Meet The Toaster Ovens

Meet the toaster ovens of Toaster Oven Love.  These are the little ovens we use to develop and test toaster oven recipes for the site. You may also recognize them from these step-by-step tutorials too. What are you cooking with? We’d love it if you’d tell us about your toaster oven in the comments below!

Grid of toaster ovens

This is our (ever-expanding) team of toaster ovens, big and small they do the heavy lifting around here.

(NOTE: We purchased these toaster ovens and did not receive them for free, all opinions are our own.)

The Boss (Breville Smart Oven Pro BOV845BSS)

Breville Smart Oven Pro Toaster Oven

The most recent addition to the team is the Breville Smart Oven Pro BOV845BSS.

More expensive than most toaster ovens its features (including convection), design and reliability deliver the goods.

  • The oven light is great for checking the doneness of your meal without having to open the door (which can cause up to a 25% drop in temperature).
  • The interior’s special nonstick coating makes cleaning simple (you can just wipe it down with a damp sponge).
Cookies baking on a sheet pan inside a toaster oven.
  • The rack positions for cooking different items are printed on the door so you don’t have to check the manual every time.
  • It comes with a sturdy baking rack, large roasting pan, and pizza stone.

We were skeptical about all the hype but it’s a great little oven.

Mini loaf of of quick bread baking inside a toaster oven.

However, it does have one annoying “feature.”

The beep or alert is ridiculously loud and there is no way to adjust the sound level. If you’re trying to sneak a midnight snack of potato wedges, prepare to share because that beep will wake up the whole house.

On the plus side, you’ll probably never accidentally turn it on and not know it.

Tiny T (Oster TSSTTVVGS1)

Small toaster oven on a kitchen counter.

Originally an office lunchroom toaster oven, this Oster TSSTTVVGS1 joined the team after Tim took our Cuisinart to work (see Lunchroom Beast below).

Reasonably priced, this cute little (17.4 x 11.1 x 9.5 in) countertop oven’s features include broiling, baking, toasting, and a 30-minute timer with a stay-on position for recipes that take longer.

Oster TSSTTVVGS1 toaster oven on a kitchen counter.

We’re still getting to know this tiny toaster but he’s already helped expand the recipe testing and tutorials on Toaster Oven Love beginning with these posts on How To Toast Coconut In Your Toaster Oven and How To Bake A Toaster Oven Carrot Cake.

Mr. Toaster Oven (Oster Countertop Oven)

Oster Countertop Oven, TSSTTVCG02 on a kitchen counter

The toaster oven that started it all, an Oster Countertop Oven, TSSTTVCG02. A mighty little machine that made tasty baked donuts.

After 4 years, hundreds of baked potatoes and too many burnt appendages, Mr. Toaster Oven has been retired from daily cooking.

Potatoes baking on a rack inside of a toaster oven.

Today, he serves a greater purpose as the official Toaster Oven Love Community Test Subject. Right now he’s helping us discover the best (and worst) methods for cleaning your toaster oven.

Lunchroom Beast (Cuisinart Chef’s Convection)

Cuisinart Chef's Convection Toaster Oven on a kitchen counter.

Last year, we purchased the Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven to replace Mr. Toaster Oven.

It’s dreamy with a huge interior, efficient convection and reliable temperature. Highest on our must-have list, it fits a quarter sheet pan, the perfect sized pan for cooking a pan of addictive roasted sweet potato rounds or buffalo broccoli and cauliflower bites.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Buffalo Broccoli in a baking dish.

The Problem Is

After just a few uses the buttons started rubbing off. Not a huge deal but for close to $200 you kind of feel entitled to buttons that identify what they do when pressed.

Cuisinart’s customer service was very friendly and offered to send a replacement toaster oven if we agreed to mail them the cord for the original once we received to replacement. #nocookiedowntime

A baking sheet of cookies inside of a toaster oven.

A Few Weeks Later:

  • We received the new toaster oven.
  • Chopped the cord off the old one, mailed it back and set the now cordless toaster oven in the garage to take for recycling.
  • After 4 days of use, the buttons on the new toaster oven began rubbing off!

Why It Matters Where You Purchase Your Toaster Oven

If you hear the words 3-Year Warranty and think that must include money back for a defective item, you would be wrong.

Cuisinart would not refund our money because their warranty only covers parts and replacements. To their credit, they were willing to keep sending us a new toaster oven each time the buttons rubbed off.

Toaster Oven on a kitchen counter.

If we wanted a refund, we’d have to take that up with the store we bought it from.

Now, some stores have generous return policies, others not so much.

We had never shopped at Bloomingdales before purchasing this toaster oven during a sale. Turns out they have a more than generous return policy, were happy to refund our original purchase price, and gave us a shipping label to send them the cordless toaster oven.

