BrevilleBOV845BSS Smart Oven Pro Countertop Oven, Brushed Stainless Steel

Mine just arrived today, and I am in love with it. If it was legal, I would marry it. I bought it as a stand in for a defective oven in the house I rent. While I work on getting the landlord to replace the bad stove/oven unit, I needed something I can cook in that is not going to burn my house down. So, toaster oven and an induction cook top is my solution. Not to mention that these both will be useful after the stove issue is resolved. I have been debating getting a toaster over for literally a couple of years and with my ever-climbing electric bill, only cooking for one, and my oven being defunct, I decided to go for it.Then the questions became...Which one?How big?Features?I REALLY did not want to spend this much on a toaster over. But I couldn't bring myself to buy and El Cheapo, and then hate it for being not big enough, not having features I want as a serious cook, etc. Then reliability complaints about just about every model toaster oven on the market.I read review after review, on and off Amazon, and ultimately the reviews on both thesweethome.com and Cook's Illustrated sold me on the Breville. It was a toss up between the Breville and the Cuisinart TOB-260N1. There were a couple of deciding factors that led to the win for Breville. One was the fact that the Breville has a replaceable bulb for the light. The Cuisinart does not have a replaceable bulb. Another factor was the display. A lot of people didn't care for the display on the Cuisinart and liked the display on the Breville far better. Lastly, there were a number of complaints about the overall construction of the Cuisinart and general quality control. i.e. Inconsistent gap around door, etc.So I decided that for the sake of about $50 over the life of the unit, I would take the plunge and buy the Breville. I am very glad I did. I still have some reservations about longer term quality, but time will be the judge on that score.Much of why I like it is a direct result of just how bad my oven was. However, this thing is still pretty darned great on its own merits. It heats up fast, does not dry out my frozen pizzas, makes reasonably decent toast, and will do pretty much anything I would need a full-sized oven for, with a perhaps an exception here or there.First thing I did was cook a 12" frozen pizza. It came out perfect. I can't wait to try a fresh made pizza. There was the slightest of uneven doneness right at the front of the oven, which I solved by giving the pizza a 180 degree turn a couple of minutes before it was done. And that was more an issue of me being picky than anything else. Then I made toast. It makes toast as well as my starting-to-flail Cuisinart toaster. Perfect toast was so far down my list as to not really be factor. One doesn't buy a toaster oven for perfect toast, if one really wants success. (My opinion, of course.) This makes more than adequate toast for me. I can always whip out the old toaster if I want to get picky about it.I have an addiction to Trident brand fish sticks sold at my favorite warehouse store. ADDICTION, I tell you. But I hated trying to cook them in my nightmare oven. Cooked unevenly, burning the crap out of them before heating them through. Not to mention heating a huge oven for a few fish sticks. So I am just over the moon excited to try cooking fish sticks in my Breville tonight.I have only done a couple of things with it today as a test run, but my first impressions are really favorable. I am confident this will do everything that I expect and want it to do.Initial impression of manufacturing quality is very good. Nothing weird. No parts that don't quite fit. No obviously poorly made parts. Instructions are good. I find it very easy to use, although I did actually read the manual first. I love, love, love the oven light.I have found that my fancy Oxo 9 x 13 cake pan does not fit in it. There is a rim on that pan that doesn't clear the light on the inside. And my 13 1/8 th inch pizza stone does not fit, by a hair. Not a surprise. I expected that, based on the specs. Not a big deal for me. I will get a cake pan that fits, and a little bit smaller pizza stone. Just something to bear in mind on larger pans with rims or handles that might not clear the light or make for a tight fit.Edit: I realized that I had tried to put my OXO 9 x 13 pan in on the middle rack. Doh! It would actually be used on the bottom rack position. Not the middle. So it does actually fit.All in all, I am super pleased with this toaster over. It isn't even as big as I was thinking it would be. I was thinking it would be tank-like on my counter, but it actually fits very nicely and doesn't look monstrous. It's a very attractive unit, to boot.Time will tell on longevity. I do have some concerns there. I have also yet to do any serious cooking in it, so we will see how this holds up to expectations. With those caveats, I would already recommend this product as a serious contender for someone looking for a countertop oven that will see real duty.

Excellent design and performance. Easy to keep clean. Heats evenly, especially when using convection fan. This model has an interior light that makes checking browning easy without having to open the oven. Digital controls have been reliable and durable so far.

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.