Customer Reviews

Euro-Pro TO251 Convection 6-Slice Toaster Oven with Pizza Pan

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

[Update July 10, 2010: Rating downgraded to 3 stars and sinking: broken under warranty. Using their customer service webpage kicks back an email saying to email them, and then emailing them got an email couple of days later to call their 800 number. Haven't had a moment to call them yet but will report back.

As much as I like this thing, the controls have quit functioning, after only 7 months of use (initially stuck on high Grill, then wouldn't turn on). And, for those of us who do not live close to Toronto, warranty service is next to useless, because it costs $37.50 for me to mail it from my location internationally to Toronto, plus $9.95 that they request for return shipping and handling, plus the uncertainty that they will actually repair/replace the thing "if it is found ... to be defective in material or workmanship". I contacted customer service for a better solution (e.g. send me some replacement knob modules), but I don't know if that is possible or feasible -- stay tuned for updates. For the moment I am lowering my rating of this toaster to 3 stars because this is too soon to break, but I really like using it and want to give their customer service a chance, though they haven't yet bothered to respond to me (On June 26 I used their website contact page, and on June 30 I sent them email; and I have been checking my spam folder). I hope we can work out a more reasonable way to repair it. For the moment I've moved my old kenmore back into the kitchen -- it has lasted several years and counting, and was replaced only for cosmetic reasons.]

Original review (4 stars):
I bought this from Sears to replace my dirty ugly (but functional) old Kenmore toaster oven. I am pretty happy with it, but there are a few things about it that are not perfect.

I think this toaster oven is the same as many others out there. If you are shopping for toaster ovens, you will see that there are lots of different models and brands offering pretty much the same configuration of controls and features as this one. I suspect that they are all made in the same factory and just have different body styles and name brands slapped on to them.

Anyway, here are some of the features that I like about it:
- It has a "Stay On" setting, so if I am baking something that will take more than 60 minutes I don't have to keep turning up the timer to keep the oven on.
- It offers different cooking combinations of top heat, bottom heat, both, convection on and off.
- It has a bulge in the back ("pizza bump") so that I can put a 12 inch diameter pizza pan in it (one was in the box, but I prefer a pizza screen). Not counting the bulge, the interior is about 9" x 12". It is 4.75 inches from the rack in lowest position to the top heating elements.
- It came with a second rack so I can heat things on two racks at the same time if I want to.
- The stainless steel body means that I can scrub the body without having to worry about removing color (and it looks good)

A few flaws that made me contemplate returning it:
- The outside gets hotter than my older (Kenmore) toaster oven. I put a grill thermometer on the top, when baking at full temp, the top surface reaches 220, about 20 degrees warmer than my old Kenmore. I looked and there appears to be an air gap between the roof of the oven and the outside top surface, but I could not tell if there is any insulation in there. But that means it gets the kitchen hotter, and it provides a hotter warming shelf (plates now get too hot if left too long). [I have moved my ugly old toaster oven out to my patio, and if it is too hot to bake inside, I will bake out there instead.]
- The temperature dial goes down to 150 degrees, but when I have tested it with various cooking modes, the actual oven temperature didn't go lower than 200 in one cooking mode, and 180 in another one. I had been hoping to use this for things like slow roasting and food drying, but that is too hot.
- At the corners of the glass door, there are little cushions that probably protect the glass door from shock, but they also prevent the glass door from closing the whole way, so there is a gap of about 2.5mm to let the heat out (using more electricity and making the kitchen hotter). I haven't decided if this is a feature (perhaps it was felt that some air flow was needed) or a bug.
- If you pull the rack out more than one inch, the back is no longer supported so the back of the rack falls down, and what you are baking slides down to the back. This is a real design flaw, but I have just gotten used to the annoyance and hardly pull the rack out now.

However, in spite of these flaws, I find that I am really happy with the purchase and have enjoyed using its many functions.

