Toaster Ovens

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions  

 

Do you love your toaster oven?

Jan 2012

We are in the market for a new toaster oven. Needing one that doesn't take up the entire kitchen counter, doesn't burn stuff on a regular basis - the one we have now is impossible to set for a specific time so it has to be watched. We found it really difficult to find a good one and all we found on consumer reports were convection ovens which tend to be large and which we really don't need. Any ideas would be welcome. thank you

Actually I DO love out toaster oven. Unfortunately I am not at home so I don't remember the brand BUT we got it at Target and it silver, small and it has a pop-up section on top just like the old toasters. Never a burnt piece of toast. Pat

I do love my toaster oven. It is a Kitchen Aid. We got it at Sears. I checked the Kitchen Aid site and didn't see ours there, but the toaster oven is about 4 years old, so they might have changed the models. It has been a workhorse, and I have had no issues with it. One feature I like a lot is that there are two different slots for the oven racks, and the racks are built such that if you flip them over, they are about 1/2 taller (hard to describe the design). So that gives you four different rack heights, which allows you to play with how close to or far away from the heating elements your food is.

I have a Breville convection toaster over that I bought from William Sonoma that I absolutely love and use multiple times a day. It is on the larger side and like you, I like open counter spaces but it's worth it in my opinion. Breville did come out with a much much smaller toaster oven a few month ago also at William Sonoma. I'd go check that one out. Read the reviews on the W-S website too. Cynthia

The best toaster oven is made by Panosonic. It costs about $100. It uses infrared heating. They stopped making them for a while but it is back on the market and I have just ordered a new one (my old one after five years had its heating element broken by an over-zealous cleaning.) Here is the url on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-NB-G110P-Xpress-Toaster-Silver/dp/B008C9UFDI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8=1359955703=8-2=panasonic+infrared+toaster
The reasons why this one is so good:

  • - It has one button for toast, and it makes toast perfectly every time
  • - It makes toast fast, really fast
  • - It has a setting for frozen waffles which you can use for frozen bread or bagels
  • - It cooks things like sausages in 8 minutes or so
  • - The rack slides forward when you open it, so no reaching in and burning your fingers.
  • - It has a small footprint on your counter
  • - It is very easy to clean the inside
  • - It is best for toasting, reheating, and cooking quick items. Don't get it if you want to bake cakes in it.

    Good toaster oven

    Jan 20006

    I may be cursed but my family and I have gone through about 5 toaster ovens in the past 6 years. Each one seems to have a major problem - takes too long to heat, burns things, doesn't close all the way, does not open all the way, etc. We have tried cheap and expensive brands and it does not seem to make any difference. Has anyone had any look with a particular make or model? Thanks! Jessica

    I had no problems in the past with a standard model Black & Decker. I have had bad luck with Osco (brand something like that?) burning everything, and DeLonghi burning the bottom of toast and getting too hot. We haven't replaced the DeLonghi yet but we do toast always on a baking sheet and set temps. never above 325-350 to compensate. The ones we've had problems with are both 6 slice extra large capacity which might have something to do with it, or not? anon
    The best place to find out about good toaster ovens is a website like Amazon where you can read consumer reviews. That's how I found out about my Pansasonic toaster oven. It's the best, always perfect toast. My review is on there too! Ginger
    After throwing away a half-dozen cheap toaster ovens, we ended up trying the Panasonic NB-G100P (with ''Flash Express Technology''!) It cooks with light instead of a heating element, sort of like a fancy easy-bake oven. It makes PERFECT toast, and is much faster than a regular toaster. It costs under $100. I can't say how long it will last, but we are really happy with it so far. Toaster of Tomorrow
    Ha, we have similar toaster oven issues. We had one for years that worked great until it finally shorted out. Finding a replacement was a joke. We must have bought and returned half a dozen ovens for various reasons: things get burned, doors don't close or don't open, the handle gets too hot to touch. C'mon, it's a toaster oven, what's so hard about that? We settled on a basic Black & Decker model. It burned things. However, the rack is not flat, it has a curve on each end, the result which lowered the main rack surface closer to the heating element. So we just flipped the rack over and inserted it upside down. That puts the food dead-center in the oven and that works pretty well, no more burning.

    Toaster Oven that Lasts

    Feb 2005

    I'm so sick of buying toaster ovens where the handle falls off after 3 months or it doesn't ding to let you know the toast is done or some other stupid problem that I couldn't foresee. Does anyone have a recommendation for a toaster oven that can stand up to a *lot* of use without falling apart or having any annoying features (like no ding)? I Just Want Some Toast

    We have a Black and Decker Counter Top oven. It's a bit larger than a standard toaster oven. We got it in 2001. It has survived a move across the country and another across town. I use it at least twice a day to toast and roast and bake and have never had a problem with it (I've had lots of burnt toast but that's my issue not the toaster's). It dings and comes with a roasting pan. When I first got it I thought it was too big. Now I love it and am glad I didn't return it. Happy Toasting!
    If all you want is toast, buy a toaster. They last. Toaster ovens are asked to do a lot more. They burn out. In our experience, the expensive ones don't last any longer than cheaper ones. We go cheap and resign ourselves to replacing it whenever. I'm tempted to buy a toaster myself the next time and use the ''big'' oven for any cooking.
    Go to amazon.com and read reviews. That's what I did, and I ended up buying the Panasonic infra-heat (something like that). It cost at least twice what I paid for each of my previous 5 toasters, but it is completely worth it. I use my toaster every day. I make toast, bagles, cinnamon toast, toasted cheese sandwiches, etc. I bought a Black and Decker toaster oven last summer to replace the previous B that died after only one year. The one before that had lasted a lot longer - I heard they aren't making them like they used to.

    But anyway, my teen nieces were able to destroy the new one within one week after they arrived, by somehow disabling the on/off knob. So I replaced that one with a less expensive Black and Decker traditional toaster, thinking the fewer bells and whistles the better, and that one lasted about a month before the innards started shredding. I don't see how they could make the inside lining of cardboard, but taht is what it looked like - ripped cardboard that popped out of place right alongside the toast. This was the 4th B in two years, so that is when I gave up on B and turned to Amazon. This Panasonic is amazing. It is very fast, and it toasts perfectly, every time, even frozen bagels. The design is ingenius. It is easy to clean. It doesn't look too bad. If you use a toaster a lot, I highly recommend it. Ginger

    I've been using a DeLonghi toaster oven for over a year now, and it's been working great. I use it pretty much every day for breakfast, and since we're a small family, I tend to use it for most of my small-scale baking, roasting, broiling, etc - and it's been holding up just fine. I can't tell you how much it is as I got it as a gift, but I think I saw it at Costco for about $50. It definitely dings when the time is up, and has a crumb tray (I don't know its official name) that slides out for easy cleaning. Hope this helps! Annabel
    we bought a krupps toaster oven / toaster / convection oven at williams-sonoma on a friends recommendation and LOVE it. the ringer is loud - and often reminds me of food i forgot. the cooking trays aren't aluminum and are easy to clean, or throw in the dishwasher. its bigger than our last toaster oven. and we are learning how to convection cook. its pricey, but we are using it for much more than toasting.
    We have a small Black and Decker toaster oven that has been working perfectly for 9 years. (I'm now knocking on wood) I bought it at a hardware store and it has outlasted almost every other small appliance on my counter. I don't know if they are as well made today as they were then, but it might be worth a try. got toast