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Product Details
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Product Description
| Attribute |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 16x13x9 inches | 16.5x15.5x10.25 inches | 18.5x16.25x11.25 inches |
| Capacity | 11 inch pizza, 4 toast slices | 12 inch pizza, 4 toast slices | 13 inch pizza, 6 toast slices |
| Element IQ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wattage | 1800 | 1800 | 1800 |
| Heating Elements | 4 (quartz) | 4 (quartz) | 5 (quartz) |
| Convection | No | No | Yes |
| Pre-set functions | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Accessories | Baking pan | Baking pan, broil rack | Baking pan, broil rack, pizza pan |
Why the Breville Compact Smart Oven?
Every Breville product begins with a simple moment of brilliance. The Breville Smart Oven began with the simple fact that different foods require different methods of heating: some, like baked goods, need to be cooked evenly; others, like meats, need to be seared on top. Most toaster ovens fail to distribute heat in a consistent way throughout their interiors, let alone change heat distribution to suit the different foods being prepared. This is how the Breville Smart Oven stands apart: whatever the food, it adjusts its heat distribution for perfect results.
Smarter, better, faster, more efficient than your average toaster oven
Element IQ Variable Power Distribution
The Compact Smart Oven is equipped with Element IQ cooking technology, which adjusts the power of four individual quartz heating elements to cook food more evenly and quickly. This sophisticated heating system distributes heat throughout the oven when and where it is needed, to guarantee more efficient cooking. Eight different menu options allow users to choose the best setting for the food they are cooking. In addition to dynamically distributing heat to different areas, the Compact Smart Oven can adjust the wattage of its heating elements for even more cooking flexibility. Most ovens have elements with fixed wattage that can only switch between ON and OFF, but Element IQ functions much like a dimmer on a light switch, increasing or decreasing element power with a simple turn of the knob.
For example, toast needs to be cooked evenly on both sides without drying out the inside, so the Compact Smart Oven uses high radiated heat from above and below (1800W distributed between the four elements) to crisp the outside quickly.
On the other hand, baking needs more gentle, even heat that will cook the inside of the baked goods without toughening the outer crust, so the Compact Smart Oven uses 1500W distributed over the top and bottom elements.
Each of eight functions (bake, broil, roast, cookies, reheat, pizza, bagel, and toast) is preset with recommended settings, taking the guesswork out of cooking. However, each can be customized according to recipe, volume of food, or personal taste. Customized settings will remain in the memory of the oven until changed or until the oven is unplugged from the wall outlet, streamlining your cooking process.
Huge innovation on a compact frame
Small but powerful, the Breville Compact Smart Oven has a reduced physical footprint without sacrificing quality or style. It boasts many of the same features as the larger Breville Smart Oven, but with dimensions of 16.5 x15.5 x10.25 inches it requires less counter space. A smaller oven means less time to heat up and less time to cook, perfect for preparing a meal in a hurry (or for cooks who like to create in the heat of the moment). This also translates into a cooler kitchen (particularly convenient in the hot summer months) and less energy consumed. It is also perfect for cooks that are preparing fewer servings of food, since it is more energy-efficient than cooking small portions in a huge wall oven.
Designed with the consumer in mind
The Compact Smart Oven is carefully constructed from the most durable materials. Attractively housed in reinforced stainless steel, it is a striking addition to any kitchen. The heating elements are composed of quartz, rather than the metal elements found in other toaster ovens. Quartz responds more quickly to heat change, which results in more even heating throughout the oven. The interior is coated with a non-stick material that can safely withstand high temperatures, making cleanup easier. A crumb/drip tray that is accessible from the front of the oven (rather than the back, like many other toasters) also makes it easier to clean between cooking sessions.
Product Features
- Easy-clean, stainless steel housing with ribbed plate warming tray
- Non-Stick Interior with 3 rack positions
- 12” pizza, 4-slice toast capacity (0.6 cu ft. interior)
- Tempered glass door
- 4 quartz elements with Element IQ for smart cooking
- Back-lit easy-read LCD that calculates the correct the time and temperature, illuminating orange during preheating and cooking and blue once the cycle is complete
- Function dial with 8 pre-set cooking functions: bake, broil, roast, cookies, reheat, pizza, bagel, toast
- Temperature and time dial with auto shut-off and sound alert
- Easily removable pull-out crumb tray
Customer Reviews
Enter the Breville. Rather than the mechanical timer and temperature control of the Hamilton Beach (and the GE before it) this unit has fully electronic control that promises to be more accurate in both functions. It can handle (they say) a 12" pizza, and 4 slices of toast. So how does all this work in practice?
As a toaster, it's great. It toasts more evenly than my $20 Target toaster, and the slide out crumb tray makes cleaning easy. Repeatability if excellent, and of course you can watch the bread/bagel/whatever as it toasts, keeping an eye out for burning. It compensates for heat buildup when you toast multiple items in sequence- a major help. Still, for close to $200 you expect more than just toast from a machine like this.
I haven't tried baking a pie yet, but I did do some miniature muffins, and they came out fine. I haven't done any bread yet, as it's just too small to handle a standard loaf of the size I bake. Maybe I can make some buns or rolls in it.
The timer function is a bit annoying in the way it works. You set the time and temperature, and when it comes up to temperature, it starts the countdown. This is fine for frozen pizzas and TV dinners, but less helpful for bakers trying to control the baking environment. I'd prefer something that would come up to temperature and then wait for me to start the timer.
Half the functions on the main knob are for preset cooking programs- like the microwave ovens in lunchrooms that have buttons labeled "soup", "sandwich", and so forth. There's a "cookies" function, but I have dozens of different cookie recipes with different time and temperature settings. This program is useless to me.
So: A great toaster, and a useful oven for baking very small items. It's a little deeper than the old Toast-R-Oven, but still not big enough to handle more than a quarter sheet of cookies or a small pie. Useful, for what it is, but given the price, it's getting close to being a luxury easy bake oven. I think the Breville BOV800XL The Smart Oven 1800-Watt Convection Toaster Oven with Element IQ, which adds convection and a somewhat larger oven is a better deal overall, and if you really want a useful secondary oven, something like my Hamilton Beach 31197R Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie is a lot more flexible.
Followup:
After a little over three months of using this oven, I'm more convinced than ever that this is a superb (if expensive) toaster. Unlike the pop-up toaster on my counter, you can precisely set the actual toasting time- very handy- and you can watch until you get the precise shade of browning you're looking for.
I'm also becoming more favorably inclined to its use as an oven, too. It's still a bit small for most baking uses, but it's big enough for roasting peppers or baking a few potatoes, or even a tiny batch of cookies. I still think the larger version is a better all-around appliance, but for a tiny apartment kitchen this may be a good choice.
Six month update:
I find I've been using this oven more and more for all my toasting and small baking needs- it's even taking over some of the tasks I used to do in my microwave. It's still reliable, easy to maintain, and the accurate electronic timer is a great improvement over the mechanical timers in cheaper ovens in both accuracy and reliability.
This oven is well made, the door opens smoothly, the rack comes out easily. The pan that comes with it is heavy and enameled, not cheap sheet metal. The control system is excellent. The display is illuminated while setting or cooking, but dims out when not in use. I found it very easy to use. Toasting is a single touch and it compensates for the hot oven with multiple toast cycles. I've used the bake cycle and the muffins turned out great. It remembers your last setting for each cycle, so if you determine the 'perfect' setting for your favorite bagels or pizza, it's preset and ready to start when selecting the cycle. The crumb tray pulls out the front and is very easy to clean. This is vastly superior to out the back or from the bottom that most of the others I looked at have.
