The goal was to achieve a baked potato that had crispy skin but was soft through and through. The cooking results for our frozen pizza test were identical to our garlic bread test in its uniformity. In our first review, each toaster oven fully cooked the pizza with minimal variations in browning the crust. In this update, both the Cuisinart and KitchenAid performed similarly, although the pizza crust that was cooked in the KitchenAid was somewhat flabby. While the cooking times varied, the cooking results of all of our finalists were nearly identical. Each toaster oven successfully produced a slice of garlic bread with melted butter, crisp edges, and a soft interior.
In addition, with a new technology developed by Breville called Element IQ, there are five independent heating elements that are controlled to accommodate whatever you are cooking. Once you choose a cooking function, the power is automatically funneled to where it is needed most, delivering the optimal amount of heat at the perfect time for precision cooking. The TOA-65 embodies smart convenience and versatility in a multicooker. Its intuitive interface is easy to navigate, the preprogrammed settings make sense and most of the features work well, eliminating the need for individual specialty equipment. This small yet mighty appliance won me over and earned a place next to the kettle. No matter what look you’re aiming for in your kitchen, you will surely find a Cuisinart countertop oven that fits right in.
A few of the finalists also provide a reheat setting for leftovers and a defrost setting for frozen foods. The crumb tray is a small, thin, stainless steel sheet that slides out from the bottom of the toaster oven. All of our seven finalists have crumb trays, and we strongly recommend purchasing a toaster oven with one. The tray is an essential feature because it makes cleaning your toaster oven much easier. For our final test subject, we needed to ensure that we covered the wide range of food that people use their toaster ovens for. We decided to bake potatoes, the item opposite of cupcakes on the density spectrum.
We also followed the packaging’s instructions to bake the pizza for 16 to 18 minutes. The Panasonic cooked the pizza in 12 minutes and the Cuisinart and KitchenAid in 15 minutes. Despite being powered by a modest 1300 watts, the median wattage amongst our finalists, the Panasonic Flash Xpress was the speed demon to beat them all. The Panasonic was able to produce perfect toast in one minute and 45 seconds, garlic bread in one minute, and frozen pizza in 12 minutes. The speed convection super-heats the oven to the programmed temperature in seconds, so you don’t have to wait to preheat the oven before putting food in.
With five other cooking functions and a keep warm setting, you can use it daily without sticking to fried food. For example, we used the grill function one evening to melt a cheesy topping on nacho and baked a light and fluffy victoria sponge a few days later. Since the Panasonic lacked the broil option, we utilized the toast option once again.
Helen McCue is a freelance contributor who trained as a home economist. I also used the bake setting to bake up a small batch of my favorite granola recipe. In my normal oven it takes 20 minutes to bake with a stir halfway through, plus there’s the ten minutes or so that the oven takes to preheat. However, I didn’t preheat the Cuisinart and noticed after 6 ½ minutes that the top of the granola was browning and needed a stir.
If you’re looking to purchase an air fryer and a toaster oven, this Cuisinart combo is a great alternative. Two handles at the base of the oven allow for easy lifting, while the glass door lets you keep a careful eye on your food during cooking. A pull-out crumb tray at the base of the oven is easy to miss unless you check the manual.
Weighing 22.8 pounds, it can cook up to six slices of pizza or a 12-inch pizza at once. Powered by 1500 watts, it can perform five different pre-set cooking functions. One thing we didn’t like cuisinart toa60 is the baking tray, which was difficult to clean, even when we gave it a few shots of oil spray. The Cuisinart isn’t a perfect machine, but it certainly holds its own against our top picks.
The bagel setting will produce a slightly toasted outside and a crispier inside. The pizza setting can be used to melt the cheese and cuisinart toa60 heat the toppings while crisping the crust. The warm setting maintains the temperature of hot foods to prevent bacterial growth.