When buying a toaster oven, you also want to consider how much space you will have. Most models will fit between your counter and the bottom of your cabinets. If space is at a premium in your dwelling, be sure to pay special attention to the dimensions of the toaster ovens you are interested in. The Calphalon Quartz Heat Countertop Oven is designed with an innovative quartz heating element to deliver 40% more even heat* , for even cooking and crispy consistency. It preheats in seconds for fast, precise cooking, saving you time and reducing the need to use your range oven. Find details in Calphalon quartz heat countertop toaster oven review.
Pros: Preheats quickly, features quartz element for even heating, easy to read LCD display, 11 different cooking functions, comes with cooking accessories
Cons: On the expensive side, short power cord
Key features – Calphalon quartz heat countertop toaster oven
- Quartz heating element delivers 40% more even heat* and preheats in seconds
- Extra-large capacity can fit a 12” pizza
- 11 preset cooking functions: Bake, Pizza, Broil, Toast, Bagel, Roast, Defrost, Warm, Reheat, Cookies, Dehydrate
- High-contrast LCD display for intuitive control of all features
- Included accessories: baking pan, pizza pan, dehydrator rack, and wire rack
- Backed by a 3-year limited warranty
- Sleek, modern dark stainless steel finish
- Built-in interior light to easily track food’s cooking progress
Calphalon quartz heat countertop toaster oven review
Design
The look is stainless steel with a built-in interior light that allows you to check how far along your food is cooking without physically opening up the oven itself.
Dimensions
- Exterior Oven: 18.7 x 15.8 x 11.6 inch
- Interior Oven: 12.5 x 13.0 x 4.47 inch
- For full instruction manual please see INSTRUCTIONS & WARRANTY
- Product is 1400 watts
11 Preset functions
Delivering 40% more heat than the competition including conventional tube heating, the Calphalon Countertop Oven has 11 built-in presets including: Toast, Bagel, Bake, Roast, Broil, Pizza, Cookies, Reheat, Keep Warm, Defrost and Dehydrate.
LCD display
The LCD display of the Calphalon is bright when turned on, coming with three buttons underneath for turning on the internal light, a start button, and a cancel/stop button. this countertop oven features a light so you can easily check on your culinary masterpiece — or your piece of toast. Either way, it’s another useful feature to help ensure the cooking process goes smoothly.
Accessories
Calphalon’s Oven comes complete with a few accessories including a dehydrator rack, a crumb tray, baking pan, wire rack, and pizza rack. The company states that the Oven can fit a 12″ pizza on the inside, and it’s 12″ exactly. I attempted to fit a Digorno’s pizza which was a bit larger than the 12 inches (due to the crust), and it was a very tight squeeze to get the oven to close. It fit on top of the pizza rack (not completely inside of it), but it did cook with ease. On the inside of the oven, there are top and bottom heating elements that allow you to get an evenly cooked meal, regardless of how low or high you set the tray.
Calphalon quartz heat countertop toaster oven cooking performance review
Since receiving the Calphalon I’ve baked Italian bread, chicken tenders, pizza, and fries. Calphalon states that you can cook a small chicken inside of the machine but I was a bit wary to test this out just yet, so I still use my full-sized oven for that, for now. What I suggest though, is for foods that have a particular time on their instructions (for examples, french fries in a traditional oven call for being in the oven for 20-22 minutes) I add 3-4 minutes of cooking JUST to make sure that they are evenly cooked.
My first try with baking veggies for example called for 15-20 minutes on the “Baked” setting. I instead opted for adding five more minutes allowing the veggies to crisp a bit more and they came out perfect. I do not have a physical kitchen/oven thermometer, but I would certainly suggest investing with one until you’ve figured out the proper temperatures and times for foods as they will vary from a traditional oven.
Overall, if you are looking for a countertop oven, and are patient enough to test out the times and temperatures of foods (as they won’t be the same as a standard oven), the Calphalon is a great addition to your kitchen gadgets. It heats evenly, can toast your bagels, reheat those leftovers, and even dehydrate foods if you’re into that type of thing. The controls are simple and easy to understand, but most importantly it won’t take up much counter space and doesn’t break the bank price wise.
Calphalon quartz heat countertop toaster oven Customer review
Love this Toaster Oven
I’ve been using a toaster oven for years and this one blows the other few I’ve owned out of the water. Heats up to temp very fast, easy to use and understand display and I LOVE the light! The only downside was a learning curve aspect on my part; The first couple times I used the oven I dialed in the heat and time and hit start. Came back a bit later to check on it and it was turned off. This happened a couple more times until I learned that the first time you hit “start”it only “preheats” and then it expects you to his start AGAIN to start the actual cook timer…Once I figured that out (of course I didn’t read the directions, I’m a man) it was all gravy.
By Amazon Reviewer
Measure your counter-tops before buying!
Returning it tomorrow. I knew it was large, but instructions add 6” clearance needed all around. The open door hangs off our 24″ deep counter. I expected a toaster oven for daily bread toasting and occasional baking. This is more fancy small oven than toaster to me. Toast takes longer. This appliance does look great and comes with a nice instruction manual. It might be fine for your space and use. Instructions also recommend: protect surfaces from heat with trivet, do not use on wood tables, and unplug after each use (things I wish I knew prior to purchase). We do not have such a large trivet (est. 16 x 23”), so I used an oven liner placed on my kitchen counter-top to be safe. And finally, read-out says SHADE (?), which seems to be confused with temperature or something else.
