Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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316 of 317 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe the best choice available, February 3, 2004
I have had this oven for several months now. I missed an opportunity to by it as a factory refurbished unit, and ended up buying it new here. Initially, I wanted to hold out for a convection oven with a larger capacity, but the reality of unit size and lack of availability of a larger oven with similar features convinced me to by this model.
I think I made the right choice. It is large enough to bake and broil a wide variety of things without having to resort to the "big oven", it has accurate, even temp control, and enough features and custom settings that I am still discovering new and better ways to use it.
It is a pretty large oven, does everything advertsed in best of class fashion, it's very easy to clean, and looks "right" no matter how your kitchen is outfitted. Even simple tasks like making toast are handled better than any regular toaster or cheap toaster oven that I have tried. When toasting bread or bagles, the first part of the cycle brings the bread up to teperature without bringing the heat elements up to "toasting" tepmerature. Towards the end of the cycle, the elements glow bright red, and toast both surfaces very evenly, and to taste. The result is perfectly toasted bread, bagles, pizza slices, etc, without cold centers. The cycle can easily be tailored for your favorite bread. Perfect.
Before I forget, someone posted a "review" here that really was a question about what temp the oven is capable of. The oven can also broil, so that would indicate that it can reach high temps, and in fact, it can. The "bake" setting allows you to select a temerature on the display up to 500 degrees. Most any cooking technique that can be done with a quality conventional oven can be done with this gem. And more. When I first started using the oven, I checked it's indicated temp with my electronic thermometer that I use for calibrating industrial sensors. In every case, the indicated air temp was within a few degrees of reality. My full sized oven wasn't anywhere near that close when it was new.
Broiling, baking, defrosting, and reheating leftovers are also given the benefit of digital control over the cooking cycle. Even the crumb tray was designed for effective operation, and ease of cleaning. I have used a number of dedicated convection ovens, and more than a few toaster ovens over the years, but this one is in a class by itself. Even if you grew up with the microwave, this oven won't gather dust on your countertop.
Update... July 12, 2005. This oven is used most every day, and has proved to be a solid performer. As time passed, I have used pretty much all of the functions of the oven, and learned to customize settings to please me along the way. I have not had a single problem with the oven since the day it arrived, and being easy to keep clean, it still looks factory new (when I clean it). It is about as large as I care to have on the countertop, and for bigger jobs, I simply use the main kitchen oven. For most anything else, this is the oven that gets the call. I still rate five stars.
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75 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A couple quirks, but does what it's designed to do., February 17, 2004
By A Customer
I won't rehash everthing that people have said. This oven definitely is a great toaster and oven. I previously owned a Delonghi Airstream convection oven and the Cuisinart does a more consistent baking job. I think other reviewers have hit all the high points of the oven. Here are a couple "irritating" things that I've found. They don't take away from the quality or ability of the oven, just things that could have been done differently.The manual is overwritten to the point of being very confusing. Very basic features are talked about at length making it seem like the features are more complex than they really are. For example, it talks about all these "custom" toasting options which are really just the buttons you push to describe what you are toasting. And then goes on and on about the timer function which is just a basic countdown timer. I can only imagine the hours of consultation that went into the writing of the manual. My biggest gripe about the oven is that it does not have the option to shut off when the timer goes off. I use the oven for reheating dinners and so I usually put a plate of food in for 15 minutes and then I like the oven to shut off in case I'm not in the kitchen. Unfortunately the Cuisinart just keeps beeping but doesn't actually shut off the oven which means if I'm not around the kitchen, my food will keep on cooking. The convection fan in the Cuisinart is smartly designed to change speeds as it reaches different temperatures. As the oven gets to full temp, the fan is on full speed which is pretty loud. I actually returned my first Cuisinart because it was vibrating the countertop so loudly at full speed, I thought I definitely had a defective unit. The replacement Cuisinart fan was a tad quiter, but still gets to a quiet roar when at full temp. The Delonghi fan is much quiter, but I'd guess doesn't generate nearly the same air flow. Finally, I miss the light from my Delonghi. Seems like an easy thing that Cuisinart should have put in, but didn't. As a side note, I was pleased to find the Cuisinart being the only appliance in my entire house that did not lose the time when the lights flicked off and back on during a storm. Not sure how long it would hold the time, but at least for a second or two. Again, I agree that the Cuisinart is the best built, best performing oven I've seen. I like its 3-year warranty which is rare on any small appliance. That alone should tell you that Cuisinart is confident about the quality of their toaster.
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132 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, amazing toaster oven, May 24, 2003
I never expected I'd spend this much on a toaster oven. My old Black and Decker, the $... variety, worked just fine... except for that disturbing buzzing it'd make sometimes when I turned it on. And it was small. When this Cuisinart came up on my Gold Box one day I was utterly tempted. I looked at reviews. I researched it on Consumer Reports (where it received the best scores, but did not get a best buy rating only because of price). And I was impressed enough to buy it.My first thought when I received this in the mail and unpacked it was 'Wow, what a beautiful appliance!' Because it is. It's shiny chrome with a black front, a heavy-duty glass door, and digital display. All the buttons are soft-touch, and it feels like it's made well. But then, what else do you expect from Cuisinart? My second thought was 'Wow, this thing is big!' It's much larger than your average toaster oven. In fact, the tray and broiling pan that came with it is twice the size of my old toaster oven. The manufacturer website says that the pan is large enough to hold a nine-inch pie plate, and I believe it. It definitely is. You can actually seriously cook with this thing, for more than one or maybe two people if you're lucky. I've used it twice so far, once to broil a burger, the other to broil/bake some chicken. And I've already noticed a difference. It's wonderfully silent and it cooks very fast. But it also gets very hot. I never knew that my old toaster oven wasn't broiling at the right temperature until I had the fat that drained from the burger popping and spitting at me. It has a convection feature which I haven't yet used, but that's only because I haven't tried to bake in it yet. It is also capable of toasting 6 slices of toast at once, and has a memory feature so you can remember how your toast was last done. It will also reheat toast or keep it warm for you. The oven comes with a small manual with some recipes that look excellent in it. It also gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the three rack positions you can use by showing where you'd use them. The manual also has several helpful hints for using the various features, such as recommendations for darkness settings on various types of toast. Advantages: Beautiful to look it, easy to use, definitely on with the temperatures, convection oven capabilities, programmable toasting
Disadvantages: the top of it gets hot, so don't leave anything on top of it, and it's expensive. I'd definitely recommend it, especially if, like me, you're looking to build a functional kitchen with quality appliances, the sort that's a joy to cook in rather than a chore.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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by Lois Dewitt