Less than 3 weeks later we received our refund.

What About The Replacement Toaster Oven?

Cuisinart didn’t want it back and we had already purchased the Breville Smart Oven Pro BOV845BSS.

Two large toaster ovens on a kitchen counter.

So, Tim took it to work and his old work toaster oven (Tiny T) joined our home testing team.

THINKING ABOUT UPGRADING YOUR TOASTER OVEN?

If you can wait, we’d encourage you to skip the sales for now and instead:

Once you’ve decided on the toaster oven that will fit your counter space and meet your cooking needs, a good sale is always waiting around the corner.

So, Whatcha Cooking With?

Tell us about your toaster oven.

Do you absolutely love it or are you struggling to cook the things you love? Share in the comments below!

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14 Comments

  1. I have a HAMILTON BEACH toaster oven Series AO161CE Model 31334Z that I purchased in 2016. I really haven’t used it more than once or twice. I really needed some idea how to best apply the recipes I have for the big oven. I am very grateful for your contribution to my minimal expertise. I think I have an idea what and how I can apply your recipe ideas. Thank you.

    1. Hi Babara!

      You’re welcome, I’m glad we could help demystify toaster oven cooking a little 🙂

      Is that Hamilton Beach one of those cute little roll-top models? I’ve always that it was neat that the door was removable for easier cleaning. If you’re looking for more recipe ideas, you might want to check out the Hamilton Beach website too – I think they have a recipes section that you can sort by appliance.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing about your little oven. Happy Cooking!

  2. I have the Cuisinart convection toaster oven (Model # TOB-260N1) and have had it for several months. It performs beautifully, and it is in perfect condition (no rubbing off of writing) – just like new!!! I love this oven and use it exclusively – I never use my cooking range oven except to store pots and pans.

    I highly recommend my Cuisinart oven. I use Calphalon baking pans in it, yes, even the 13×9″ and it fits perfectly and cakes bake perfectly. I also use the pizza stone that came with the oven.

    Highly satisfied with Cuisinart quality.

    1. Thanks for sharing your recommendation, Linda!

      We’re so glad to hear you aren’t having problems with the buttons. Our Cuisinart toaster oven cooked so well we were seriously bummed about the buttons and really hoped it was an isolated issue.

      Happy cooking!

    1. Hi Adeline! That’s a great looking toaster oven for a VERY nice price too 🙂

      How do you like cooking with it? It seems like there are a lot of fun features and perks (like 2 cooking racks!).

    1. Wow, that guy is impressive! The number of steps and loose screws is intimidating, I’m not sure we’re that ambitious yet 🙂

      Once our warranty expires (since opening it up will void it) we’ll probably have the guts to give it a go. Thanks for sharing Darlene!

      BTW it looks like Breville did get the message, their new Smart Oven Air toaster oven has the ability to adjust the beep volume 🙂

    2. Thank you. I’m thinking the $40 Black & Decker beats the Breville based on these civil service air raid tsunami warning level of beeps & Alerts Breville allowed thru.
      Why Breville? What’s the worst that could happen on a appliance with an automatic shut-off timer for every toast , bake , or broil cycle?

  3. Hi Guys
    Greetings from Australia………. My wife and I recently purchased a Breville smart oven pro and so far we are thrilled with it.
    We haven’t used all the functions yet…….. A little roasting, we have tried oven cooked steak, roast chicken and vegetables etc

    Great for reheating

    The oven is very intuitive and it’s recommendations seem very good.

    We will keep you up to date as we try other recipes

    Thanks for this great web site

    Regards

    John

    1. Hi, John!

      Nice to meet you and your wife 🙂

      Thank you for sharing your experience with the Breville. It’s great to hear such positive things about it’s different features especially the “smart oven” part which we’ve been super curious about. We may be purchasing a Breville in the near future too.

      Looking forward to hearing more about your toaster oven cooking adventures 🙂

      Cheers!

      1. I have a cheap Black and Decker with one rack and live in an old building. Have a circuit breaker in my closet. Have a useless oven that the landlord’s people never cleaned. It set off the smoke alarm . What can I get? I love to bake!!!!

        1. Hi Gayle!

          We’ve had good experiences cooking with Oster, Cuisinart, and Breville ovens. Some of our readers like the Hamilton Beach brand too.

          If you want to bake things like pies or cakes, you’ll probably want a medium or large oven.

          On the electrical, I’d suggest contacting the customer service for any oven you’re interested in. They can tell you if you might have an issue re voltage or circuit overload.

          In the meantime, check out this small-batch cookie roundup. All of the 70 different recipes make 1 dozen or fewer cookies so you can cook them in any size oven. Also, you can freeze some of the dough and have cookies always ready for baking 🙂

          Happy Baking!