Breville the Smart Oven® Pro, Convection Toaster Oven, Small Electric Countertop Oven, BOV845BKS, Black Sesame

I have forced my mother onto a diet because her cardiologist wants to give her bariatric surgery before he decides if any surgical intervention is necessary on her heart. One of the biggest problems about cooking when you are single is that your oven is too big for little jobs. In my mother's case, it also holds baking sheets, cooking pots, strainers, etc. Between lugging out all that stuff, heating the oven, the wait, it is a little inconvenient.And obviously resorting to the microwave and convenience foods has hurt her. So I figured a small convection oven would be a good idea. It is convenient. It can handle a roast or a chicken. But it can also make a nice baked potato and roasted vegetables.My mother refuses to read a manual. Giving her a new phone every couple of years requires my taking dangerous amounts of Xanax mixed with alcohol. Computer pop-ups notifying her of updates result in harried phone calls. Tablets, Rokus, Blu-Ray players ... God help me. I wonder why I ever do it. (The obvious answer is so the neighbors cannot speak ill of me.)But the set up on this is simple enough that even she can handle it. The first nob is for method, the second is for temperature, and the third is for time. Yes, there is a convection setting button and one for frozen foods. She even figured those out. But it is intuitive. She knows now not to have anything touching the walls of the unit. She knows that it is necessary to pull it from the wall when she wants to use it. She knows not to touch the sides unless it has cooled down.What I am trying to say is that my mother, who was a government employee, can figure this thing out. It is great for cooking a one-pound pork tenderloin. It is great for baking a pork chop. In other words, it is great for a single cook. The window tells you what level to put the baking rack at. The bottom tray pulls out for easy cleaning. And because I read the manual, I was able to explain about not touching the elements when wiping down the inside, etc.This is a great little device for the single cook. One of the hardest parts about making food for oneself is either portion size or that you have to make big food and be stuck with it all week if you don't freeze it. This and a FoodSaver (which I also bought her) lets you buy a big roast and cut it down and vacuum seal it.Couple things I have noticed:1) People who show photos of blown-out wall outlets or burnt walls or ruined plugs didn't read the manual. It clearly says that it should be four inches away from anything on all sides and six inches from anything above. This sucker gets hot. It is not insulated like a regular oven. Don't put it in a hole for a microwave, even if you have heat sinks all about.2) If the thermal fuse blows on your oven, it is actually a five-dollar part and there are ample YouTube videos on how to fix this. It is easy to get the OEM replacement. There is no reason to throw the oven away. I'd also argue those who have this problem may be leaving their oven too close to walls.3) I don't think convection saves a great deal of time. I cooked a one-pound pork tenderloin in there and followed the old rule about one-third less time at the same temperature. It didn't really work. But if you let the oven cook and use the convection, it results in a nicely cooked outside. I wouldn't say it is a sear, but it looks nicer than if one merely baked it.4) This thing is great with frozen pizzas. It is auto-set for this and you just put it on the included pizza plate and let 'er rip. The convection gives a nice, even cooking to it and it doesn't come out all cracker dry and browned like in a conventional oven. Plus you don't have to look in on it every two minutes to see if it is done. It is hard to find a sweet spot on frozen pizzas in a big oven. Probably because of uneven cooking.I have not baked cookies or pastries in this oven so I don't know how that goes, especially with convection. I have only cooked meats, vegetables, and potatoes. Vegetables roast so nicely. I attached a photo of some Brussels sprouts I recently did.I think a single person or a couple will stop using their large oven if they get this. I am surprised that studio apartments don't just provide one of these and an induction top to save space. I am looking to build a very small home and I plan on doing just that. This is a fantastic little oven, and if used properly will produce satisfying results.Just read the manual. It is not as simple as just plugging in and making something. You do have to know how to use it.

