Customer Reviews

Delonghi AR1070 Retro Convection Oven with Rotisserie

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Like a couple of other reviewers, I also noticed that the door wouldn't completely seal, although that didn't happen until I had owned it awhile.

A problem I am having now, about 3 or so years after purchase, is that the temperature dial won't turn! Why? Well, I'm taking it in to a service center to find out, but I speculate that perhaps it melted somewhere and so it is now welded on to the oven. The last time I had used the oven was to broil a steak, which came out well. But perhaps the high temperature damaged something. It did get pretty hot.

I am not one to think appliances should last forever; however, I have a Wedgewood gas/woodburning stove I inherited from Grandma -- she purchased it in the late 1920s -- and I've never had to do anything to the stove except to clean it. For sure they don't make 'em like they used to.

I had bought the Delonghi to keep the house cool as the downside of the Wedgewood is that it's not insulated like modern ovens. But, now I am back to cooking/baking like Grandma did. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something.

Also, I agree with other authors here that the interior of this oven is very limited, size wise.

While I had been pleased with the overall cooking quality of this oven I am very disappointed with the durability.

I bought the AR1070 oven back in May '03. Used it twice and noticed it took unusually long to cook a potato. Checked it with an oven thermometer and found that it never even got CLOSE to the temp. it was set for, nor is the indicator light accurate. Also the fan was unbelieveably loud. Told by DeLonghi to take it back. Exchanged it for another. Same thing. Slightly less noisy but took about 40 minutes to get to 390 (when I set it for 400)degrees. Also the exterior got SO hot I had to use a hot pad to open the door. Exchanged for a 3rd oven. SAME THING. Over the last few months I have been trying to get DeLonghi to listen to me and examine this product because it has an inferior, UNCALIBRATABLE thermostat and is poorly insulated, but they just blow me off and keep repeating "take it back." I did, and got my money back; but was so infuriated by the whole thing, ended up contacting the Office of Consumer Protection in NJ, who are currently trying to help me, as I am not the first to complain about DeLonghi's lack of customer service/quality. I urge anyone that owns this oven, get an oven thermometer and CHECK THE TEMPERATURE... if it is unusually off the mark, contact the Office of Consumer Protection in New Jersey, and file a complaint. This could not possibly have been 'coincidence' as the 3 ovens I used were from two separate lots of production. As far as their offer of 'repair or replace', there IS no repairing the thermostat, only replacing - with the same inferior one they install in the first place. Let the buyer BEWARE!!!!!!!

This oven is great! It's very easy to use, can be configured in lots of different ways depending on the size and quantity that you want to cook. The convection oven works fabulously as does the regular bake feature. I haven't broiled or used the rotisserie yet but I'm sure that I will be equally pleased.

Additionally, this oven comes with 2 easy clean up pans thatare very nice to cook in. It's very roomy inside and yet doesn't take up a ton of space on my countertop. I'm very happy with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone interested in a convection oven.

6/16/2004 UPDATE: I've had this oven now for a year and a half and I am still extremely happy with it. It cleans up extremely easily. It's not at all difficult to find pans that fit inside although I confess that the pans it comes with are nice enough for everything I do. It heats food evenly and thoroughly and doesn't get terribly hot to the touch. This is easily the best "toaster" oven that I ever owned - so much so that my regular oven only gets use around Thanksgiving.

After unpacking the unit I was disappointed in that the door does not seal. In addition there is a gap at the right upper corner which would cause heat to escape and force the oven to cycle more frequently to maintain temperature. I purchased this oven for use in my polymer clay business and require a steady temp. I will be returning the item. The cosmetic design is very appealing, but more thought and attention are required in functionality.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!! I have never bothered to write a review on Amazon, but I'm so annoyed with this machine I want to save others the headache of spending $300 on it. I just got off the phone with Delonghi whose attitude is "we don't give refunds, what do you want??". I have owned several delonghi toaster/convection ovens and use them extensively so I know how they should perform. I thought this model would be a dream because I could cook on 2 tiers at once. Instead, because of its size and the presence of the bottom drip tray, it takes FOREVER to heat up and no matter what combination of temperature, setting, and rack you use it fails to give the "crisp" cooking of their other models. It only browns if you turn the broiler on and is generally a complete pain to use. And it won't toast at all (its not even a setting, but still, don't you expect that??). I ignored the other negative reviews when I made this purchase, and now I totally regret it!!

We've been using the Delonghi Retro for a few weeks now, and it works great! So far have only used it for cake baking with the air-bake feature, and they come out perfectly! We had another Delonghi toaster oven for maybe 15 years, and it was still working except that it was getting a little rusty looking inside. The new Retro oven is a large unit, which you should be aware of if you have limited counter space. The instructions suggest that you keep a space of about 4 inches between it and other things on your countertop because it does get hot on the outside.
I recommend the Delonghi very highly based on long term use of their products. Also, the Italian design is gorgeous.

The interior of this oven is an awkward size. The manufacturer expects one to use the provided lasagna and broiler pans. Few of my pans fit. A standard sheet cake pan is accomodated in the side slots but a regular quarter sheet cookie tin is .5 inches too wide; a special rimless cookie sheet will probably work.
Standard Pyrex roasting pans are also too wide. Two 8" cake pans will fit but not three without some funky adaptations which will probably throw off baking times.
In other words it is fine if you don't cook much. Not for the serious cook with limited space.

My oven came with chips on the enamel baking surfaces, 3 on the oven and one on one of the slide in trays. It did'nt sit level on the counter and the door didn't close evenly. I sent it back. Looked nice but Quality Control must have had the day off when it was built.

Have had this for several weeks. Almost stopped using my stove. Being a bachelor, somewhere I forgot how much better food tastes broiled or on the spit. Have done whole chickens a couple of times, really moist and tender. This is easy to use, and it is a good looking unit. Cooking times are consistent. No problems so far. I have not found the fan to be noisy, perhaps that individual just has a bad unit. My folks sent me some of those big elastic bands to use when you are using the spit. Those work well too.

I have to agree with another reviewer about the door. I ordered this oven to replace a first-generation Delonghi convection oven.

The first oven ordered arrived with a defective door. The unit was not able to latch the door, rendering it useless. Of course, this oven was returned.

I ordered a second oven and never imagined that another unit would arrive with a defect.

The second oven has a GAP of about 1/4 inch on the right hand side of the unit where the door closes ... allowing air to escape and the oven to run excessively because of heat loss.

I called DeLonghi and they advised that a miniscule gap should exist around the perimeter of the door to prevent excessive heat buildup and the possibility of the glass shattering.

While their explanation sounds somewhat reasonable, I do not believe this to be the case with my second unit.

The gap is not symmetrical. It looks like the unit passed inspection with a defect and outide tolerance.

The door looks out of alignment. I fear Delonghi has not installed six sigma quality control and is releasing product to the public with sloppy manufacturing and incompetent quality control.

BOTH OVENS SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM THE FACTORY TO THE PUBLIC.

DELONGHI USA WAKE UP! HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!