I recently went through a toaster oven search. I had the same criteria as you since I use the toaster oven a lot but wanted to minimize the footprint. I also read the reviews on amazon and felt as though there was nothing out there that people loved. My sister has a Cuisinart that she really likes but I thought it was too large for my purposes. I was spoiled because the toaster oven I'm coming from required no preheating (a Panasonic infrared) and I would have replaced it with the same thing if they were still available.

On a whim, while in Target, I picked up a cheapo Black & Decker and I love it. It does everything I need--heats items, toasts bread well on both sides, and broils (I haven't tried the broiler out yet.) Ours is stainless steel in color but it probably also come in black. I love having an old stand-by brand instead paying big bucks for a name (I loved our Presto coffee maker which also is no longer made.)

toaster ovens are a crapshoot. there is just so much garbage out there made by one company and marketed with various nameplates, it's really difficult to find something that will serve reliably as an oven and....make toast.

we've gone through three or four in the last few years. our old b & d workhorse died, so we purchased a delonghi 'retro' styled one for a not insignificant amount of money, and it was just terrible--temps were way off, couldn't make toast well, and finally a knob broke.

we had a cuisinart that sucked and now have a kitchenaid one that looks nice but, again, temps wildly fluctuate, hard to make toast, and sometimes the timer knob sticks causing the thing to remain on until you turn it off--a fire hazard.

i'm tempted to go to resale shops and buy the oldest-looking all-metal construction one i can find. it'd probably work better than these hundred-dollar garbage models that are currently being marketed.

I am also in your boat. We had a black and decker for years that we absolutely loved. It was small but we could heat up most things we needed to do in there. Baked Potatoes, , Rolls, Chicken nuggets, Taquitos, Broiled Fish...I could even broil a steak with great results. But then it finally died and when we went to replace it, the style had changed a bit. We bought another one anyway and it's crappy. It burns everything. The heating element above doesn't work well but below is flaming hot. So the bottom of everything is scorched (especially rolls) and the top isn't done. I'll be watching your thread because I need one too! Good Luck

Lindy

I'm with zelmar and lindybarts on the Black & Decker. We had one in our previous kitchen for years (we have NO kitchen right now!). We got another one for our motorhome. My Dad bought a non-B&D toaster oven and hates it. He likes ours better. We had the old one in our kitchen under cabinet mounted (with a kit we purchased for about $40 - even more than the oven itself!), but we liked it alot. Dont think I want to mount the old one in the new kitchen - but we'll have to figure out something.. because we love love love it!

What about the Cuisinart TOB-175? It gets rave reviews on Amazon (and from a foodie friend who owns one). It is mostly chrome, but has a black front.

Meanwhile, I'll check out B&D. Certainly more affordable!

T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite Convection Toaster Oven?

We have the Black and Decker Infrawave toaster oven and love it. It makes absolutely PERFECT toast (unusual for a toaster oven) and is perfect for reheating that stuff you want crispy that the microwave will just turn soggy. It also has the undeniable cool factor since it cooks with light. It's blindingly fast as well, and quite roomy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black & Decker Infrawave Oven

Does it have decent capacity for baking?

I would definitely look at that Black and Decker mentioned above. I have the discontinued Panasonic toaster oven that cooks with probably the same "light" technology and I LOVE it! I too struggled to find a toaster oven that had good online reviews, and the panasonic had excellent reviews. I have not been dissappointed. So, if the black and decker is similar and the size seems right for you, I'd say go for it.

Sounds like a B&D might be the way to go for you. Though, I would caution that you pick an exact model that someone recommends. My Mom has had two B&D TO, liked one, hated the other. I now have an Oster Model #6058, for those of you in Canada, or close to the border- doesn't seem to be available in the US, at least it's not listed on the US website. I', actually surprised I bought an Oster, cuz the reason I bought it was to replace the Oster we had (for only 2-3 yrs) that my DH hated! I found it at Canadian Tire on sale for half price, and so was lured by the price. WE LOVE IT!!! It's digital, has convection, and even a dehydrating feature (which would be REALLY great if it had more than one rack- my only bone to pick- but we haven't had to use a second rack, but still it's the principle of the thing). Whatever they made the crumb tray with, it's phenomenal. We broil a lot of cheezy things in there, and the hot melted cheese wipes off like a breeze, and leaves no stain marks! I have roasted pork and a chicken, and OK after the chicken, I'm not going to roast in there anymore- cuz that was a PITA to clean up after, but it DID get clean! If this had a self-cleaning feature, I could almost forgo having to have an oven! But, it was the BEST chicken I have ever made- in over 30 years of cooking- will have to try and duplicate in my new self-cleaning oven, cuz BOY did that make a mess! For anyone in a dorm, or making do without your oven I would highly recommend this. Probably the most used appliance in our kitchen!

