Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review is for the Calphalon Toaster Oven: I was interested in this item, due to its relatively larger cavity size and the ability to fit a 12" pizza inside, which it does do. I have no interest in the toaster function since I have a very capable stand alone toaster. For me, I would like to not have to fire up my oven for something simple, such as pizza, "bake in the oven" french fries, or breaded frozen chicken tenders. In testing two different brands and styles of pizza, Ore Ida Thin and Crispy Fast Food Style French Fries, and Tyson Chicken Tenders, here is what I experienced. The actual exterior dimensions of the oven, for the purpose determining "fit" wherever you wish to use it, are 11 3/4" tall x 18 3/4" wide x 14" deep. And you should allow adequate clearance above the oven, for air circulation, if you position this on a countertop, underneath kitchen cabinets. First some basic evaluations regarding time and temperature. When I first fired up the oven function, I set it at 375 degrees, which took about 3 minutes of pre-heat to reach. I decided when baking, to always use the convection (fan) setting to distribute heat evenly. One thing that was a bit of an inconvenience, is that the oven shuts down if you don't set the timer right away. While getting ready to place the first pizza into the oven, I did not put it in right away (a few minutes delay), at which point the oven heating elements shut down and I had to go through another preheat cycle. So I learned to set the timer for an hour, when preheating and then dial it back down to the actual desired time, when ready to insert items for baking, to insure it was fully up to temp by the time I was ready. Since I was positioning this unit on a countertop, underneath cabinets which allowed a 2" clearance above the oven, to the underside of the cabinet, I was concerned about radiated heat and whether it would adversely affect the underside of the cabinet. I was also concerned about any heat transmitted to the countertop, upon which the oven was resting. I did testing with and infrared heat gun sensor (2nd photo attached) to see what the various surfaces registered. With the oven set at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, I found the following temperatures reached. The exterior top of the oven was 190 degrees. The underside of the cabinet above, was at 125 degrees (warm but perfectly safe), and the countertop surface under the oven was only 100 degrees. So the oven won't adversely affect surrounding surfaces, as long as you have adequate air circulation/clearance above the oven. The two control knobs are very intuitive and easy to use or figure out. You push the center of the two knobs to alternate between two functions and then turn the knobs to the desired settings. With the light on, you can see the interior ingredients and I liked the fact that I could see the bottom side of a pizza to ascertain its level of browning while it baked. Since most frozen pizzas recommend baking directly on the oven rack without use of a pizza pan, I chose to do exactly that on both pizzas, since I like the bottom side of my crusts to be crisp. One thing that I discovered about this oven, which is a negative, is that it can reach the desired temperature on preheat, but once you put items in the oven, the temperature drops by 25-50 degrees, depending upon how hot your original setting is, AND is incapable of getting back up to the original highest setting that you select. For instance, at 450, it drops to 375 when frozen items (such as the Tyson Chicken breast tender) are inserted and then it struggles to climb back up to no higher than around 390, in that instance. I tested the actual oven temperature on each baking test, with a very accurate mercury thermometer (silver one shown in pictures), hanging inside the oven throughout each test baking exercise, and noted the change in oven temperature as the time elapsed to the finished stage. On a side note, I owned several restaurants for many years and we used mercury thermometers to check oven calibrations for baking our own breads and hamburger buns. Other types of thermometers are prone to being inaccurate, whether digital or the spring loaded "rotary dial" reading types that you find in the kitchen gadget aisles of retail stores. My first test was with a California Kitchen Thin Crust Margherita Pizza (round pizza shown), which required 425 degrees for 12-14 minutes bake time. Upon insertion of this frozen pizza, this oven dropped to 350 and took half of that bake time to get back up to 375, from its initial drop to 350. And all the way to the end of the bake cycle, it never exceeded 375. I have baked this particular pizza many times in a conventional wall mount oven, at the designated