459 of 461 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent little convection toaster oven, December 28, 2004
This review is from: Sanyo SK-VF7S Stainless-Steel Digital Convection Oven (Kitchen)
I wanted to get a toaster oven for years after our previous one gave up the spirit a few years ago. But I just could not justify spending $30-40 for the usual low budget half-made-of-plastic affairs that are designed to fall apart in a year. This one seemed to be better made, and the convection feature appeared to make sense, so I took a chance. I never owned any kitchen appliances made by Sanyo before.
I was afraid the stainless steel finish would not be very convincing, but this device actually looks quite stylish, much better than the run of the mill white appliances in my kitchen. It is compact, both inside and out. You will not be roasting a whole chicken in this one. Two cornish hens would be about the max you could stuff in it.
It does make good toasts, and since all it takes is to push a button, the process is very simple. It is great for baking smaller amounts of food, like fish sticks, chicken breast fillets, french fries etc. without having to resort to our full size oven. Coupled with the fact that it heats up a lot faster also, you can save about 30-35 percent off the cooking time, which is nice.
I was somewhat confused by the controls at first, because they advertise this as a digitally controlled oven, and yet there is a prominent "timer wheel" on the control panel. This almost made me not order it, because I have had plenty of negative experiences with clock mechanism based timers that were difficult to set, would make a constant annoying ticking sound, and would be almost impossible to reset or stop before the time was up. They also tended to break fairly easily. This oven does have a digital control, only it does not consist of the usual timer display. You set the timer wheel to the length of time desired, and then push the start button. The timer will begin counting down, and small led lights will start to count down the time remaining around the timing wheel, but the wheel itself does not move. It is a very ingenious system. I love it. If you need to stop it you can just hit cancel and it is off immediately. Cooking temperatures can be changed on the fly, and you get 5 choices: 180F, 250F, 320F, 400F, 470F. These seem like a restriction, but in fact are perfectly appropriate for my purposes.
This oven is also quite quiet. I expected that the convection fan will make it somewhat noisy, as I read about that problem in several other brand's toaster reviews. This one is only making a very discreet humming sound, just barely alerting you that it is on and working. Quality of design and fit and finish is very satisfactory. Read the reviews on Delonghi to find out about doors that won't close, warping heating elements etc. This puppy is a swiss watch compared to most of what's out there. It was easily worth the $50 spent.
Update 8-17-06: After over a year and a half of intense use, the Sanyo is working almost as good as ever. The right hand side of the heaters seems to heat better than the left, but the difference is really minor.This is one excellent kitchen appliance.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
228 of 236 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
HGM, February 2, 2005
This review is from: Sanyo SK-VF7S Stainless-Steel Digital Convection Oven (Kitchen)
After 15 years our old Delongi toaster oven gave up. We wanted something of higher quality and after much searching settled on the Sanyo SK-VF75. I searched to find one at $50 like some of the previous reviewers, but could not find one and ended up paying $79 plus shipping.
The unit we received had a factory assembly defect, the right side panel had not been properly installed. A bump or kink was clearly visible along the top right edge and the crimping to the back pannel was all mangled. In addition to that the left side of the door handle was pushed in causing a misalignmnet of the door which protruded about 1/8 inch above the top panel. Inspite of these problems my wife still liked the oven and we are returning it for an undamaged one.
Although I had seen some close-ups of this oven, there was one feature that was not discernible. About half way into the oven, the top inside surface breaks down at a 45 degree angle to accomodate some of the convection features. This will severely resrict what you can put in it and still close the door. True, a 10 inch pizza will fit, but if it is a deep dish pizza or any other dish that is more than 1/2 inch high at the back edge, it will bump into the slanted inside back panel and not allow you to close the door.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
136 of 140 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great little toaster oven!!, October 8, 2004
This review is from: Sanyo SK-VF7S Stainless-Steel Digital Convection Oven (Kitchen)
I recently purcahsed this oven...not from Amazon....but from an online auction website. This is a great toaster oven. It is not the biggest but is great if you need a space saver and want to toast something more than a slice of bread.
The instructions are easy to follow. Now when it says that the first time you use the oven smoke may appear and that the unit may emit an odor. I was expecting something huge but the odor was slight and no smoke appeared. And the odor did not fill up the entire kitchen.
The first thing I made was a Mrs Smith's small cobbler and it turned out great. It cooked about the time it said on the box and turned a nice golden brown. I like the door handle. It pulls down from the top and stays there. Its a nice way to let your food cool before taking it to the table, shelf, etc. The baking tray and rack are easy to take out. As for cleaning a little of the filling came out onto the tray and came off very easily.
I would recommend this oven to anyone who wants a quality oven thats not going to fall apart after the first use. Its stainless steel look is quite stylish and is better than any of the plastic ones I've seen in the stores.
All that being said, I got mine for $50. I wouldn't pay $89 for it but that's just me. For $89 I think it should be bigger.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No