Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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206 of 212 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful little toaster, October 23, 2005
When our beloved 30 year old (from dorm days!) toaster oven died, we thought we'd go buy one just like it -- basic, small, good at toasting, yet usable as a small oven. Alas, nobody seemed to make anything like it. They tended to be larger, and didn't do a good job toasting bread.
After reading lost of discouraging reviews and trying a couple of toaster ovens, we had just about given up, when we saw the Toastation. What a great little unit! Makes great toast, nice and fast like a toaster should (through a slot in the top). Then flip a switch, and the top slot closes and it turns into a nice little oven.
It doesn't hog the whole counter (outside dimensions: 15" wide, 7 1/2 deep, and 8 high). The inside of the oven is small (6 1/2" deep by 10 1/2" wide by 2" high), so don't plan on baking pizza in it.
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108 of 112 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
thermodynamics in play...., May 18, 2007
Yes, it works perfectly.
Provided you correct for a small physics and engineering problem in the design.
This toaster/toaster oven is designed so that the wide opening for toasting bagels, english muffins, and fat waffles or bread has a sliding cover that moves into place with the flip of a lever. Once the cover is in place, all the heating upper elements are reflected downward toward the little toaster oven (6" x 9" max -- with a pan included). The lower heating elements then toast or heat from the bottom.
Which is a great idea. Better to use the appliance that is the right size for the job, rather than heating a large oven for a small snack and wasting all that energy.
However --
The metal plate that slides across the bagel toaster opening is just a thin piece of metal with no seals of any kind -- so if left just closed, half the heat (or more) inside the toaster oven pours out the top, around the edges of the thin metal plate (heat rises -- right?)
To compensate for this loss of heat, the heating elements stay on ALL THE TIME and thus burn whatever pizza slices, cookies, or toasted cheese happens to be there.
BUT this is EASY TO FIX!
How do you stop heat from escaping through an unsealed barrier? You seal it! Not with grout or putty or styrofoam, or pink fiberglass -- just lay several regular sized pot holders over the bagel-toaster opening! Anything that is safe near heat will do. A silicone cake pan. A couple of damp (but not wet) kitchen cloths or sponges. My pot holders are thick terry and they worked perfectly.
As soon as I insulated the top of the toaster against heat loss -- the heating element worked efficiently and came on only occasionally to keep the temperature up. (as oppsed to running non-stop if the top was left not insulated.)
This is a small bit of on-the-fly rigging to correct for what the toaster's designers couldn't manage to figure out.
All that said, this is the first toaster I've ever used daily in 50 odd years -- because it's the right size for the job.
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79 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
You will never keep it clean, January 29, 2006
Nice size, fits in the same space as most 4 slicers, but, you won't be able to do more than two slices at a time. Oven too is small, but, works well for crisping up smaller things and heating things like danish. It uses tubes rather than heated coils and seems more effective. Probs - for one, it is very difficult to release if you need to get something out of the toaster in a hurry; which you will the first few times you use it. Pulling up on the handle is a difficult feat,the only way to release, and, once done it will shoot your toast across the room. Secondly, the design makes it a crumb catcher. It comes with a catch tray, but, everything must go through the bottom heating element and its cover before it get there. It sticks to the element and burns. On the top where the slices go in - there is a trim ring that has a slight recess all the way around it. Bad - bad bit of engineering - it is constantly full of crumbs. You will need to either vacuum it or tip the whole thing upside down to get it clean. It is compact, but, really too big to tip over and shake in the sink to clean.
Some more thought in the design and they could have a nice item.
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