temperature, directly on the oven rack, with no pizza pan, and it always comes out perfect, nice and crispy. This is a very thin crust pizza. However in this toaster oven, it was cooked just about right on top, and was crisp only around the edges. Although the toppings were properly heated and browned, the crust, through 80% of the center was "chewy" and under done. So the oven is a "Fail" on this pizza. Probably due to the fact that even though the convection air circulation was "on", the quartz heating elements run side to side, at the front and back of the oven cavity (above and below the pizza), but with no radiant heat from below/center, the crust can't turn crispy, even though it appeared to be browned properly. Another factor, I am sure, is that the oven can't maintain the required temperature to insure proper baking. Next, I baked a DiGiorno Pizzaria Thin "Hand Tossed" (square pizza shown), which yields a slightly thicker crust, with some rise to it. This pizza's instructions requires a lower temperature at 375 and a longer cook time (17 min), to allow for the crust to react to the heat, and allow it to "rise". It also came out of the oven properly cooked on top and around the edges, but 80% of the pizza dough was limp in hand, and chewy. In a cross cut, I could see that the dough had not baked to "done". And in this case because of the California Kitchen Thin Crust pizza being "chewy", I had decided to cook the DiGiorno a couple minutes beyond the suggested 17 minute cook time. And also because the oven temp dropped to 325, upon insertion and never made it back past 350, to the end. Another "Fail". My next test was with Ore Ida Thin frozen fries which are supposed to mimic McDonalds thin and crispy fries. These require 450 degrees for 9-12 minutes, with this higher heat required, in order to allow the oil which is impregnated into the fries, to act as if it were deep fat frying (thus the very high temperature to cause this to happen). I placed the fries on the oven's included sheet pan and used half a bag, spread out in a single layer, per instructions. Knowing what I had experienced on the two pizzas, I purposely left these in for 15 minutes, instead of 9-12, because I definitely like my fries with a bit of crunch on the outside. The oven dropped from 450 to 375 upon insertion and never made it back past 390 towards the end of the cook cycle. The fries, although appearing to be slightly browned, turned out limp, held in hand, and soft and greasy. They had absolutely no crunch to them. Huge "Fail" on the fries. I conclude that anything baked on the included sheet pan, suffers from heat blockage, even with the convection fan on. Again, no radiant heating element from below/center is a handicap. In my traditional oven, these come out crisp. My last test was with an item that I bake all the time at home, in my traditional oven. Tyson Frozen, Breaded Chicken Tenders. In a conventional oven, I bake these on a sheet pan for about 22 minutes for a perfect result of slightly crisp on the outside and perfect, juicy and tender white meat inside. The instructions for this item call for 450 degrees and 20-25 minutes. Since my experience of baking on the Calphalon's sheet pan, with the fries, turned out poorly, I chose in this case, not to use the sheet pan, but rather to use the wire frame dehydrating rack that comes with this oven, so that there would be nothing between the chicken tender and the heat from below, while again, baking with the convection fan on. I also chose to bake these beyond the suggested maximum time, at around 26-27 minutes. I also chose to bake only one chicken tender, while I baked 3 more at the same time in my wall mount oven (at the instructed time and temp mentioned above). Again, the toaster oven temp dropped from 450 upon insertion, to around 375, and slowly climbed back up to around 390 towards the middle of the timed cycle. IN THIS CASE ONLY, did the product come out of the oven as expected and desired. So, being on the open wire frame rack helped and the longer bake time also contributed to a better result. I really wanted to love this product because of its features, size, and potential for not having to use my main kitchen oven (heating up the kitchen). But sadly, based on careful and technical testing, using tools to gauge the heat and end result of the oven, I can't recommend this oven, if you expect it to perform as an oven should. Since I did not "toast" anything in this oven, I can't attest to its capabilities in that regard, but as an oven, it does not work. And when it comes toasting, why would I want to use this, when I have a much more energy efficient and highly functional four slice toaster? You will be spending far too much for this to be "just a toaster". It certainly is not a good oven.