It's hard to really know what you're getting when you buy a toaster oven on-line, sight unseen.This is an appliance that gets used frequently, so it is a good idea to see it first-hand.I chose to buy this at a local appliance store that sells it cheaper than here.But unfortunately, I had to return it--TWICE.
I looked around at a number of convection toasters, and this one seemed to fit the bill--decent quality, attractive design, good crumb guards over the heating elements, nice size for cooking a variety of things, and the Black & Decker name.My previous Black & Decker toaster oven lasted me over 10 years, so I was partial to the brand.WAS.
My first test was to check out the convection feature.I clicked the convection switch--nothing happened.On-off-on-off-on... off.Nothing. I tried it again with the oven on/off and the toaster on/off.Still nothing.It was completely dead.I called up Black & Decker and told them about it, hoping there might be some trick to it.Nope--my unit was defective.I decided to try it anyway.
I put in a London broil and turned on the oven.It heated up reasonably fast and did a superb job.I never thought you could cook a steak so nicely in one of these toaster ovens (less time and less energy than a full oven).I was a little dismayed at how much heat is transferred to the outside (it's easy to burn yourself on that stainless steel), but I was willing to overlook that.
The next day, I brought it back to the store to get a replacement--I figured I had just hit a little bad luck.I had the clerk open the box and plug it in first, so I could see if the convection fan was working (just in case the whole shipment the store got was defective).It did.I was happy and walked off with my new unit.
The next day I decided to make some toast.I looked at the dials and realized I needed to read the instructions.The design is a little quirky, in that the oven temperature control doubles as a control to choose whether the oven or toaster features will be used.There's also a dial labeled "timer", but it's only used for the oven.Most toaster ovens I've seen in the past have one control to set the intensity (light, medium, dark) and another to turn it on.This uses one dial that turns on the toaster as you rotate it to the desired toasting intensity, and it should countdown (like the oven timer) until it reaches "off".
I turned the dial to 'medium', as suggested by the instructions, put in the toast, and walked away to do something else for a few minutes. When I came back in the room, the toast was burnt to a crisp and the dial was still on 'medium'--it didn't move at all.I turned it off... then turned it on.Yep, there's no ticking sound, as heard from the timer for the oven function.I played with the dial a little more and could coax it to tick for a second or two, but then it would stop.DEFECTIVE AGAIN.
Well, that's it.Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me (yep, that's the cliche Bush couldn't get right).I brought it back to the store and gave up.I decided my time was not worth toying with a $60 appliance.I'm going to spend more this time and get something that WORKS reliably, has good heat insulation, and logical controls.
So, here's what I didn't like about this unit:
1) Encountering TWO defects, one in each unit I tried.This is shameful, Black & Decker.
2) The controls don't feel like good quality.I also don't like the ticking sound (when it works).It's disturbing if you're trying to read the newspaper next to this thing.
3) The stainless steel exterior gets extremely hot.You can easily burn yourself on it, as well as anything nearby.My old cheap Black & Decker toaster oven got hot, but not this bad--and it cooled off fast, while this TRO700S model remains hot for a long while.This is just downright dangerous.
4) The door doesn't have any rubber cushioning--it is metal slamming up against metal.If I was going to keep this, I would apply some heat resistant rubber pieces to buffer the sound.
What I did like about it:
1) It cooks well and even.
2) It has decent crumb guards over the elements.
3) It's a nice size for what it can cook.
4) It is a good looking unit.
Unfortunately, my likes couldn't outweigh my dislikes.And the quality problems are just ridiculous.These are BASIC functions that should pass quality assurance tests, simple problems like an ON/OFF switch not working or a timer dial not turning should never leave the factory.
I contacted Black & Decker and complained about my experience.They recommended I buy another and that it "probably won't have any problems".I'm sorry to say that it will take a long while before I consider a Black & Decker ever again.
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Black & Decker TRO700S 4-Slice Toast-R-Oven, Stainless SteelProduct Description: The contemporary black and stainless steel 4-slice toast-r-oven coordinates with modern kitchen decor.The unit features broil, convection and electronic toast controls, a power indicator, toast signal bell and 60-minute auto-off bake timer. The rack can be mounted in two positions to accommodate a variety of cooking tasks.
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Replacing an old weathered Delonghi, and sticking to a lower budget, was challenging. Pulled it off with this purchase of a Euro-Pro. Purchased at Target for $54.00 at about half of a comparable "higher end" machine. This more than does the job and at this price and free shipping, I would not hesitate.
