Oster Toaster - Good or Bad?

I must admit, the first time I heard these words I had a bit of a giggle ;-) Reason being 'Oster' in my native language reminds me of OsterN, the German word for Easter! I had immediately the image of an Easter Bunny doing its morning toast in one of these in my head. And as I am curious like a cat I decided also immediately that I would do some research into these funny sounding toasters. Turns out, the company Oster makes not only toasters, but also toaster ovens and other small kitchen appliances such as liquidizer. Very nice kitchen appliances indeed! I feel immediately in love with the oven you see in the picture at the right and on the top of this hub. I like small, practical kitchen gadgets that save space, energy, time and effort and this toaster oven model does exactly this.

Said all this, seems that this model got a bit of heat, sorry about the pun, when it comes to customer reviews and so I headed over to Amazon and other places to see what the fuzz was all about. I have summarized here the points people like and dislike when using the Oster Toaster Oven, but first a little summary of the product itself. Drumroll please, the

As you can see from the picture on the right, it is made with a stainless finish (and of stainless steel also) and with a glass door equipped. What you can't see is that it is a convection toaster oven with a temperature range of 150-450F and designed to hold six average sized slices of toast. It is also has a 60min shut-off timer and two Cool-Touch side handles (more to that later). The interior is non-sticky, it has a removable crumbs tray (which should make for easier cleaning) and comes with baking pan, two racks and broiler insert equipped. Oh, yes and the measurement is 17x14x9 inches, it weights 22.5 pounds and the included warranty is for 1 year.

The manufacturer, Oster, describes it as versatile with an extra large capacity and able to cook, broil, bake toast and warm food. Obviously not all at the same time. Maximum size of a pizza would be 12 inches for example, but they also state that you can do a 'tall roast' in it, what ever tall means here.

It seems clearly a case of you love it or you hate it. Some people really write glowing reviews and recommend this oven, whilst other can't find anything good with it. Let me first summarize the bad things people mention, from the, slightly, ridiculous to the more serious.

Oven looks quickly dirty and shows fingerprints.

Excuse me, this oven is made from stainless steel and has a glossy finish, what do you expect? Obviously fingerprints and dirt will show more easily on such a model. *Sigh!*

The timer is loud

Yes, well, some people are a bit hard of hearing and like actually to know easily if their countertop oven is still on or not. Others might be more noise-sensitive, not really a negative point in my books, but good to know. *Thank You*

The glass door gets hot

It is a convection oven and the door is made from glass, what do you expect? As long as the door handle is cool, in temperature, what is the point? *Give me a break*

Not suitable for children

Hello? Earth to parent! This is a kitchen appliances, nothing what small children should touch or use without close parental supervision. *Speechless*

Now some more serious ones:

The provided pan is too small for the overall interior size of the oven.

Means a 9 inches pan is really too small if the oven has the capacity to take a 12 inches one. That is clearly a design mistake, sorry Oster!

Oven gets hot

Now that is true, this kind of oven can really get hot on the sites and the top. That is the reason why it is equipped with cool-touch handles. And the manual states clearly that you should leave at least 4in or 10cm of 'breathing space' around it. The reason why it gets hot is a) it is an oven and b) it doesn't have much in terms of insulation in order to allow for a larger interior space. So, please, give the oven some space and keep electric cables, wires etc well away from it.

Small fire reports

That is really the most serious one. A few people reported that this oven model started a small kitchen fire. Some of this cases were pretty clear to start with, people let plastic and cables come too close to the hot surfaces and they melted and started a fire. Something easily avoided when following the manual ... One other report was about food catching fire, overheating? User mistake? And one was about an ?explosion? in the back of the oven. Without having seen the incidents with my own eyes, I can obviously not say what has happened in this kitchen, so, buyer beware, there might be really a few dodgy models around .... And now:

The things people DO like about this oven

• The rounded back that allows bigger pizzas to be fitted in.

• Simple controls, easy to understand.

• Good value for money.

• People have cooked, without problems, toast, muffins, pizza, reheated food and baked goods, baked waffles, grilled sandwiches, baked bread, made cookies, rolls, biscuits, pizza bread and brownies, grilled chicken and chicken parts like wings and drumsticks, baked jacket potatoes and much, much more.

• Temperature is accurate (Not the case with all ovens, I can tell you!)
  

• Rack moves in and out as the door closes and opens.

In Summary and before you buy the Oster 6-Slice Convection Toaster Oven

• Be aware of the fact that it has a glossy, stainless steel finish that will show off dirt and fingerprints easily.

• The outside of the oven will get hot, very hot and you should only buy it if you have enough space in your kitchen to give it enough ventilation.

• Before using it for the first time, please RTFM (Read The Freaking Manual).

• Don't leave it alone when on, especially not if small children are in the house.

This oven seem to offer a decent value for the buck, but just to make sure, head over to its Amazon page and check the newest customer reviews. Something what you should always do before buying anything online ;-)