This review is from: Oster TSSTTVDGXL-SHP Digital Toaster Oven, X-Large, Stainless Steel (Kitchen)
Vine Customer Review of Free Product(What’s this?)
I’m not of the culinary inclination, but the economy has led me gently down the path of less restaurant dining, and more home cooking. When my niece, who has worked in fine restaurants for years, mentioned that she hardly uses her standard oven any more since getting a countertop convection oven, I decided to try it.
The initial impediments were frustrating. Right out of the box, you need to check the unit carefully – there was a strip of packing tape on the underside of the oven, for no apparent reason. You also need to wash the two racks and the tray. And it is BIG. (Did I mention that it’s big? From the description, I thought I would be getting a toaster oven, but this unit is bigger than my microwave.)
And then, the cord! Sheesh, the cord! If you have the outlet on the right-hand side of the unit, you’ll be OK, but if your outlet has the misfortune of being on the left side of the unit, the cord will extend only a couple of inches past the unit itself. The manual says the short cord is on purpose – “a short power-supply cord is provided to reduce the risk resulting from becoming entangled in or tripping over a longer cord” – guys, the unit is 21” wide, and the cord is only 26” long. Unless you have it on the counter but are plugging it in at the FLOOR, you are NOT going to trip over this ridiculously short cord. So, while most of us will need an extension cord, the manual gives only generic instructions about using “properly rated” extension cords. After irritated inquiries and digging around, I was able to determine that one needs an extension cord that can handle 1500 watts. (Now you know everything electrical that I know.) We ended up using a power strip that my husband had lying around.
Finally, after washing everything, removing the cardboard inserts and random tape, and finding a proper extension cord, the next night I was finally ready to cook something.
I used the “convection” setting to cook a pork roast and red potatoes in a “V” rack over the tray. I rubbed the roast with a spice mix, baked it, then drizzled with a sweet sauce for the finish. Payoff! I hadn’t browned the pork roast, but it came out like a pre-seasoned ham (as I said, I’m no great cook). The next night, I used the tray to bake breaded fish. Suddenly, I see what my niece meant. Why heat up the whole kitchen with gas heat, when this efficient unit can bake and broil through the miracle of electricity?
There’s no number keypad, so the “bake” and “timer” functions start with presets (350º and 30 minutes, respectively), and you use an arrow key to increase or reduce the temperature and time. In fact, to “preheat,” you just heat the unit for 7 minutes; however, this is not a huge annoyance for an affordable unit such as this. There’s no inside light, but on the countertop, it wasn’t difficult to check the progress of the meal.
So, all that griping aside, I’m happy with my first foray into convection-oven cooking.
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This review is from: Oster TSSTTVDGXL-SHP Digital Toaster Oven, X-Large, Stainless Steel (Kitchen)
Vine Customer Review of Free Product(What’s this?)
Black & Decker introduced the world to the concept of a toaster oven decades ago. The idea was simple, make something the size of a typical toaster and turn it sideways so you could use it as an oven for small items. Simple, effective and very basic.
This, is nothing like that.
This is really big. If you want to make one or two pieces of toast, this is going to be a long and wasteful process. If you want to make several pieces of toast for the family – this is your baby. It is also good for pizza and just about any reheat task you have. Just keep in mind that the unit will take up a lot of counter space and has a large cavity to heat up.
That’s the “toast” aspect of this toaster oven, so what about the “oven” aspect? Well now we have a good topic to discuss. This is really a counter-top oven. Will it make toast? Sure but so will my big, family sized oven if I so desired. This is an oven and a pretty good one. Live alone? Couple? Small family? This is a great unit for you. You can do all the cooking you would do in a full sized oven without the need for using the big boy. Bake, broil, re-heat… yes, yes and yes. I also like the convection setting to get more even heating and faster results. However, there is a big downside to all this table top convenience… this gets hot on the outside. So hot you could burn yourself if you touched up against it and could be a hazard if you don’t have adequate clearance around the oven. So bottom line, get out your tape measure and make sure this will fit. I would add two inches to each dimension just to be safe. “This will just fit” is not an approach you want to take with this one.
The good: Large capacity, even heating, convection feature with a built in timer. Catch tray on the bottom means easier clean up. Two oven racks. Price. Digital interface.
The bad: Too hot on the exterior, does not “beep” when desired temperature is reached, timer starts when button is pushed and not when temperature is reached.
Lastly, it warns not to submerse in water. No toast making in the pool.
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This review is from: Oster TSSTTVDGXL-SHP Digital Toaster Oven, X-Large, Stainless Steel (Kitchen)
Vine Customer Review of Free Product(What’s this?)
