Cuisinart TOB-175BC Convection Toaster Oven/Broiler, Brushed Chrome
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List Price: Our Price: $322.00 You Save: $3.00 (1%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart TOB-175BC Convection Toaster Oven/Broiler, Brushed Chrome
Customer Review: Toast Results
Summary: 4 Stars
After my standard toaster oven died, I decided to get the Cuisinart because I think I will do more healthy cooking if I don't have to bother with the regular-sized oven. I had come back to Amazon to buy a cookbook on "toaster oven cooking", and started looking through reviews on the oven. There seems to be some dissatisfaction with the toast results. SO, I did an experiment. I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, put the rack at position B, and toasted 2 large slices of rye bread. I left the brown-ness setting at the default (4). The top of the bread toasted beautifully and evenly, and the center of the bottom was a little under-toasted (by comparison to the top). So, no it wasn't PERFECT, but a heck of a lot better than my old toaster oven. I took a picture, thinking I could post it here.... But I guess I can't. Would be nice if we could so people could see what exactly "uneven toasting" means....
I'm looking forward to roasting a chicken using the convection recipe in the manual that came with it. Until then, it gets 4 stars.
UPDATE: See photo in the Customer Photo gallery for this product - I was able to post the toast!
Customer Review: Instructions a little unclear in spots
Summary: 5 Stars
Some people have reported excellent toast, some massive toast failures. I don't think it's the machine's fault, or the owner -- it's the manual.
Two big problems. First, the instructions have a diagram of the different positions in which you can place the included rack, but they make it look like you can either shove the rack in at the very top of the oven, or the very bottom. You can indeed jam the rack into the very top, but that's a disastrous mistake, since the food is an inch from the heating elements. The correct positions are the middle and the bottom. And for toast, you have to make sure to put the rack in such that the edges are higher than the main portion, so that it basically hangs down from the wall slots (the diagram is correct in this regard).
Second major issue: for two slices of bread, it just says to "center them". What you really need to do is put one slice in the back of the rack, one in the front. Make sure they're not shifted over towards the right side or the left -- they should be in the middle, but with one slice behind the other. Then toast comes out really fine indeed.
Customer Review: Wow!! It lives up to the name
Summary: 5 Stars
When I moved in with my husband 3 years ago, I had t settle for a tosated that would basically burn everything. A coworker of mine gave me the money to purchase a toaster oven as a wedding gift. Living in Antigua, you do not always get the best value for your money. I opted to purchase a toaster over online instead of locally after comparin the price. I have been using this item for just over a week now and I am still on a high at the fact that I made a very good choice. I love to cook and bake. Using my large overn however can make my kitchen extremely hot. Just last night, I did a creamy macaroni pie and it came out perfectly. I set the timer and went to lie down until it was finished.
This item is very user friendly and easy to understand. I didn't even have to read the manual before I started using it. The recipes that comes with the manual are very healthy as well. It also fits perfectly on my countertop and matches the rest of my appliances. I am trying to give my kitchen the black and stainless steel look so I have no problems with the color.
I would say, I got more than my monies worth here.
Customer Review: Worth the $$$
Summary: 5 Stars
After much research, I decided to go with a brand I was already familiar with and the reviews were uniformly quite good. After using it for a month now, I can easily say it is worth the money. I have had several toaster ovens that were one-third the price of this one (I never bought real cheap ones) and the one problem they had is that they never really came up to the right temperature for baking. This Cuisinart not only comes up to the correct temperature for baking anything that will fit in it, but it hits that temp in under 5 minutes in the preheat stage. I was amazed the first time. I have cooked brownies, fish, veggies, pizza, ect.... everything but toast and everything has come out perfectly with the temperature 25° below recipe directions. It works as well as my $500 GE wall oven but is faster and uses much less power. The only disappointments are the fact that it does not shut off with the timer, as others have noted, and the size is a bit smaller than I was expecting. The fan noise is not a problem for me as it seems to be for others. This oven is the real thing for baking and broiling. Make toast in a toaster.Customer Review: Pretty good but not perfect.
Summary: 4 Stars
If you want to toast bread, use a toaster. The crumbs from any cooking can accumulate on the oven bottom and make it hard to clean. Not worth the effort for a few toasted slices. You could always use the baking pan but then it won't heat evenly. So it's basically a small oven.
This oven does the job and maybe even does it too well. Maybe since the oven is new that my food was overcooked even after following proper cooking times. Because of this, you should probably knock down an extra minute or so from the cooking. After some tinkering, the controls are also extremely easy to use.
The problems that arise are:
1. Cleaning this thing is problematic. If crumbs or food particles fall to the bottom, you'll have to wait until the temperature cools off and then try wiping it off. If you use the cooking pan then it'll take longer to cook and you might as well use some other heating application for toast or anything small.
2. This cooking space itself is quite small compared to the overall contraption. Don't expect to cook anything too large or else the top portion would cook faster.