Customer Reviews

Cuisinart TOB-165 Convection Toaster Oven and Broiler, White

5 star:		(180)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have a toaster oven graveyard out in my dumpster. I was buying name brands and subjecting them to only moderate use, yet we were going through the things faster than pet goldfish.

For my most recent purchase I decided to pay for top quality. I based my purchase decision on my experience with other Cuisinart products and extensive reading of reviews from many sources. I've had my oven for about six months now, and I've been heartily pleased with my selection.

Besides durability, my chief concern in shopping had been size. It turns out this is even bigger than what I had before--both wide and tall. I can fit Corningware pans with the domed lids and knobs on top. Yet the outer dimensions are quite modest.

I wasn't sure I would use the convection feature, and in fact didn't get around to it until last week. It produced an excellent roast chicken, and I probably will use it more and more to make "weekend" dishes during the week. The additional cost for the convection over the regular was small, so it's definitely worth it even for occasional use.

The oven itself functions admirably. I love that it beeps when it's fully preheated, and the heat sensor really does keep it constantly and evenly heated to the correct temperature. I'm using this much more than my regular oven, especially during the summer.

The controls are easy to use and well thought-out as far as flow and intuitive functions. The only thing I'm not crazy about is setting the timer--one press for every minute, one for every hour. Gets to be a pain when you're setting 45 minutes. But, that is balanced out by the fact that the timer alarm keeps beeping until you come turn it off. No one little "ding" that you miss because you've stepping into the other room for a minute, leaving your food to burn.

Toasting is uneven as noted elsewhere, but this is typical of toaster ovens. Adjusting the rack can help. And honestly, it's really only an aesthetic problem. I do like that the toasting fuction includes a countdown timer so you know how long until breakfast!

My only real complaint lies with the broiler pan. Upon first inspection out of the box I was pleased with its apparent quality. But on the very first use it warped, and now buckles significantly on every use. Further, after the first washing I took it out of the drying rack only to discover rust along the bottom edge where water had pooled. I didn't even think it could rust, let alone do it on its first contact with water. I have to think my specific pan is lemon, as for them all to be like this would just be inexcusable in a product of such otherwise impeccable quality.

Also, the design team really fell apart when it came to the oven rack on which this pan sits. The rack--at least in one of its positions--actually wraps around the front corners of the pan. This means in order to take the pan out of the oven you have to lift it 1/2" vertically over the rack. Lift it and whatever's on it, plus whatever hot grease has accumulated, with nothing to grab it by. The other option is to take the rack out with it, which means tilting everything 30 degrees to get it past the stops. Not only is this bad design, it's dangerous.

But since I'm not using the pan every day, and since I love everything else about it, I'll still give it five stars.

We found we love this convection oven. It is well made and does everything well. We are just two people, and find that the toaster oven makes two servings of baked fish, chicken, pork chops or steak perfectly. I also bake 6 muffins, biscuits, cookies or a small cake, custard or pizza in it - the convection feature makes them brown perfectly. It also makes good toast and perfect English muffins. I especially like the fact that preheating takes only 3 minutes or so. I have found that I need to reduce the temperature on my recipes about 25 degrees to keep them from getting overdone and often the cooking time is less as well - less time to preheat and less time to cook at a lower temperature - great! I purchased some nonstick Nordicware sheets to use - better than the pan that came with it but not as large. I warm my plates on top while I'm baking or toasting. I would have to buy another one right away if something happened to this one, but if it is like all my other Cuisinart products, that shouldn't have to be soon.

The two best convection toaster ovens I found for the quality and the money were the Delonghi AS670 and the Quisinart TBO-165. After many hours of research I settled on the Quisinart TBO-165. Both have a half cubic foot of space and two rack positions, but the Quiainart offers a drip tray for the fat to drip through for healthier eating. The thing that sold me on the Quisinart was the clock, oven shut off timer and the toast setting memory that Delonghi did not have. The Delonghi has an automatic shut off for toast only. The white Delonghi has a black face plate, but the Quisinart is all white. Some convection toaster oven doors have air gaps all around, both of these brand's doors shut snuggly and both doors open in the down position which is safer than doors that open sideways. If you prefer the Delonghi you'll need to rememeber when to shut the oven off.

