Customer Reviews

Sanyo SK-7S Space Saving Toasty Oven, Silver

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We bought this toaster oven from Amazon about 6 months ago. We were looking for something that could handle more than a standard toaster but not as complex as a lot of the other toaster ovens (which could practically replace your full sized oven). This space saving design looked ideal. My initial disappointment came when I realized that there wasn't any temperature setting, just settings to specify how many of the heating elements you want used. Granted, this was probably somewhere in the description and I just failed to absorb that, but it just seems that a toaster oven should have more precise temperature settings. Nonetheless, if you work with it you can sort out how long to cook small items (e.g. french fries) and it does toast very well. But, I have to give it a low rating because the elements only intermittently turn on after only 6 months of low level use. Spend your money more wisely on a traditionally, high rated brand rather than this model which was a great concept that just does not perform.

At 950 watts and with a footprint of less than 1 sq ft, this is especially suited for a studio apartment or for a kitchen with limited counter space and a limited number of electric circuits. It's also a true gem to put in a guestroom breakfast bar, or a vacation cottage, if you are lucky enough to have either one. It works well for an elderly relative in assisted living. (Contrary to what the technical specifications state, this appliance does have an automatic shut-off feature. The timer shuts off after 15 minutes.)

As a toaster, it's relatively slow but it's versatile. E.g., it handles bagels better than a regular toaster, warms up pastries nicely, and you can toast on only one side. On the down side, toasting anything DOES take longer, as another reviewer noted; this may be because it has what appear to be "light bars" instead of metal heating coils or rods.

So, no, it's not a down-sized equivalent of an oven, or even a toaster oven. The temperature control is set in the vicinity of 375 F. You can't broil, but you CAN bake just a few cookies. Whether you use one of the refrigerated rolls of cookie dough, or make your own batch of cookie dough, you can freeze the left-overs or divide the whole batch into in pre-cut portions. Then bake 2-4 cookies while you prepare dinner. (What an aroma, to have them fresh! and no temptation later.) You can also let the kids/grandkids take out a portion, and bake them.

A bonus is that the Toasty also makes superb English muffin pizza--no soggy bottoms, like in the microwave. I also like it for melting cheese on toast. It also reheats a single slice of pizza very nicely.

About replacement pans and clean up: You can buy one of the thinner style silicone baking liners (be sure it's 100% silicone, with no fillers) for a small pan and cut it to size for each of the pans. Clean up is VERY easy then, and since the liners are reusable, it's cheaper in the long run than lining the pans with aluminum foil.

If you are, or have, a handy person around, you can also custom trim a couple of unglazed baking tiles to make your own little pizza oven.

SUMMARY: Downside is that it's slower than a toaster, more limited than a toaster-broiler oven, and a tad pricey. But it's small and it's cute!

NOTE: To find a silicone mat without fillers, just bend it. If it turns white, the mat contains fillers, and it should not be cut.

Innovative out of the box design...good quality (so far), this new generation toaster oven exceeds my expectations. This "Super Toasty - Bagel Best" does indeed toast bagels excellently as well as bread, etc.

Design saves counter space and offers more flexibility in heating things up. Only drawback: no temperature control. Heating is done by timer so you go by the timer times in the guide and go with that. Also you have a lot of glass so if you see something getting too brown you can quickly turn it off.

Contrary to other reviews, I think it toasts just fine, thank you.

Good looking, compact, fine for toast. However, with no thermostat one can only bake by time, and careful observation. I don't think it should be called a toaster oven, given this deficiency.

These days, it's hard finding a simple toaster oven. Most of them are huge, have convection capability and complicated digital displays, etc. Not the Sanyo Toasty. I like it because it's very compact, tall rather than wide, and looks good in my retro kitchen. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it looks like something your dentist would use to sterilize drill bits, but he's getting used to the Toasty's offbeat design. It toasts bread and bagels just fine. Yes, there's no heat setting and others have complained about that. That drawback doesn't bother me. As long as you're not looking to heat up large or long items, the Toasty is fine.

Our counter space is at a premium, so this was perfect for our kitchen. The darkness setting is a little fidgety (I have to keep an eye on it when I'm toasting), and there's less cooking space, but for the two of us it's fine. I snapped off one of the handles from the first one (they ARE just plastic), but when I went shopping for another type to replace it I didn't find anything else that met our needs.

I like the size of this toaster oven--it does not take up much counter space. I dislike the slowness of this item for making toast--takes more than twice as long to toast bread as my old toaster did. Also, it is not really a toaster "oven", as it does not have oven temperatures for baking. It seems to be designed mainly for toasting or heating things up.

We don't have a lot of counter space and we used our old toaster oven mainly for toast. So when replacing it I considered getting a regular toaster. Still, it's nice to be able to reheat pizza or fix fish sticks in a handy little toaster oven. Then I saw this one -- it has a small footprint! It gets great reviews! Can 42 people be wrong? So I got it, and I was keen to like it too. But here's the low-down -- my list of pros and cons, when compared to a regular toaster oven or toaster.

Pros:
-- It has a smaller footprint than a regular toaster oven.

Cons as a toaster:
-- It takes 5 full minutes to toast bread.
-- No cancel button. The only way to stop the oven when the timer dial is still running is to unplug it, and annoyingly, the timer will keep ticking. (Opening the door doesn't stop it.)
-- You cannot figure out a toast darkness setting once and for all -- your preferred setting for your usual type of bread -- and then just start it. The timer dial does show darkness settings, but they're not too precise. So I end up having to watch the bread. (But yes, the toast comes out perfectly fine. I did give it 3 stars.)

Cons as a toaster oven:
-- You cannot set the temperature.
-- The timer dial maxes out at 15 minutes and turning that dial is the only way to switch the oven on. So even for fish sticks that need 20 minutes, you have to go back and re-set it for 5 extra minutes. (As for baking a small loaf of banana bread...forget about it. Anyway, the loaf pan wouldn't fit. See next point.)
-- The shelves are too small to fit a large slice of pizza, you have to fiddle with the slice to fit it in.

So it's not really an oven at all, just a toaster into which you can put things horizontally. That's a useful feature, of course: you can make nice open faced sandwiches with melted cheese. But if you want to do more than that, this oven will annoy you. Stick to a regular toaster oven, and if counter space is an issue, just get one of the small ones.

This toaster is definitely a space saver. There are a few things you need to know to get great food out of it though, for toast I turn the oven on before I get the bread out so that it is at a good temp when I put the slices in. If you want to bake something or toast a baguette sandwich just use the bottom burner. I like how the shelves come out when you open the door, it makes retrieving your food so much easier.
All in all, it takes a few tries to adjust to this toaster oven, but it makes up for the initial awkward period by being so cute and small. I'm very happy with my purchase.

Great for cooking frozen treats, french fries, cheese nuggets, etc., without having to heat the oven. Very convenient for limited counter space. Does a great job for bagels, special settings.

I have since given this for 2 house warming gifts.