Very Disappointed; Returned It
Pros:
Nice even toasting on both sides, in a short time. Small footprint. Attractive appearance.
Cons:
Poorly designed on switch; no warning bell; interior not non-stick; crumb tray not removable.
The Bottom Line:
Don't buy it; poor quality.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I bought this toaster oven to replace a reliable GE we had for more than 20 years. I'm not interested in using this appliance as an oven or broiler, and wanted a relatively small footprint. We like using a toaster oven, rather than a regular toaster, as we can melt all manner of toppings on bread, tortillas, etc. I was hoping for a non-stick exterior and a pull-out crumb tray, but these are harder to find in a small toaster oven. I liked this oven's size and appearance, and especially liked the brushed chrome exterior.
But.....the "toast-on" switch malfunctioned. On average, about every 3rd time I pushed it, the toaster would not switch on. The button is hard to push in(without holding onto the back of the toaster with the other hand or pushing the toaster hard against a wall), so the toaster tends to slide backward on the countertop. When pushed in, it does not have a nice satisfying "click" so that you can feel that it's on. It does light up when switched on. Occasionally, it would work 10 times in a row. Then, I would be back to pushing hard with no results. Definitely not satisfactory performance!
Another big minus with this model is that there is no warning bell when toasting is finished. The oven merely switches off.
More minuses: interior not non-stick; crumb tray swings down, rather than pulling out, and is not removable for cleaning.
I wouldn't say any of these so-called 4-slice toaster ovens actually hold 4 slices of bread at one time. They'd have to be pretty small slices. I could, however, tolerate that if the toaster had actually worked the way it's supposed to.
On the plus side: the toast came out nicely browned and even on both sides. (You have to be sure to keep the bottom tray of a toaster oven scrupulously clean to get nice even toasting on the bottom of the bread.)And it didn't take an forever to get a nice piece of toast. "Medium" toast took about 3 minutes. The "light" setting, which toasted a commercially prepared raisin bread I like to a nice golden brown, took only 2 minutes.
The minus side far outweighs the plus side for this toaster oven. I could have lived with all the minuses, even the lack of a warning bell, if the toast switch had worked properly. But that was toooo unreliable! This toaster went back 2 days later. A bit better engineering and this could have been a nice little appliance. Too bad.
