Oster 6293 6-Slice Convection Toaster Oven, Black
|
List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Oster 6293 6-Slice Convection Toaster Oven, Black
Customer Review: Great, versatile toaster oven!
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely love this toaster oven and I'm disappointed that so many people give it poor reviews because of their own misconceptions of what this device is and does. If you're looking for something that only makes toast, and does it more simply than boiling water, buy a standard toaster. I have very limited space in the kitchen, so I strive to own devices that can double or triple their functionality. For that reason, I bought this toaster oven which eliminates my need for a traditional toaster and renders my big oven unused. As with any multifunction device, it may take an additional step or two to configure to do the job at hand, but it does so spectacularly. I'm perfectly capable of setting three dials: Mode = bake, toast, broil, keep warm; Temperature; and Timer.
As my customer photo shows, it does very well toasting and is big enough to cook a whole DiGiorno pizza. It's still small enough to leave out all the time and not use up the entire counter top.
Struggling to find anything else to say about this toaster oven (what else can I say - it does exactly what it's supposed to do), I just want to address a few complaints people have had.
1: Toaster Oven gets hot and you might burn yourself. Duh. It wouldn't be very good at cooking if it didn't get hot. What people need to learn is a little common (maybe uncommon) sense and not put flammable items on it. Don't touch it when it's cooking. Use the handle to open the door since that was designed to stay cool. Don't let small children use it.
2: The included baking tray is small and cheap. I'll give you this one... it is smaller and honestly looks like it was an afterthought to include. But, considering I didn't even know it was included when I bought the oven, it's a freebie. And I still get good use out of it. I bought the oven for the oven, not bakeware. I have those items separate anyway.
3: It's confusing to configure the settings. I disagree completely. If you're capable of turning on the computer, opening a web browser, shopping Amazon, and read about toaster ovens, you're more than skilled to make a piece of toast in this oven. Like any other device in your kitchen, you need to tell it what you want to do - and it will do it.
4: The Krups FBC2 6-Slice Digital Convection Toaster Oven, Black is sooooo much better than this. OK... it might be. From what I could tell, the reviews are identical (3.5 stars each) and it takes just as much to configure that model to cook as it does this one. Oh, and this one is $100 cheaper. I like the old adage "you get what you pay for" but I just don't see it applying here. Similar functionality, similar reviews, similar ratings, $100 price difference. What more are you actually getting for that $100?
5: Sound level of the fan / timer. Both are pretty darn quiet as far as I'm concerned. At first, I didn't think the fan was working because it was so quiet, especially compared to my old Euro-Pro Convection Toaster Oven - Stainless Steel (TO289). Especially toward the end of life on that one, it sounded like a WW2 fighter plane taking off. As for the timer, it ticks. Like most kitchen timers do. I can deal with that. It's also dead-on accurate. I set it my microwave timer to 19 minutes for my pizza, and the timer on the toaster oven to 20 minutes. Whaddaya know, the toaster oven went off a minute after the microwave timer started beeping!
This is a fine toaster oven, and I have been recommending it to family and friends. Only if they're looking for a versatile machine like this though! If you want a toaster, buy a toaster. If you're looking for a practical, multifunction kitchen appliance and exercise a little common sense, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better little oven!
Customer Review: How to bake a 12" pizza, in an Oster Convection oven!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the MAIN reason's I bought this Oster oven- Was that it would hold a 12" frozen pizza!
&
I DON'T like heating up my big range oven (& the whole house!), just to bake a pizza!
My first attempts were a disaster! Topping was good, but crust was only partially done/gooey! YUCK!
Preface- I am an expert computer software tech- Where most people only see problems (not only computers!)... I see this as a challenge, and seek solutions!
This cooking procedure is "exacting"! If you do "EXACTLY" as I do, you WILL get "my" desired results!
~~~
After several trials...- Here's how I finally got a "perfect... crust" pizza!
Note: This may not work with thicker/"Rising Crust..." pizzas (?), but does work with my favorite Tombst... pizza!
1. "!Leave pizza in the freezer!", UNTIL READY TO POP/FAST IN (topping still be frozen HARD! You can then pry up the pepperoni..., & rearange... quickly)!
2. You "MUST" have the rack at the "proper" level ("None" of their pre-set... levels, worked for me!)!-
Turn the rack over (down), and set it "on top" of the top/lower metal oven guides (2 ½" from crumb tray. Kind of unstable, but perfect!).
2. Set temp. to recommended 400f..., & pre-heat (!Keep pizza in freezer!- see #1!).
3. Pop in fast & set external/clock (not oven!) timer for 12min- After 12min., you will see that topping is getting brown on left (9 O'clock), but still raw at 3 O'clock.
-Take a long spatula..., and "rotate" pizza from 9 O'clock, to 3 O'clock (180 degrees). Set timer for another 12 min.
