Convection toaster oven review awards

Forget the Oscars, it’s the best toaster oven awards 2010. Nothing brings more excitement to the glitzy world of home cooking than this extra special award ceremony. It’s now time for the real stars of the show to stand up and be counted. Despite being a huge fan, I excluded the Black and Decker toaster oven range from the competition. I have always used Black & Decker and I wanted to give the others a chance to show their worth. They too offer excellent functionality and good prices. So without further ado let’s get the show started. The nominations are in, the grease is on the paintwork, and it’s time for the vote on the best toaster oven.

The award nominees include some giants from the industry and Oster, DeLonghi, Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach and Krups have all made the grade with excellent performances throughout the year. Which will take the prizes tonight and get my all important seal of approval? You will find out more after this short Ad break.

The award goes to............................... the Hamilton Beach 31199XR Countertop Convection Oven. There are gasps from the crowd as the rank outsider Hamilton Beach steps up to take the award. The double cooking rack instantly raised it head and shoulders above the rest of the nominees. Being able to cook twice the amount of lasagne in one go swung it for me. Sold with a broiling grid, two baking (lasagne) pans, it also offers three cooking settings to allow for baking, broiling and convection lasagne cooking. It has an auto shut off for when you get distracted by rodents, and did I mention it can cook two lasagnes at the same time?

A truly worthy winner and an excellent oven for the family, or those with big appetites.

In the supporting category, I only considered the best toaster ovens. They needed to add an extra dimension to a kitchen, and must possess the full functionality to compliment a conventional oven. The ability to outperform a microwave was an absolute must. I looked for compact construction, power, versatility and value for money.

The Cuisinart Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler (TOB-195) was deemed to be the winner. Available in stainless steel and black it offered style and class, and was an overall great addition to the modern kitchen. It would have won the prize for its easy clean touchpad control panel alone, however a large capacity means it can be used as a second oven and is capable of cooking a whole chicken and a 12” inch pizza; although not at the same time it has to be said. Making pie as easy as pie and it is available from around $110 making it a bargain toaster oven and a truly worthy winner in my book.

Well it was neck and neck in the race for this coveted title between the German giant the Krups toaster oven, and Italian style with the DeLonghi toaster oven. Germany won it in the end, which is actually what the Italians wanted all along.

The award goes to....

The Krups FBC4-13 6-slice Convection Digital Toaster Oven. It’s a beauty. If there was a toaster oven God, it would look like this. It is a totally non-stick affair with 1600 Watts of pure cooking power. It wowed me with its sleek look together with its digital display and black brushed aluminium features. Nine levels of fearsome cooking power with auto shut off just proved too much for the competition, and it powered its way to get the special achievement in the field of cooking award giving it a double on this, the most important night, in the life of a toaster oven.

Its not a cheap option, but if you want the best, then you have to shell out a little more of your hard earned cash. Its worth it in the long run.

So with two awards the Krups toaster oven was the overall winner. Not only does the Krups FBCA-13 sound like a fighter jet, it clearly outperforms all of the completion. Unfortunately I could not test personally as with a price tag of close to $300 it was just too far over my budget. As much as I like toaster ovens, I was not prepared to shell out that much when I already have one.

Unfortunately since the Krups could not collect the award personally, my Black and Decker Infrawave accepted the award on its behalf. Unfortunately it was exempt from the best toaster oven awards, however it only seemed fair to use it as a stand in.

The acceptance speech was not entirely complimentary, most of which could not be printed, although I can say that “....but I can cook in half the ******* time at a third of the price!” did get said on more than one occasion.