This is an excellent product except for two glaring problems. 1. One of the most important features of this oven is the timer feature. That was the deciding feature for us. Unfortunately, the timer fails to do the single most important feature of a timer attached to an oven -- it does NOT turn off the oven when the BAKING or BROILING time runs out!

2. The manual recommends cleaning the top inner surface (heat reflector) of the oven after broiling or baking. Unfortunately, there is no practical means of doing this because the top inner reflector cannot be removed for cleaning and the upper heat elements are in the way of cleaning.

In our opinion, these are both glaring design oversights in an otherwise good product.

After reading the reviews here, I expected to be impressed by the baking features, but disappointed by the toasting abilities. I wasn't disappointed at all, but then again I don't require that my toast be equally brown on both sides.

The owner's manual explains that the goal in toasting is to achieve the ideal combination of browning and dryness. The Cuisinart TOB-165 achieves this, I think, by not cooking the underside too much. The result is delicious toast that is not dried out too much, but is firm enough on the bottom to easily spread butter or condiments - such as when you want to use the toast for a sandwich.

The ability to defrost and perfectly toast a bagel is truly awesome. Again, not dried out, but a great toasted taste nonetheless.

I convection baked a 4.5 lb chicken in an hour. Because of the convection feature, it was evenly browned rather than the weird birds you pull out of a standard oven that are brown on top but unpleasantly pale on the sides.

I convection baked small potatoes in 45 minutes. The insides were nice and soft, and the skin had a good texture.

I have not had the problems described in some of the other reviews, for the most part. For instance, my broiler pan has not warped. I agree it is difficult to remove over the lip of the rack when pulling it from the oven, but you can finesse it with practice.

The claim in another review that this oven has no automatic shut-off is absolutely wrong. This safety information can even be found on the outside of the box, although you have to look for it. The oven will turn itself off after four hours.

This is a wonderful oven to supplement your standard one. I highly recommend it for anyone who wishes they had a second oven, but doesn't want to pay to install a wall oven.

I really enjoy this product. We were looking to replace a basic GE toaster oven we have had for years. The Cuisinart toaster/oven is large enough to do a casserole, and as I am typing this review have a 3# pork loin roast baking in it.(That is a real plus here where it is hot and we don't want to heat up the whole house by turning on the oven). The toaster/bagel feature is great and the claims made by the company regarding even cooking are true. We have not had an opportunity to use the convection feature, but when we do I am sure that it will work just as reliably. I also like the wipe clean front surface with no knobs to break or be difficult to clean around. While it is a bit more expensive than I was planning on spending, I feel that the extra cost is worth it.I highly recommend this model to anyone looking to purchase a new toaster oven combo or replace an old standby.

After debating about purchasing the Cusinart Convection Toater Oven for over 6 months, I finally decided to purchase it. One of the best items I have ever purchased! I am a recent widow and needed something for oven baking and broiling for one person. A large range oven seems like an impractical appliance for one. I wanted something with even heat, convection cooking (faster and more even heating), and versatility. You can toast bread and bagels, broil a small meat, roast a meatloaf, beef, pork, chicken even stuffed mushrooms. Bake a half batch of cookies or just one or two (baking one or two helps that over eating). Cook portions of frozen fish(Great with the convection cooking. Crisp on the outside and moist inside).
I love homemade bread, so I bake, slice and freeze so it can be used one piece at a time. You can program the oven to defrost, toast and even reheat your bread.
My only complaint is the lack of a good written formula in the booklet for determining the convection cooking of foods. I purchased a separate book on convection cooking that has been better help for this type of cooking. I think they need to elaborate more on the convection aspect. Some frozen food products are including regular and convection cooking on their packages but not many.
Great oven even as a second oven for family's

We previously had a DeLonghi toaster oven, which we really liked ever since purchasing it about 13 or so years ago. I liked it so much that my parents bought a similar DeLonghi model a few years later. Unfortunately, their model very quickly developed defective knobs that were positionally indefinite or would stick on - not good folks! Recently, ours developed a sticky knob syndrome. After the second piece of toast catching fire in the kitchen I threw the toaster oven out (regrettably). Its a shame because it did a pretty good job and we gladly used it several times every day. Toast, chicken, fish, roasting vegetables, ... loved it! Hardly ever needed our regular oven.