- The goal is to get the WHOLE topping "DARK" golden brown (If it's not dark on the top, crust will still be gooey underneath!)!
- If topping is "totally" DARK golden brown, and crust is still not light/medium brown around ALL edges!- Turn the temp. down to 350f, and continue cooking for... min (this keeps the internal cooking fan blowing!).
ENJOY!
P.S. For an added zesty taste treat!- Split some mild Greek Pepperonici Peppers & cook on top.
- Sprinkle on some crushed Red Peppers.
Customer Review: Should have listened!
Summary: 1 Stars
Even after reading the reviews, I decided to give this product a try. How bad could it be? Turns out it could be as bad as people said it was!
It does look good... But, the smooth glossy finish shows marks and scratches (out of the box). It takes 3 dials to make toast... The analog timer used to turn the toaster function on and off is a pain. You have to turn it past the 20 minute mark and forcefully back to the toast settings -- or it won't function properly (i.e., turn off). To turn it off early, you have to turn the timer forcefully off. The dials feel cheap and don't inspire confidence that they will last long. Thanks to the warnings in other reviews, I didn't cut my fingers on the sharp edges of the cheap poorly designed broiling pan and insert. The provided pan is extremely small for such a big oven. An after market pan would be required to take advantage of the oven's size (e.g., to cook a chicken vs. a chicken leg). Also, it didn't come with two racks -- just one...
The crumb tray is easy access, but flat... Crumbs get caught on the lower heating elements and wind up on the bottom of the oven. They also roll off the crumb tray onto the floor while being transported to the trash bin or sink, since there's really no lip to stop them.
Though you expect an oven to be hot to the touch, the top of this one could double as a frying pan! In the 7 minutes it took to (unevenly) toast a bagel, it got frightenly hot to the point where I thought is was going to start a fire.
After returning my purchase and rethinking my expectations, I settled on the Krups FBC2 which borders on 5 star reviews -- and lives up to the reviews as much as this piece of junk lives down to the reviews.
If you have low expectations and/or a limited budget, this one looks nice and sort of works. But, there are much better products out there if quality is important.
Customer Review: Great Oven, So-So Toaster
Summary: 4 Stars
After our old toaster oven died, I began looking for an upgrade. I wanted something that I could use more often to avoid firing up the full-sized gas oven. After reading many reviews of the Oster Convection ovens (although not this particular model number), I decided to try it.
I'm glad I did! I've been using this instead of my regular oven to cook two-person meals and I'm sure I've saved a lot on my natural gas bills because of it. At first, I was wary of the dial timer and its loud "bing" (which signals that it's done), but I've come to appreciate it more and more. I'm one of those people who always used to forget to set the timer when I put something in the oven. No chance of that with this model! It actually is spacious enough to fit a 9-inch pizza and an 8x8 baking dish, as well as a regular sized bread loaf pan. It does take some time to adjust to the toasting cycle - figuring out that 2 minutes is really light, 4 or 5 minutes is medium, anything beyond that, well, let's just say you'd better get ready to scrape your toast. For a long time.
The only downsides so far:
It doesn't seem to cook any faster than a regular oven, which is what I thought a convection oven is supposed to do.
It seems to take longer than a regular toaster to toast bread or bagels, although I haven't timed it to be sure.
When baking something with a crust or topping, the fan that is the signature of the convection oven seems to dry out the top. For example, ours has the fan on the right side (as you look in). So when I bake a quiche or a loaf of bread, the top left part of the quiche or bread kind of dries out. It isn't horrible, but it looks weird.
Last, but not least, it does get incredibly hot. This is not an oven that should be used by kids.
Customer Review: Don't be put off by silly reviews
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought this toaster oven at Target. Before opening the package I read the user reviews listed here. Some were so negative I began to think we might have to return the product.
Then we set it up ,read the instructions and tried it out. I then began to realize that some people have very little common sense: an oven without insulation will get hot on the outside and the manual warns you to leave 4 inches on all sides clear and to keep the linecord from touching the back.
As to noise from the timer and the fan, I find both very quiet and even find it reassuring to know the timer is running. The fan really helps to heat items faster.
As to controls, it is clear to me that the top one selects the functions, such as which heating elements are on, the second knob sets the temperature and the bottom one is a simple clockwork timer
I have no trouble setting up the three dials for toasting or to turn the timer dial past 20 to wind up the clockwork, and then between the two marks for toasting.
Obviously while an appliance like this is running you should not leave the kitchen any more than leaving the house with an electric heater on.
We have so far reheated pastry, warmed up Italian bread, toasted bread and waffles and are looking forward to reheating pizza in it rather than light the regular gas oven, and making grilled cheese sandwiches.
So far I see nothing that makes me suspect we shall not be able to enjoy normal use of this appliance and its functions.
I would only suggest to the manufacturer to use lighter colored control knobs to improve the readability of the controls.I marked the tips of the three pointers with a dab of white paint.