven has that capacity. Of course, you’ll have to compromise with your kitchen space like I said above.

Safety

Safety is a big issue with toaster ovens because they can get really hot and you’ll want a model that is designed with user-safety in mind.

Check with the reviews to see whether the toaster oven has a safe door and handle, automatic shut-off or timer shut off feature.

Important: Keep children away from the toaster oven at all times. Use an oven mitt and always be careful when taking food out of it.

Easy to clean

Look for non-stick interior because that will be a whole lot easier to wipe clean. The removable crumb tray is very handy but some toaster ovens have them slide out the back, the reason why I cannot fathom. Try to find one that slides out in front.

For tips on cleaning your toaster oven, read my post here.

Cooking method

If you’re buying the toaster oven for only toasting and heating, save your money and get a basic one.

For baking and broiling, get a toaster oven with convection, which circulates the hot air inside the oven to help even cooking and save cooking time.

Or you might want a toaster oven with rotisserie for roasting whole chicken. For more cooking suggestions, read my post on What can You Use a Toaster Oven For.

Bells and Whistles

There are controls in the form of dials and there are digital ones which show you the exact temperature you punch in yourself. Is the signal bell loud enough to hear out of the kitchen? Is there a warming function for you to keep your food warm till you want it?

Price range

Basic toaster ovens come around $50, convection toaster ovens $80 – $150, while high end convection toaster ovens can go above $200.

You might get a good deal online sometimes, like this Best Budget Toaster Oven: Black & Decker TRO480BS Toast-R-Oven 4-Slice Toaster Oven which is going for only $30 now.

Well, I hope that helps you find the best toaster oven. If you want to know what you can use a toaster oven for, read my guide post here.

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Best Toaster Oven – Introduction

Posted on March 1st, 2010 by Shirley

Hi there, I’m Shirley and this is my first post in my Best Toaster Oven blog. In this blog I will tell you about the best toaster ovens, how to choose a toaster oven for your home, and good buys and deals you can get online.

Now, you might ask me: what is a toaster oven? Is it any different from a toaster?

Actually a toaster oven is not much different from a toaster in the terms of function. Toaster oven is a kind of toaster, to be exact. Toasters are used to make toast, and they come in three types:

  • Pop-up toaster
  • Toaster oven
  • Conveyor toaster

But since most people are using the pop-up toaster, the term “toaster” has been used for that kind of toaster, adding a bit to the confusion.

Toaster oven is different from the pop-up toaster in a few ways.

Best Toaster Oven - Toaster Oven Reviews

Pop-up toaster

The pop-up toaster is used for simple toasting – just put in the slices of bread and they will pop up when they become toast – while the toaster oven can make simple toast or toast with toppings. If you have used/seen an oven before, you’ll know that the toaster oven is sort of like a mini oven, used mainly for toast. You put the bread on the tray and put any toppings (garlic, pizza toppings, cheese, etc.) you like, then put the tray into the toaster oven and switch on the timer.

Best Toaster Oven - Toaster Oven Reviews

Toaster oven

Toaster ovens take a longer time to make toast than pop-up toasters, and makes drier toast. But the benefit of having a toaster oven is that you can also use it to reheat other stuff like pizza slices and frozen pies, or even use it as an oven to bake small batches of cookies. That’s why I have both the pop-up toaster and the toaster oven. I use the pop-up toaster to make simple toast quickly in the mornings, and the toaster oven for everything else.

I will be updating this blog with the best toaster oven reviews soon, see ya! :)

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