Cuisinart CSO-300N Convection Steam Oven, Stainless Steel

I've been using this little oven for several months now, and I love it. It takes a bit of creativity, trial and error to learn how to cook with a steam oven. To my surprise, it's hard to find recipe books that are written just for steam ovens! The main sources for recipes seem to be either the user guide for high end steam ovens such as Meile, Viking and Bosch (which tend to be written in terms of fancy programming), or personal blog posts. As a result, I've been learning largely by trial and error, but after some learning curve, it's working out great! First of all, it will function as a normal toaster oven. You put your bread in, select the done-ness you want, and it toasts it. Or, you can use it as a convection oven. The oven is large enough to hold several pieces of toast or a 2 Qt. casserole, so it's a nice size for one dish, single family baking. Then, there's the steam feature, which is the "wowie" for me. The oven lets you set up steam so that you can "proof" bread at a low temperature. It holds the equivalent of two loaf pans. My favorite feature, however, is the steam / broil and steam / bake settings. Steam, by itself, will only go to 212 degrees F, but you can set the broil to go up to 450 or 500 degrees F. This allows you to brown food at the same time the steam is keeping it moist. As an example of a recipe where this works great, I used to boil potatoes to soften them a bit, then toss them in olive oil and some spices and broil them in order to brown them. The "boiling" step can be skipped with this oven: just cut the potatoes in bite size pieces, toss in olive oil and whatever spices you like (I use a flavored vinegar, garlic and and some rosemary), and then steam broil them on 350 degrees for 30 minutes. A video on the Williams Sonoma web site demonstrates this oven being used basically to poach salmon and then to steam broil some bok choi to go with it. The oven also has a steam / bake setting, which doesn't apply the broiling heat but rather heats from the bottom. I haven't tried roasting chicken yet, but others say that this is superb for roasting chicken. There are a few recipes in the users manual, but to be honest I've read some but then done mostly my own using trial and error. There are two last things I'd like to mention in this review. One is that the size of the oven is great for a small family. I have a very nice convection oven that I paid a lot of $$ for, but I find myself using this little workhorse instead, because it's small and convenient. (The only drawback is that due to its size, it can only cook one dish at a time!). The very last thing I'd like to mention is the cleanup. I believe it's important to follow instructions and unplug it before putting your hands near where there are heating elements and water and etc., but the steam means that residue and dripped food never crusts on and sticks in this oven! I wipe the oven out after each use, and it looks as clean today as the day I purchased it! Obviously, I'm pleased with my purchase and would purchase it again. This, most especially, when considering that a full size steam oven from one of the high end manufacturers costs a couple thousand dollars more than this! I am somewhat of a "foodie" and cooking is my hobby, and so I'm thrilled to have been able to add this to the tools I use in my kitchen.

I've been holding off the purchase of a combi oven for a while -- first because there weren't any reasonably priced "consumer" units, and then because I was waiting for the 300N to release. Let me get this right out of the way -- the CSO-300N is the most versatile cooking device you will likely ever own. This is NOT simply a glorified toaster oven. You probably already know that the 300N is a toaster, a broiler, a convection oven and a steamer build into one -- but it is the fact that these functions can be used in combination with one another that make it truly amazing. Steam bake has become my new best friend. You can reheat leftovers and not dry them out, you can bring stale bakery bread back to life with the taste and texture of a loaf fresh out of the oven, and what you can do with chicken makes this unit worth the purchase price. I challenge you to find a better cooked chicken than one that was roasted in a combi oven. The skin is so crisp, you'd think it had been fried and the the meat is so tender it falls off the bone. Chicken breasts stay so moist and juicy that to put sauce on them feels like sacrilege. Also, you can make the most marvelous hard boiled eggs. We used steam/bake on lobster tails the other night and the texture just destroyed anything we've ever done in an oven, steamer, or sous vide. It was so thoroughly cooked yet melt in your mouth tender. Oh, and did I mention that it preheats almost instantly? This unit will definitely cut down on the use of your bigger, slower, more energy consuming oven. On the downside, there are very limited resources on the internet for combi oven recipes, cooking temps/times, etc., so you will need to experiment and keep track of your results. Also -- and I'm almost tempted to deduct a star on this -- you are limited to 25F degree increments on setting temperature for all of the bake/broil settings and 10F degree increments on the steam setting. For those of us hardcore cooks, a 2-3F degree difference in temp can have a substantial impact on meats and eggs -- so don't expect to be able to replace your sous vide setup if you need very precise temperature settings. I can't wait to continue to experiment with the CSO-300N. This appliance is the Swiss Army Knife of cooking!

