Cuisinart TOB-50 Classic Toaster Oven/Broiler, Brushed Stainless/Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart TOB-50 Classic Toaster Oven/Broiler, Brushed Stainless/Black
Customer Review: Toaster oven with a door problem x 2: Not 5 star
Summary: 1 Stars
We celebrated 45 years of marriage and a toaster oven has been a kitchen essential for all of those years. The Cuisinart TOB-50 is number 4. It's predecessor lasted for 24 years so it has high standards to meet and I'm optimistist. We choose it for it's simplicity, solid feel, and size hoping for reliability and ease of use. In it's early months it is meeting our expectations. It is one of the most solid and basic that I've seen on the market. The controls are solid and easy to use. It toasts evenly and you have the ability to control the darkness of the toast easily. My baking use has been limited but it does a good job of heating small portions that you don't want to microwave. The door and the hinges are solid feeling. It is a nice size without being too bulky. We store it inside a cupboard so size was an important factor. It will toast 4 slices of bread or 4 to 6 waffles depending on their size. It has a soft bell to let you know when the heating cycle is done. The crumb pan is easy to use making the unit easy to clean. The only "con" I can think of in this unit is that the shelf does not pop forward when you open the door so you need a hot pad or shelf pull to pull it forward safely.
JUNE, 2007--Follow-up: I, too, encountered a problem with the door not closing. Cuisinart customer service did not respond to 2 emails. On my first phone call I was disconnected but I was determined to get through to them and I did. I had to return my defective oven(my $$) and in 7 days a new one arrived at my door in good condition(they paid shipping). I didn't get a straight answer when I asked if they were aware of the design flaw and if they ever read the reviews on Amazon. The rep's comment was "Maybe Amazon got a bad batch." OH?? I've had the new one less than a month but the door feels more solid. My husband likes the sound of the signal on this one better--you can actually hear it. Stay tuned for more follow-up.
12/07/09--The door on the replacement unit DOES NOT CLOSE! Just talked to Cuisinart "customer no-service" and because the unit takes on the warranty date of the original unit my unit is out of warranty and not repairable according to them. They refuse to acknowledge this design flaw or that any other consumer has had this problem. They stated there has been no recall. My question is "why"?? Amazon does not allow the star rating to change. I give this item ONE star.
Customer Review: HUGE step up from cheaper units
Summary: 5 Stars
We have no complaints about this toaster oven after using it for about five months. My wife and I (before we were married) had both owned a series of Black & Decker ($30) units, which, while a good value, just weren't big enough for many/most two-person servings. This Cuisinart is solid, attractive, and does a nice job at its intended purposes. And yes, it may take a little longer than a toaster to toast bread (due to the bigger interior, I suppose), it makes up for it by how evenly it toasts.
I saw several complaints in these reviews about the door not closing properly, and though I had the same initial reaction, it took me just a minute to figure out that there's a good explanation for this, which actually turns out to be a good feature of the unit not a problem, and certainly doesn't require that the door be slammed, at least not in my experience. The door, like my big oven door, has a position that it clicks into (not sure what the term is) so you can leave it a slightly ajar during broiling. For baking and toasting, all you have to do to get it to shut completely it nudge it past that ajar-for-broiling position. Not a big deal at all. I had forgotten about it until I read those negative reviews. But the manual should say something about this feature.
(The reviewer who gave one star because the manual says a fire may occur under certain circumstances ("FIRE WILL PROBILY OCCURR")(sic) really needs to brush up on his/her reading comprehension skills and cooking skills. Puh-lease.)
All in all, two thumbs up for this appliance.
UPDATE: So after about a year and a half of daily use of this toaster-oven, the door started to stick open as described by so many others in these reviews. I would have to do a Fonz-like move to get it to shut ("Aayyyyyyy"). That was really annoying, and certainly not a "feature" as I wrote in my first review. Then the door started to squeak very loudly. So I turned to the handyman's best friend - WD-40. A couple squirts (using the thin red tube that comes with the can) into the concealed hinge, and VOILA! It works like new. Nice and quiet, and the door closes without any effort.
Customer Review: A great toaster oven, finally
Summary: 5 Stars
We shopped around for a toaster oven for a ridiculously long time before finally sticking with this one. Whatever happened to Black and Decker? Their ovens are awful nowadays, I used to have one for 10+ years and it was great. Almost wish I didn't leave it behind in grad school.