I received this product through the vine account to review and I LOVE it!!! I was afraid of the size being to large and taking up too much counter space but it was fine and still is able to sit caddy corner like our previous smaller convection/toaster oven. I think the size is a little off from what is stated. I’m not sure where they got their 24″ dimension. I measured it to be 21 1/2″ wide (across the front of the toaster and 15 1/2″ across if measured from the walls inside), 12 3/4″ height (from the counter to the top of the toaster oven), and the sides go 14 1/4″ deep however the back of it comes out farther and is rounded and when measuring from front to back in the middle of the toaster it goes as far as 16 1/2″ deep. Also, it does have a very short power cord being only about 2 ft long and it is placed under the back right side of the oven, it doesn’t come directly out of the back wall of the oven like our previous toaster oven did. So far I have not had any issues with this toaster oven. It is easy to use and everything we have made has cooked perfectly. I have cooked pizza and they have come out great. I also find it cooks French fries and chicken nuggets quicker than they cook in the actual oven. I have also used it to cook cinnamon rolls. It works great for toasting bread and waffles. When you select the toast button it comes up as a level 4 but with the arrow buttons you can decrease or increase the level. We always use a level 2 and everything comes out perfect. We do like our toast on the lighter side, yet it is still golden. It has a button labeled Pizza that has an automatic 20 minute timer pre set which can be easily adjusted to your desired time. It also is pre set at 400 degrees and can’t be adjusted, but if you need a different temperature you can use the bake button instead. This thing comes with so many features I haven’t even been able to use them all yet. It has a defrost button which is set to 150 degrees and arrow keys can be used to select the desired time. It does however suggest 15 to 20 minutes per side. When baking it suggests to push timer and the arrow down button to 7 minutes to PREHEAT. There is also a Broil button and a Convection Fan bake function. I haven’t had to clean it yet but it says it can be cleaned with a damp cloth an some warm soapy water. It also comes with a 1 year limited warranty. One of my main reasons for getting it too was it is perfect for holidays, allowing you to bake biscuits or dinner rolls and also at the same time being able to have a casserole or other side dish in a 13 x 9 dish both in the toaster oven at the same time. I have nothing but positive to say about this toaster oven. We all love it!! I would highly recommend it.
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Convection cooking for the WIN! (But this is big, and the cord is too short.),
The initial impediments were frustrating. Right out of the box, you need to check the unit carefully – there was a strip of packing tape on the underside of the oven, for no apparent reason. You also need to wash the two racks and the tray. And it is BIG. (Did I mention that it’s big? From the description, I thought I would be getting a toaster oven, but this unit is bigger than my microwave.)
And then, the cord! Sheesh, the cord! If you have the outlet on the right-hand side of the unit, you’ll be OK, but if your outlet has the misfortune of being on the left side of the unit, the cord will extend only a couple of inches past the unit itself. The manual says the short cord is on purpose – “a short power-supply cord is provided to reduce the risk resulting from becoming entangled in or tripping over a longer cord” – guys, the unit is 21” wide, and the cord is only 26” long. Unless you have it on the counter but are plugging it in at the FLOOR, you are NOT going to trip over this ridiculously short cord. So, while most of us will need an extension cord, the manual gives only generic instructions about using “properly rated” extension cords. After irritated inquiries and digging around, I was able to determine that one needs an extension cord that can handle 1500 watts. (Now you know everything electrical that I know.) We ended up using a power strip that my husband had lying around.
Finally, after washing everything, removing the cardboard inserts and random tape, and finding a proper extension cord, the next night I was finally ready to cook something.
I used the “convection” setting to cook a pork roast and red potatoes in a “V” rack over the tray. I rubbed the roast with a spice mix, baked it, then drizzled with a sweet sauce for the finish. Payoff! I hadn’t browned the pork roast, but it came out like a pre-seasoned ham (as I said, I’m no great cook). The next night, I used the tray to bake breaded fish. Suddenly, I see what my niece meant. Why heat up the whole kitchen with gas heat, when this efficient unit can bake and broil through the miracle of electricity?
There’s no number keypad, so the “bake” and “timer” functions start with presets (350º and 30 minutes, respectively), and you use an arrow key to increase or reduce the temperature and time. In fact, to “preheat,” you just heat the unit for 7 minutes; however, this is not a huge annoyance for an affordable unit such as this. There’s no inside light, but on the countertop, it wasn’t difficult to check the progress of the meal.
So, all that griping aside, I’m happy with my first foray into convection-oven cooking.
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|Big… really, really big,
This, is nothing like that.
This is really big. If you want to make one or two pieces of toast, this is going to be a long and wasteful process. If you want to make several pieces of toast for the family – this is your baby. It is also good for pizza and just about any reheat task you have. Just keep in mind that the unit will take up a lot of counter space and has a large cavity to heat up.
That’s the “toast” aspect of this toaster oven, so what about the “oven” aspect? Well now we have a good topic to discuss. This is really a counter-top oven. Will it make toast? Sure but so will my big, family sized oven if I so desired. This is an oven and a pretty good one. Live alone? Couple? Small family? This is a great unit for you. You can do all the cooking you would do in a full sized oven without the need for using the big boy. Bake, broil, re-heat… yes, yes and yes. I also like the convection setting to get more even heating and faster results. However, there is a big downside to all this table top convenience… this gets hot on the outside. So hot you could burn yourself if you touched up against it and could be a hazard if you don’t have adequate clearance around the oven. So bottom line, get out your tape measure and make sure this will fit. I would add two inches to each dimension just to be safe. “This will just fit” is not an approach you want to take with this one.
The good:
Large capacity, even heating, convection feature with a built in timer. Catch tray on the bottom means easier clean up. Two oven racks. Price. Digital interface.
The bad:
Too hot on the exterior, does not “beep” when desired temperature is reached, timer starts when button is pushed and not when temperature is reached.
Lastly, it warns not to submerse in water. No toast making in the pool.
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|LOVE IT!!!!!,
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