Highly recommended. This is not your standard toaster oven. I have owned several toaster ovens in the past and the Cuisinart Convection Steam Oven is by far the best quality and most versatile. I am typically cooking for 1-2 people. For me, it has nearly replaced my microwave and stove for day-to-day use. With the addition of the steaming option, breads, vegetables and grains can be heated & cooked perfectly without additional appliances, such as a steamer/rice cooker. You can reduce the use of oils when cooking with steam if you wish. I have not tried all functions of this product yet, but here is a review of what I have so far and all the options. Construction & Use: 1) This model is all stainless steel. None of the "no-stick" coating inside which gives off vapors harmful to pets (especially birds) and people. It has a Steam Clean function to remove any build up which you can then just wipe away. 2) The quality of the oven and accessories are high, durable steel. 3) The oven has almost no sound to it when running. 4) Steam is created by filling a low profile water reservoir that attaches to the side of the oven (does not result in much additional width to the oven). 5) The manual states all materials that contact food are BPA free. 6) The dial and LCD display are easy to use and read. 7) There is an interior light button so you can more easily check on your cooking foods. 8) Easy set up and detailed instruction booklet on how every setting works and how to use. 9) 9 Unique cooking functions to select from Functions: 1) Toast - works well and toasts evenly with multiple darkness settings 2) Convection bake - circulates the hot air for even baking of cakes, cookies, etc. I make "single serving" baked desserts that are gluten free and often vegan. They have turned out well using convection bake. I am also going to try making these using steam bake to add moisture. 3) Steam bake - adds steam to the baking process. It is supposed to be great for roasting meats and making custard style desserts, though I have not tried these yet. I used this function to make homemade baked french fries and they came out crisp but much less dried out-- and you can eliminate using oils when steam baking (roasting) vegetables because it adds that moisture through the steam. Re-heats leftovers without drying out. 4) Steam - for steaming vegetables and meats. Can also be used for proofing breads, & once it's proofed, you can switch to the bread function to bake it. 5) Broil or broil steam. I have used this function several times with very good, even broiling results. 6) Super Steam - Ideal for rice, though I have not used this function yet. Can also be used for vegetables. 7) Warm - keeps already cooked foods warm. I used to keep wrapped tortillas warm and soft before serving. 8) Bread - I have not used, but there is a setting for making breads which utilizes steam and then convection bake, much like professional bake ovens.

This is a great concept, and the only combi oven that I've found for less than ~$2500. (A combi oven is an appliance typically used in processional bakeries. It's like a normal oven but let's you control humidity -- by adding steam -- in addition to temperature.) The steam+convection function does a great job of creating crisp crust - yay! However, there are 3 frustrating things about this oven: 1. The inside is just too small! Width-wise, it's just a touch too small to fit a quarter-sheet pan. Seriously frustrating! And height-wise, it won't give much room for a tall loaf of bread to rise/oven-spring. 2. Perhaps more concerning: when the rack is in its lowest position, a pan sitting on the rack will be EXTREMELY close to the heating element. This makes this oven UNSAFE TO USE WITH SILICONE BAKEWARE unless you raise the rack (reducing the already-limited space even further). I tried baking bread at 450 degrees in a silicone baking pan (which is rated to 500 degrees and has comfortably been used at that temperature in my Thermador oven), and the bottom bottom of the silicone pan nearest to the heating element turned black, thinned, and became translucent, while letting off a chemical smell. This, of course, ruined the pan, and I was afraid to eat the results. I think this was just an issue of having such tiny clearance between the heating element and the rack when in lowest position, but it's another way in which problems arise from the manufacturers stingy decision to make the interior so small. In the meantime, try using cast iron or something much more heat-tolerant! 3. The controls are irritating. Instead of letting me actually, say, set heat and humidity, you have to use some idiot-oriented "smart program" like "bread" or "chicken" and just guess what the oven is going to do. Kind of like buying a nice SLR camera that won't let you shoot in Aperture-priority, etc... I'd recommend it -- but with reservations --, largely because it's the only one on the market.