By Amazon Reviewer
Alternate of Calphalon quartz heat countertop toaster oven
1. The best budget – Oster Large Capacity Digital Convection Toaster Oven
The Oster Toaster Oven is the only toaster oven that costs less than $100 to make our list. What sets it apart is the smooth electronic control panel that operates much like a built-in microwave oven. With dimensions of 19.5 by 14 by 11 inches, it does take up a fair amount of counter space, but it also fits a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish or baking pan. You can use this model to toast six bread slices or bake a 12-inch pizza.
The cooking functions included in the Oster oven include defrost, toast, convection bake, warm, pizza, bake, and broil, which runs at any temperature for proper melting and browning.
At the time of writing, the Oster oven had more 2,500 5-star reviews on Amazon. Buyers enjoy this unit because it holds an accurate temperature and runs quietly. Others found it had completely replaced their full-sized oven. The only complaint we could find is that there may have been a manufacturing defect at some point since some buyers found the handle got extremely hot and required a potholder to open.
The Oster Toaster Oven was reviewed by a number of experts. Good Housekeeping liked it because of the consistent and even toasting as well as the convection cooking abilities. However, the reviewers found it cooked slowly and emitted excessive heat. Top Ten Reviews noted that this Oster model has an outstanding touchpad that is ideal for people who have trouble turning knobs. And, the Best Toaster Oven Reviews liked that the oven features an interior light and large capacity.
Pros: Easy-to-clean, dishwasher safe accessories, completely digital touchpad
Cons: Takes up a lot of space
2. The best small toaster oven – Breville BOV450XL Mini Smart Oven
With dimensions of 16 by 13 by 9 inches, the Breville Mini Smart Oven is the smallest toaster oven Breville makes, and it can fit four slices of toast or an 11-inch pizza inside. Among the many features that make the unit easy to clean are the removable pull-out crumb tray. You should change it often to ensure the device doesn’t malfunction, as most toaster ovens are designed to stop functioning when crumbs build up to an unsafe level.
The main feature that sets the Breville Mini Smart Oven apart is its use of Element IQ variable power distribution. It works like this: Food is cooked more quickly and evenly using the power of four individual quartz heating elements. This distributes heat throughout the appliance where it is needed. The oven adjusts the wattage of the heating elements up to 1,800 watts for flexible cooking based on the heating menu options you choose. The pre-set menu options include toast, bake, broil, roast, cookies, reheat, pizza, and bagel.
The Breville Mini Smart Oven has more than 1,600 5-star reviews on Amazon. Buyers report that this toaster oven is durable and performs just as well if not better than traditional ovens. The biggest complaints are that the buzzer is extremely loud and that the handle to the oven door sticks out too far.
Expert reviews of the Breville Mini Smart Oven were almost all positive. Compact Appliance rated it highly for its basic functions as well as the sleek, stainless steel design. The reviewer found the “Smart” term in the name of the device to be a bit misleading because there is no special Wi-Fi functionality. Amy Says Cook performed an in-depth review and found this toaster oven preheats quickly and allows for total cooking control. Time 4 Toast, which exclusively reviews toaster ovens, recommended this model despite the high price because of the Element IQ technology.
Pros: Durable, easy to clean, broad array of cooking functions
Cons: No convection feature, loud
3. Popular – Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven
Cuisinart’s Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven is the best toaster oven we’ve tested. Not only is it easy to use, it also bakes evenly, has plenty of settings, and comes with helpful accessories like a pizza stone, two baking racks, and two baking pans.
With its 0.95-cubic-foot capacity, the oven can hold a 13-inch pizza, a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, a whole chicken, and nine slices of bread. Even though it holds a lot, the toaster oven itself isn’t terribly huge. It measures 21 by 17 by 11 inches in size, plus, it looks good in any kitchen, thanks to its brushed stainless steel finish.
The Chef’s Toaster Oven has 15 cooking functions, including several helpful pre-sets for foods you’ll make a lot like toast, pizza, and sandwiches. It also has a speed convection setting for when you want to get cooking really fast. The 1800 watt oven heats up very quickly and Cuisinart’s Exact Heat sensor ensures that the temperature is accurate.
The interior light makes it easy to see what’s going on inside behind the big glass door, so you can monitor the progress of your toast, pizza, croissants, or what have you. We found the light particularly helpful when we were still learning the oven’s settings.
We never had to wait very long for it to reach baking temperatures of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and it toasts bread perfectly in a matter of minutes. We used the toaster oven to bake pain aux raisin, cuernitos, homemade pizza, and cinnamon rolls. We also warmed up French onion soup, broiled fish, and cooked meals in it for a month to really put it through the test, and it passed with flying colors.
The baking rack automatically slides out when you open the door, making it easy to pull out your hot baked goods. The interior was easy to clean, too, because of the pull-out crumb tray. All these little features add up to make a great toaster oven that’s easy to use.
Buyers on Bed Bath & Beyond as well as Amazon rate it highly, and it’s won an Amazon’s Choice Award. There have been some reports of the door failing over time, some say the labels rub off the buttons, and others complain that it gets hot to the touch.
We’re not the only ones that recommend the Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven. The Wirecutter recommends this oven as the best large toaster oven. Good Housekeeping tested an older model of this oven and gave it high marks. Techlicious also gave an older version of this oven a great review.
However, Cuisinart does warn that the sides will heat up and you should remove any meltable objects from the top and sides before you begin baking. The oven comes with a three-year warranty, too, so if you do run into any problems, contact Cuisinart for a replacement. — Malarie Gokey
Pros: Comes with pizza stone and pans, easy to use, bakes evenly, lots of settings
Cons: A bit pricey takes up counter space
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