When the thermostat died on my well-loved two-slice toaster oven (it would toast, but not oven), I was surprised that the good quality, newer toaster ovens were all much larger. Figuring if my replacement oven was going to take up more precious counter space, I wanted one to earn that space by doing more than just toasting and reheating foods.I've found it with this model Breville toaster oven with the Convection option feature. The interior light is a bonus. I also prefer this toaster oven's crumb tray being removable from the front of the oven rather than having to open a bottom trap door or fumble around in the back of the unit to remove and replace the tray after cleaning as I did with my old oven. It's more likely to get cleaned more often when it's easier to do.The oven came with a metal pan for baking, a pan insert for broiling, and a round pizza pan. They all seem sturdy, but I have chosen to continue to use my own bakeware items instead since I use various sizes and types depending on the recipe.The manual for the oven recommends using only metal cookware in the oven, which would mean much of the cookware I use for casseroles and stews would be a no-go. I contacted Breville customer service to inquire about the use of Corning Ware, ceramic or pottery bakeware, and oven-ready Pyrex and was assured that it would be safe to use as long as the individual pieces were rated oven-safe.The oven has default settings for temperature and time for each cooking option, but all can be over-ridden by the user. These new settings will be held in memory for the next time you choose that option assuming you don't unplug the unit between uses as I do, The large grounded wall plug is a clever design that makes it much easier to pull it from the wall outlet without the danger that can be caused by pulling on the wire itself.I do a lot of baking, so I've been putting this unit through some testing to see just what it can handle to take some of the load off of my full sized oven, especially in the summer months.So far, I've used the Bake feature with Convection for a batch of brownies, sandwich bread, and pound cakes. All of the items came out perfectly except for the sandwich bread. The bread came out with pale, soft side and bottom crusts rather than nicely browned chewy crusts, while the top was over-browned in places. The eight-inch loaf pans did not allow for enough air circulation and the oven spring of the dough caused the bread to rise too closely to the upper heating elements. The pound cakes were baked in seven-inch loaf pans which allowed sufficient air circulation so the cakes browned perfectly. All baking was done with the rack in the bottom position.I have also used the Bake function for reheating frozen items such as fish sticks and French fries. The manual doesn't explain what the Frozen Food option does, only that it is available as a selection when using the Cookies or Bake options, but it seems only to automatically increase the baking time by an extra two minutes. This adjustment can cause over-cooking if you are using the cooking times listed on the packages of your frozen foods since those times already take into account the extra time needed for bringing frozen foods up to the proper temperature. In short, the Frozen option is of little to no practical use.I used the Cookies option with Convection when baking homemade frozen cookie dough, and found that the cookies baked slightly faster than in my full sized oven and needed to adjust the time slightly downward to avoid over-browning. The cookies were baked with the rack in the center position as specified in the manual.Since there is no top-brown option for the oven as I had with my old oven, the manual recommended using the rack in the top position and using the Broil function. When I attempted to toast chopped nuts for a recipe using this suggestion, it was not successful and the nuts browned too quickly and came out slightly burned despite stirring or shaking the pan. In the future, I will use the Bake function instead for toasting nuts.I also noted that the pre-set temperature for Broil was 500 degrees (F) and could only be adjusted in 100 degree increments unlike the other options where it can be adjusted in five degree increments. Even though I chose a lower temperature than I usually use for toasting nuts, I still had the over-browning and burning problem. I would opt for the Bake function for toasting open-faced sandwiches as well instead of the Broil option.Here's a hint: When the rack is in the lower position for baking, it's difficult to pull out when holding a thick pot holder without the risk of getting a knuckle or two burned, but I've found a work-around with a little metal tool used for prying open paint cans. The metal tool has a small hook at one end that is just right for pulling out the rack or pushing it back into place. No burned knuckles. These tools are often handed out for free when purchasing paint or can be purchased inexpensively in most hardware stores.Is this toaster oven perfect? No, but it comes close. There are a few small irritations such as when the oven light turns on and off automatically, for example, when the oven reaches the preheat temperature and again when there are thirty seconds left on the timer. It also cuts off automatically after thirty seconds even after it's been turned on specifically with the light button. I'd prefer to control the light myself rather than having the oven decide for me.The same goes for starting the timer. As soon as the preheating has completed, the timer starts ticking down even if you aren't there to immediately place the item into the oven. The time can be readjusted, but I'd prefer to start the timer myself when the item has been placed in the oven in order to be more precise with the baking time. Depending on what types of cooking you plan to do, this may or may not be an issue.As I try baking and cooking more types of foods and using the various options available on the toaster oven, I'll update this review in the future.Recommended.PRODUCT UPDATE 25 NOV 2016:Since writing my original review, I have tried using my trusty old Pyrex bakeware on the Bake setting. The Pyrex worked just fine, but remember when using glass baking dishes instead of metal to *decrease* the oven temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit.I've also used the Roast setting using the Convection option on the oven for a small boneless pork loin. My time guesstimate based on the roast's weight turned out to be less than needed to bring the roast's internal temperature up to the recommended 170F degrees and needed to add 20 minutes to the time. The roast came out perfectly with the additional time. I would strongly urge anyone using this toaster oven for meats and roasts to use a meat thermometer to ensure that the food is really and truly cooked to the proper temperature rather than simply going by the time cooked to judge if it is "done."

Great oven! Had mine 9 years now, use it all the time. Cook just about everything from cookies, cakes, pies, dinner dishes, casseroles, baked potatos and roasted veggie dishes. The only thing I haven't cooked was frozen pizza, because I've never eaten one. Don't waist your money on junk toaster ovens, this is the real deal, and yes, I bought it on Amazon.