The best purchase I have ever made on amazon...seriously. This thing is freaking awesome. My main oven now gets used twice a year at most (holidays for a big turkey etc). This little device cooks everything so much better than a normal oven. It does take a little time and practice to master as the instructions aren''t the best. Look up steam convection recipes online for a good place to start. The price has gone up which is a shame as I am seriously considering buying a second. This is the ONLY decent counter top steam oven on the market, and if it gets discontinued (cuisinart has a bad history of this), it will suck as I use it many times a day and is my main cooker. Things I cook in this that turn out way better than on a normal over, stove: Fish (not even close), chicken (not even close...MAYBE rotisserie...but this is just as good), roasts of any kind (not even close), vegetables (just as good as steaming any other way, but so much easier), bread (impossible to get artisan bread like this any other way in the house...), rice (much better than even my now-never used rice cooker) and lets not forget...left overs...there is simply no other way to achieve without a steam convection over. As for quality, I have been using for over 6 months with no issues. I use it daily, at least 2-3 times a day...sometimes all day long. Its not perfect...I would like both lower and high temps (lowest in 100...would like lower for better bread proofing, better defrosting...etc), and higher for better hi temp dished (it goes up to 500 only on broil, 450 for every other mode). It could be bigger, but it works well for a family of 4 so far. Can't do the holidays meats in it of course. I hope the thing lasts, but Its already more than paid for itself. If they ever stop making this, I will have to shell out a couple grand for a normal kitchen steam over...but until then...this is (almost) just as good for 1/10th the cost.

Update to review: Originally I gave this toaster oven five stars, but only three years later I find that the upper middle heating element has died, so I'm revising my review down to one star. There is nothing more important in a toaster oven than the heating elements, so the loss of even one (but the main one!) is almost fatal. All the cooking times will be "off." Foods will cook unevenly, especially toasted bread. SO disappointing! And unfortunately I didn't buy an extended warranty through Square Trade, so I may see what deals present on Black Friday. PS I've changed my mind about the steam feature. I noticed the other day that green algae completely covered the bottom and was growing up the sides. Eeeuw! It's difficult to remove--no brush will reach every corner--so going forward I plan to skip steam. ********************** This "toaster oven" has been an absolute treasure! I almost bought the competitor that begins with a "B", but was intrigued by the unique steam feature of this Cuisinart model. I worried that it would turn out to be a gimmick that I'd never use. But happily I was wrong. i LOVE the steam option. It's immediately available since there is always water ready in the built-in water container. I can steam a variety of veggies on an open pan. And while it takes some experimenting to determine the best length of time for steaming, once you've got it pegged to your preferences, it's a cinch. The CSO-300N is quite large and takes up valuable space on my counter. But it is a workhorse. It's size also means that it is an alternate oven and I actually use it MORE than my regular oven. I love the beep that tells you when it's preheated. I love the light (SO useful! This should be in every toaster oven.) Probably because of the steam option, the door seals airtight and I'm guessing that this helps keep the interior temperature steady and my kitchen cooler. I've baked cookies, cornbread, mac and cheese, spanakopita triangles, chicken wings, you name it, and it does a wonderful job As a toaster for bread it's not as even as a regular toaster, but it's very acceptable and will accommodate one or several pieces of bread. Honestly, this was the best purchase that I made for my new condo and it has made me feel at home and have even more fun cooking and baking.

I got this oven to replace a microwave oven, and I really like it. You can use it to steam food, cook it just like in an oven, reheat and defrost. I thought it might take a lot more time to get things cooked than in a microwave, but the time isn't that much longer - for things that took 6 or 7 minutes in the microwave, it takes maybe 12 to 15 minutes in this oven. And the taste and quality of the cooking is really much better. Reheating does take longer, but with things like bread or pizza, the result is worth the additional time.