Also, note that the ridiculously huge dimensions given in the Amazon listing (at the time of this writing) are the size of the box, not the toaster oven itself. The toaster oven is 17.75 wide x 10.25 tall x 13.5 deep, not counting little bumpers which stick out of the side and back about a half inch to prevent it being pushed too close to walls.

A lot of smoke the first time I used it! (I have never had a toaster that did not have this issue to a small degree!)

This is warned of by a small sticker on the top of the toaster and in the instruction book, for the first few times you use this.

The smoke from mine was extraordinary. The factory must have been unusually sloppy in cleaning before it left the factory.

I had to unplug this and take it outside due to the heavy smoke. Like a dozen cigarettes burning at once.

I let it operate for two hours outside until the smoke and ALL smell subsided. After a half hour the smoke subsided. Until then I was not sure if it was about to go up in smoke - literally.

* SO please - Do NOT give as a gift without a warning about burning this in. Do NOT try to fix a meal in it until it has been burned in - preferably outdoors. Do NOT give to an older or nervous person without warning, or being on hand for the burn in.

Other than that it has been great so far.

* Toasting is very fast compared to my old toaster oven.

I have had to recalibrate my whole preparation schedule. Toasting has been even as well. Watch it until you know what time / heating adjustments you need to keep from burning anything.

* The keep "warm" function works very well, when you find that your baking has outpaced your schedule. When I warm bread from the fridge, it is better than zapping the bread in the microwave.

* The rack does tilt badly when pulled out. I have found that if the TWO racks are used together in one slot, pizza rack on top - the effect is greatly reduced. Still a consideration for challenged users.

These caveats aside,

I like it a lot for my needs.

------------ UPDATE - 3-14-2011

I have used the oven every day for all meals over a year now without a problem.

Food / pizza on the left side tends to rise and brown a little more quickly. I move everything to the left as far as I can and it is less noticable (changes the circulation).

I am updating because the door became difficult to open and close. A fast shot of WD-40 into the left hinge "limiter" fixed it like new - and it is enclosed outside the cooking box so there is no risk to food preperation.

The drip pan is easy and quick to clean.

I am pleased with the purchase.

This has never been a great "toaster". It's fine for baking pizza, burritos, etc when you're cooking for one or two. It does not toast bread evenly. Just after the warranty expired, the keep warm function sounded like wiring was shorting out, so stopped using it. Then a few weeks later, smelled burnt wiring. Now it's a fire hazard. Should have kept my old toaster that was still working fine after 10 years.

I got this Euro-Pro toaster oven for Christmas. What a wonderful gift it was.

SIZE

Compared to my last toaster oven, this one is large. I can fit six hamburger bun halves across the rack or a 12 inch pizza or a cornish game hen. It's got a nice height and depth.

The back of the oven is rounded, to accommodate the pizza tray. This may be a problem for some people who want the toaster oven flush to the wall. I did notice my oven jutting out at first, but I got used to it quickly and it doesn't bother me.

HEATING

Baking, broiling and grilling is done by convection heating, which means my food cooks more evenly than ever before. The only time I've had problems is with the toaster setting (for which there is no convection heating). In that case, toast that's placed directly over the heating element burns or toasts more quickly.

As for the outer oven heating up, it's never been a problem for me, since I do not place anything flammable on top or sides of my oven and have never had any need nor desire to touch it. It conveniently stays out of the way and not an accident waiting to happen for me.

OTHER FEATURES

The toaster oven came with a rectangular baking rack and a baking rack with the back rounded out to fit the shape of the back of the oven (i.e., it's larger), a pan that fits in the oven in lieu of a rack, a pizza pan that fits on the rounded baking rack.

There is a keep warm feature and a cooking timer that turns the oven off automatically. I can just set it to be on without the timer; but since I am forgetful, I always use the timer.

Cleaning is easy. The crumb tray pulls out from the front. I just take it out and wipe it down. My old toaster oven had the crumb tray attached and I had to take the whole thing to empty over the sink. This is much easier.