Briefly, we purchased no less than 4 ovens in the span of a month or two. Black/Decker, T-fal, Oyster, and Kitchen Aid priced from very cheap ($35) to very expensive ($200). We also bought another Cuisinart with electronic controls.
We liked this one best because:
1. It toasts regular sliced bread very well and reasonably fast
2. It has analog controls (dials and buttons) rather than over engineered electronic controls
3. The oven is reasonably strong and large enough to cook meats
As simple as that list sounds, all of the above units were lacking in one or more of the three. The T-Fal, which got great reviews, was essentially DOA because of faulty electronics. I did get the T-fal to toast up a slice of bread, it made nice toast but it took much longer than this Cuisinart. The B&D basically burnt every other piece of toast we tried because it doesn't have any thermostat to monitor the heat. The Kitchen-Aid, like the T-fal, couldn't make toast within a reasonable amount of time. I think the Kitchen Aid was basically baking the slice of bread rather than toasting it. The other Cuisinart (TOB 165) had membrane buttons with electronic controls that was maddeningly un-ergonomic. The deal-killer being that it didn't remember our last setting for making toast so every time we had click-click-click-click etc to set it every single time. Did they actually have human beings test these things?
We've owned it for almost a year and haven't had issues with the door. I consider myself lucky and/or pretty gentle with this thing. I only wish that it would pull out the rack automatically when I open the door (something my old B&D did). But otherwise it's been perfect.
Customer Review: Door issue... solution!
Summary: 4 Stars
We've been enjoying this oven for a few years now and it's been great. It's small enough to sit comfortably on your kitchen counter without taking up too much space but large enough to take over some baking chores from your large oven. However, we too encountered the sticky door problem. Although this oven may not be widely available anymore, I hope this fix helps anyone that is still encountering this issue.
--- PROBLEM ---
As other reviewers have mentioned, the door would get progressively harder to close over time. Eventually it won't close even if you slam it shut.
Since this oven was quite a bit more expensive than regular toaster ovens, I was determined to find a solution. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as my wife tells me), I like to take things apart.
--- REASON ---
The problem is with the hinge mechanism. As noted in the Amazon video, the door is to be left slightly ajar when broiling to increase air circulation. This mechanism allows the door to remain slightly open. However, it relies on friction and over time the door will get harder and harder to close.
--- SOLUTION ---
1. Open the oven door completely. The hinge mechanism is on the left (when facing the oven from the front). You will see a long, flat, on-edge, metal connector from the door to the oven. Place your finger on top of the connector and slowly follow it towards the oven. When your finger drops down (the metal tab curves down), stop.
2. Apply some vegetable oil (or other lubricant) on this curved area. Don't use too much! You can always apply more if needed. A Q-tip dipped in lubricant worked well for me.
3. Try closing the door a few times. The action of opening and closing transfers the lubricant from the metal tab to the metal door stop (not visible). Repeat from step 2 until your door closes smoothly. Usually, several applications is all you need.
4. Enjoy your "new" oven.
Customer Review: Okay with Toast and Grilled Things--FORGET ABOUT BAKING!
Summary: 1 Stars
I've owned this toaster over for two years, and really, I DESPISE it. For making toast or grilling open faced sandwiches, or browning the top of an already thoroughly baked casserole, it's a trouper and works just fine. The top oriented heating element gets nice and red and hot.
But forget about baking anything in this oven--from frozen lasagna to rolls to cookies, it's a disaster--too browned on the top, raw or still frozen in the middle and underneath. Like the name says, this is a classic toaster oven and is NOT for cooking or baking in any way, shape of form. When I consider the ruined foods this oven has produced, it has cost me several hundred dollars overall (I live in a studio apartment with no oven). You can make okay toast in this oven, or broil a sandwich, but for anything else it's a nightmare in culinary frustration.
The more expensive ($149-$179) Cuisinart Convection toaster oven seems much better at baking and cooking, and is what I should order. HOWEVER, after 15 months of light use, this Classic broke, so only the broil and bake at 500 F features currently work (essentially the element only works at red hot full force, and nothing lower). Nothing else works. Very disappointing for a name brand with as much clout a Cusinart. This has really put me off to any and all Cuisinart products, despite the glowing reviews for the convection model and it's superiority in baking and cooking.
I really consider this an inferior and overpriced product that sells solely because of the prestigious "Cusinart" name on it.
I beseech you to NOT buy this overpriced, clouty product. For a classic toaster oven, look elsewhere and spend less money, or consider Cuisinart's Convection model (which still may break down...?)