Great. Just bought the Cuisinart TOB-30BW last night! Was going to get the TOB-195, but since we never bake in one, my dd talked me into the less expensive model... Every other toaster oven on the shelf I'd read bad reviews about, and was hoping the name would mean something, since the TOB-175 and 195 both had good reviews. I also am replacing a B&D we've loved, but read too much here about how much they've changed for the worse.

I was in the market for a toaster oven to use as a small second oven, and all the reviews I read on the more expensive ones were disappointing. I finally broke down and bought a cheap-o Euro Pro (black) from Target (with the pizza bump out - we use it!) and I have been pleasantly surprised. I think I got it on sale for all of $27 and I use it all the time. Great for times that you don't want to heat up the whole oven for a something small. I cooked Thanksgiving sweet potatoes in there too. I have to admit though, I've never made toast in it (we have a toaster for that)!

I have the T-Fal Avante Elite Toaster Oven w/o convection. We love, love it! We always use it as a small extra oven -- and it came in very handy during our kitchen remodel as an oven in our "temporary kitchen". Got it from Linens & Things.

Here is a link that might be useful: T-Fal Avante Elite Toaster Oven

I posted a similar thread on the appliance forum recently. I started out asking for a good toaster, but so many people were happier with the T/ovens that I was leaning in that direction. Haven't found "the one" yet, so I'll be following this thread, too.

In the meantime, we're getting adept at "toasting" bread for wk/end brkfs on our grill pan on the cooktop...I think it makes DH feel like he's running a real diner...may end up not wanting another appliance.

I finally broke down and bought my first toaster oven about 6 weeks ago when it became obvious I wasn't going to have a kitchen anytime soon. It seems that there are people who love each one and others who hate the same one...so it's really tough to figure out which one to buy. I finally settled on the TOB-195 b/c it fits a 12" square pizza...most of the others have the round bump outs and I wasn't sure how a square pizza would fit...plus I think you get more overall room since it's a square w/a 12" side, rather than having a bump out to make room for the extra length.

Anyway, I'm fairly well-satisfied with it. I do notice that the back end of the pizza comes out a little darker than the rest, but it's not burnt and it works in our family since my DD prefers her cheese browner anyway. However, I don't use it to do toast, I use a GE toaster I got from Wal-Mart of all places that is probably the best toaster I've ever had!

As I posted on the appliances thread, I have a Krups 6-slice digital TO with convection and I LOVE it!

olchik, I looked at the Krups -- the FBC2 6-Slice Digital Convection Toaster Oven, right? It DOES look good. I didn't know about it -- didn't get reviewed by Consumer Reports; perhaps it didn't exist then.

It has good reviews on Amazon.com.

Anyone else know anything about it?

Can anyone tell me (or refer me to some site that compares) the comparative inside space of the finalists:

Cuisinart TOB-175
Black & Decker Infrawave
T-Fal OT8085002 Avante Elite (not including the warmer)
Krups FBC2

Or any other thoughts on them?

You all are the greatest!

We needed something for DD's mini pizzas and fish sticks. We like the SS Delonghi we found at LNT.

Here is a link that might be useful: Delonghi at LNT

I've had the Cuisinart TOB-175 (or maybe its forerunner - I'm not sure) for a few years now, and like it very much. We generally use it to make toast, to heat up pizza or frozen items that need to be browned, to make rolls, or to broil hamburgers or pork chops. No complaints at all. It will fit a 9x9 baking pan, which makes it very useful for side dishes.

I can't really compare, as I hadn't owned a toaster oven for years before this one, but am very satisfied. I'd buy it again, were I in the market for one.

I've baked cookies in the Infrawave, but not on a regular basis. It was fine for about six cookies at a time. It doesn't have a temperature or timer gauge, though, it's all pre-programmed for convenience foods or toast levels. As my husband says, everything's a chicken nugget! So you have to keep an eye on anything you'd bake.

Our DeLonghi toaster oven has been very reliable over the years.

We got the Krups.

So far all I've made was toast, but it was great toast!

The beeps are very annoying, but I hope we'll get used to them. Otherwise, it seems perfect for us.

Thanks to all for your help.

I realy really like my Cuisinart TB 175. Use it more than my main Viking oven. Almost never use the MW.

gellchom, sorry I didn't see your post sooner. I have the Krups too and it's been great. Like most tiny ovens (I suppose) you have to be careful about things browning too much, and the beeps!!! I don't know why they didn't provide a way to turn them off, or at least offer a lower volume option. Oh well, it's intuitive to program, looks good and is a great alternative for the many times when the micro is wrong and range oven is too big. Don't know about CR but it was Cooks Illustrated top rated toaster oven. Hope it works out for you.

We got the Krups, too! I like how it seems so much more durable and tough than some...Especially more than our old B&D and the Cuisinart we made the mistake of buying that I mentioned above. Even the kids have complained about all the beeps and the volume..Wish I could trade the volume of these with the volume of the buzzer/beeper on our F&P oven!