PROS:
+ large size
+ convection heating heats food evenly
+ cooking timer
+ can broil, bake, grill, toast, keep warm
+ crumb tray pulls out from the front (easy to clean)
+ comes with pizza pan, baking pan, rectangular baking rack, larger baking rack that has a rounded back end

CONS:
- takes up more counter space than my smaller toaster oven
- doesn't sit flush to the wall

SUMMARY

I haven't had this oven for very long, so if it conks out shortly, I will come back to update this review. So far, it is terrific, much better than my little toaster oven this one replaced.

We have been using this as our only oven (we live in a mountain cabin and do not have a real range/oven/stove) since July 2006. We love it!

Yes, the toast always comes out a little unevenly toasted, but I've never owned a toaster or toaster oven that did not do this.

I bake cookies, brownies, pies (using a smaller pie pan), cakes (in smaller pans and in small bundt pans) tarts, tartlettes, cup cakes using real cake batter from scratch, casseroles, chicken and granola bars in this with ease. my partner makes lots of stuff including pizza made from scratch, meat pies wrapped entirely in pie crust, bread, yes, bread at over 8200 feet above sea level!! He makes experimental breads using different kinds of flours and they turn out great. We even make muffins and they rise as much as any high alt. muffins can.

I was thinking of finding a future just-in-case replacement because I know things break these days a lot faster than they used to. But, the reviews on other convection ovens scare me--exploding glass?? Small fires?? No, thank you. I'll stick with this guy until it dies.

I bought this toaster/oven for its versatility. It toasts several slices of bread at one time and if you keep it at the lighter setting, it comes out great! Looking forward for using it for pizza but haven't had the occasion. It is also very attractive with my stainless appliances.

This product is really great. After reading previous reviews, I decided to make a purchase. My wife and I are really pleased with it. It cooks a frozen pizza very well and my wife tried a quiche that turned out very well. Only item that I can think of to note is that the convection part does not cook the items any faster. We tried several items according to the owners manual and found that it required more to time to cook than specified for convection cooking. Over all, we do not have any negative comments to pass along.

Run away from Euro-Pro. The plastic time knob has broken on me twice! And I called customer service in INDIA!! and they wanted me to pay for ANOTHER replacement knob. Stating that their pasrt have no warranty!

We use this toaster oven instead of our kitchen oven for almost everything. Cooks perfectly and is easy to keep clean. I recommend it to everyone

I don't understand how this piece of junk is getting 4 or 5 stars from some people. It always toasts one side darker than the other. It is amazingly difficult to control how dark it toasts. The darkness/lightness knob is way too insensitive, so going from too light, to completely burnt is within about a half a milimeter of each other. We have had this thing for three years and I have never had it end at exactly the right point. Mostly it just burns the toast because I get too frustrated with turning it back on over and over to get it just a little darker, just a little darker... damn- Burnt!

My old Black and Decker $25 toaster used to be able to brown up some corn on the cob nicely. This one... forget it. I've had corn in there for 20-30 minutes and it's still only slightly warm. I've tried it on toast, on broil, on bake... basically every setting- no luck. I don't understand how, when it can burn my toast so easily. Does it know that I've put in corn? Does it have a strictly boiled corn philosophy? It doesn't seem very intelligent in other ways- or is it all part of a fiendish plot to drive me crazy?

Yesterday it burned my last piece of bread, one more time. That's it, that was the toast that broke the camel's back. I'm looking for a new toaster, and if you want this one, you'll find it sitting on the sidewalk outside my house in a couple of days. It wasn't even that cheap. I've been looking around and there are many toasters out there for less, even ones with convection ovens built in. I've always bought cheap toaster ovens for the last twenty years, and none was as big a piece of rubbish as this one.

If you still decide to buy one... good luck, you might be happy with it like some of the other people on this site, but if you're not- don't blame me!