We started researching convection toaster ovens. Some of the newer DeLonghi reviews complained of an initial smell that we wanted to inspect for ourselves. The smell concern is indeed mentioned in their manual. This made us seriously wonder what they were imparting into our food over time.

The Cuisinart had no such issue. It also had glowing reviews. We tried finding it in the stores to get a first-hand sense of the product. Unfortunately we could not find it anywhere.

After reading many reviews and considering what Consumer Reports had to say, we decided to get the white Cuisinart TOB-165 Convection Toaster Oven. Right out of the box it works great and has ever since! Toast, are you kidding? I've never seen toast so smoothly toasted before. It almost looks like someone used a spray can to paint a browned look on it. Consistent, dependable, precise settings - you know what to expect from it. It even takes advantage of it being previously heated to calculate (measure the temp for you) the remaining amount of time required to toast another piece precisely the way you'd expect it - smart! Efficient that way. It also lets you know when the target temp has been reached - useful prior to baking some things - very nice indeed.

We've noticed how it seems to bring out more of the flavor of the food (fish or chicken, for example) than what we've experienced with our previous toaster oven. Wow! What an unanticipated plus! We can smell and taste more of the subtle aspects of our food.

The controls are a breeze and easy to adapt to. The oven produces what I'd call a professional grade result. I really appreciate the thought and science that must have gone into engineering this product to enhance my cooking experience. Its got my glowing vote!!!

Tip: I saved the previous toaster oven's rack and crumb tray for potential future use. Turns out that it was an excellent idea. A second rack affords the opportunity of baking twice the items as long as what you're baking can comfortable fit in between them. The old bread crumb tray (stainless steel) is excellent for cooking anything that won't produce much liquid and can benefit from more open space (cookies, roasting vegetables, burgers for example). Buying these items would probably cost $20 or so, assuming you'd be inclined to do so. Reuse and recycle! I love it!

I have had this little oven for about a week. I have baked bread in it twice - both times were suberb. Crisp crust, moist inside. I have used it for toast with very even results - top and bottom. I have used the broil setting for melting cheese on baked spagetti with beautiful evenly melted and browned results. I have even used it just to warm rolls. I am amazed at how versitile it is!

I recommend this oven without reservation. It is worth every penny. I feel it is built well, sturdy, and I look forward to using it for years to come.

To echo several of the other reviews, it preheats FAST. It beeps to tell you the preheat temp has been reached. The convection fan is MUCH quieter than I expected. I have a full size convection oven and it is a noticible sound in the kitchen - not so with this toaster/oven.

It does seem strange to rave about a small kitchen appliance, but I have been pleasantly surprised by it several times already. I had very high expectaions of this Cuisinart and have not been disappointed. Even my spouse considers it money well spent.

We have owned this oven now for about one half year and are very satisfied with it. Perhaps its best fit into our life is as a full-sized oven substitute for smaller (actually indeed most) things. The temperature control is very accurate (measured it, and generally within 10 degrees of setpoint). We almost always use the convection feature for very even heating. Perhaps the best example is when baking brownies (a 9x9 pan fits) - compared with out full oven, the brownies are done more evenly, without a tough crust.

Only three things keeping this from 5 stars:

1) that it toasts quite slowly (3 minutes) - but the toast is done evenly, if you like crispy outside and soft inside.

2) It has a timer, but this simply beeps when the time is up - it does not turn itself off (a shame)

3) The user interface is straightforward, but contains a few strange quirks. When you press "Bake", you have to follow it with hitting the "temperature" button if you want anything other than 250 degrees - they could eliminate that button press.

All told we are very happy and would recommend it to our friends. And the price is quite good for what you get.