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Six months of constant use and happy
Ditch your microwave!Convection oven is healthier and reheated food tastes better. I have three kids so this oven gets a lot of use. After a couple of days of adjusting to not having instant cooking with a microwave, I am very happy with this purchase. The only minor complaint I have is that the digital timer is not backlit, so if you don't have direct light on it you need to be close to see it. I also prefer not to cook with aluminum pans (that come with it) so I use glass cookware, or cover the aluminum with parchment paper. Works great. I'm cooking a pizza as I write this....
[Monday, December 01, 2008]
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A Very Solid Toaster Oven
When I got married, my wife had a Black & Decker toaster that she had used in college. That oven was a solid 5 stars but eventually it died and we had to find a replacement.
Black & Decker no longer manufactures the model of oven that we had so we tried a couple of toaster ovens from other manufacturers. Unfortunately, none of them quite matched up to the first one. Eventually, we decided to give Black & Decker another shot even though their reviews weren't the most positive.
About a year ago, we purchased the CTO6301 and we have been very happy with it. It has a very spacious internal capacity, solid performance both as an oven and as a toaster, nice "luxury" features like the Bagel mode (light "toasting" of bottom side combined with standard toasting of the top) and it has proven to be durable.
So far, we have only two complaints. The first is that the darkness setting for toasting is digital and moves in an increment that seems a little too large. This makes it a somewhat difficult to fine tune the darkness (if you're picky like that). The second is that there is frequently condensation inside the digital display which make it difficult to read. This second complaint may be due to some defect in our unit since no other reviewer has mentioned it. It doesnt' seem to be affecting performance but it can be an inconvenience.
Altogether, this toaster has been a solid and capable unit. Maybe nothing will ever quite compare to the "original" but we have been very satisfied with our new toaster.
[Saturday, November 29, 2008]
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Works great, but longevity is questionable
Pros:
This item cooks great and fast, and the convection function is quiet. The push button controls are clear and easy-to-use. A great feature is that it "pre-heats" and beeps when the correct temperature is reached--THEN the timer starts. When the time runs out, the unit turns off. It fits a 12" pizza easily--it took 12 minutes in this oven vs. 20 in my full-size oven.
Cons:
I had this for less than a year and the top elements stopped working. Although it has a year warranty, who can ever FIND their original receipt to take advantage of it? The rails where the rack slides in have a lot of paint loss. Also, the rack isn't held in place by the door, so the hot rack can (and will) slide out when removing food.
Verdict:
A well-thought out machine with great functions, but it may not last you very long.
[Thursday, November 13, 2008]
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