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Good solution
Because I have a teensy kitchen and no actual oven, this is a perfect solution. Because it is efficient and works beautifully would be a good addition to a larger kitchen. Just what I wanted and I'm not disappointed! Glad I finally sprang for it My old Black and Decker died a few years ago and I foolishly tried living with a regular toaster. When I realized I rarely even make toast, I shopped all over and decided to try a convection oven to use instead of the old unevenly-heated electric oven in my apartment. I'm cooking for one, though I often make casseroles and whatnot to freeze so I don't have to cook meals every day. I tried a T-Fal from an electronics store and fortunately they took it back after I found it didn't do anything particularly well. I then bought this at a discount from a big box retailer. I was hesitant to buy something with all electronic switches. My eyesight is poor and I worried that I would have trouble reading the buttons. As it turns out it's pretty intuitive and user-friendly. Every once in a while I forget to press "start" after setting everything, but it's no different than setting the temperature dial on the oven and forgetting to actually turn the thing on. It toasts evenly, if a little slowly; I'm now addicted to health-food-store pop-tarts. The baking is great; I've made small cakes, biscuits, scones, and casseroles using the convection feature. A 4 1/2 pound chicken came out juicy and crispy. Pizza comes out wonderfully. I plan on making yeasted sweet cakes for the holidays, and expect that they'll be better than they were in my oven last year. Spatters that usually spread throughout a large oven get concentrated in the small one, but it's therefore faster to clean up. I haven't figured out how to make the broiling function work well, but I think that's just laziness on my part, and broiling is the only thing my regular oven does well, but once I figure out how it works in the convection oven I'll OK. I like that it beeps a few times to tell you when it's reached the desired temperature; it does it again if you open the oven long enough to lower the temperature significantly. The timer is easy to set, and when done will keep beeping until you press the timer button again when you check your food. The beep is very loud, which is great because I can hear it over the TV or radio even when I'm in the other end of the apartment. I'm not sure how much less heat this oven gives off when compared with the big oven. Because I have it on a lower shelf of the baker's rack I use for it, it's quite hot in the summer to cook and use the counter at the same time. Someday I'll install a shelf on the wall for it so I can see inside and not get baked along with the food. All in all, it's a great buy, and I expect that it will last a long time and give great service. Best Baked Potatoes I have only had the oven for a few days, but english muffins and toast come out perfectly toasted. I made baked russet potatoes using the convection method. I rubbed them with canola oil and cooked them at 400' for 45 minutes. They were the best I have ever had! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. I can't wait to try more things. Great Toaster Oven After several attempts at buying run-of-the-mill toaster ovens made by Black & Decker, DeLonghi and others, we thought there was no hope of finding a quality toaster oven. After reading the reviews here and elsewhere and checking out Consumer Reports we "gambled" on buying the TOB-175BC. To our surprise, it not only is very well built with solid framework and door, but also has a substantial broiling pan assembly. It makes toast to near perfection and gets to temperature quickly. The controls are intuitive enough that my 8 year has no problem operating it. On the other hand, its numerous features, including convection, may be overkill, but do not detract from the simplicity of design and operation. A great buy. Great toaster oven! Cuisinart TOB-175BC Convection Toaster Oven/Broiler, Brushed Chrome This oven is used most every day, and has proved to be a solid performer. As time passed, I have used pretty much all of the functions of the oven, and learned to customize settings. I have not had a single problem with the oven since the day it arrived. | |