This is a marvelously useful and easy to operate device. I ordered it from Golda's Kitchen (Ontario Canada) and received it nine days later in Calif., in perfect condition via UPS. Having read all the comments and questions in Amazon's CSO-300 and CSO-300N user inputs, I offer the following more technical report. (1) Does it get hot on the outside? - Yes, in places. Measured with an infrared camera, I found the sides and back run around 113 degrees F (touchable), after a 22 minute 400 degree steam-bake operation. But the glass front, as well as the metal on the edges of the door, rose to 245 degrees F (will burn you). And the small rectangular bar on the top rear, with 8 steam vent holes in it, also rose to 245 degrees F. (2) What does model number 300 NC mean? -- The "C" adder means Canadian model, which only means that the manual is written in English and French. All temperature controls are in Fahrenheit, not Celsius. (3) Is it made out of stainless steel? -- Yes, but of different grades. The inner liner of the oven is a non-magnetic, nickel-infused alloy that better resists corrosion under assault of heat and water. All other metal is the less corrosion-resistant variety of stainless, but is attractively brushed and should wear well. The oven appears sturdily built. (4) What is the largest pizza it will hold? -- 12", and not a fraction more! (5) Do all recipes cook with the same settings of temp., steam, and time indicated in the instructions? -- Not quite. For example, chicken breasts are not all uniformly thick, and thicker ones take longer. So, it will take some trial and error to get the best results. (5) How long does "preheat" take? -- On convection-bake, it takes about one minute before the pre-heat sign goes out. (6) Are the controls complex? -- Not at all. The circular knob has a feather light touch to rotate it, and it shows each of the nine modes as you pass through them. You can go backwards, too. To select the mode (e.g., "steam-bake", "super steam," "toast", etc.), rotate the knob to your selection, then push the knob in to set that choice, at which point it tells you the preset temperature (which you can change by pushing the knob, then rotating to select the temp, then push the knob again to "set" it); and similarly, you can set the time. Nothing will start until you hit the Start bar at the bottom; if you want to change your selection, hit that bar again to Cancel, and reset the main knob again. NOTE: it is so easy to rotate the knob and push the Start bar that a child might inadvertently cause it to start. This is probably why the instruction manual repeatedly tells you to UNPLUG it when it is not in use. (7) Is it noisy? -- No. It's loudest noise is when it creates steam (a "whoosh"); the built-in signal alarm is very (too) soft. The convection fan is barely audible. (8) Does it really work? -- YES!!! I tried a piece of toast at "4", and it came out perfectly. Steam-baked salmon was unbelievably moist (thick filet). Steam-baked chicken breasts were undercooked at the recommended 12 minutes per pound (I had a thick over-one-pound breast); I found 16 minutes per pound got mine to 165 degrees internal temp. Convection-bake for 5 minutes (plus automatic preheat) made an 8" sub sandwich toasty, melted the cheese, but didn't burn the bun. And 5 minutes of plain "steam" mode resuscitated the hard end 3" piece of a cranberry-walnut artisan bread loaf back to moist and chewy. (9) Does it create kitchen smells? -- Yes, if you let drippings into the pan go dry and turn to black char. The smoke can come out of the steam vents. However, cooking 1 1/4 lb. of salmon filet did not emit any odor, because only water and lemon juice made it into the pan. (10) Does it drip water on the counter? -- No. The water drip pan easily holds any vapor condensation, and is readily emptied in just a few seconds. (11) Does steam come out somewhere? -- Yes, from the eight holes in the bar on the top of the back. But the steam comes UP, not BACK. If you have this under a cabinet, it will likely condense water on the underside of that cabinet. (12) Is it easy to clean? -- Yes. I have only had to wipe down the insides after cooking chicken, now, three times. Just use a damp sponge. The internal light is bright enough to see all around the interior. The removable pan can get caked with charred drippings, which come off easily with a short soak in warm water. (13) What are the exterior dimensions? -- 18 5/8 inches wide (including the lifting handles); 15" deep (including front door handle, and rear hardware; 11" high (including feet). The cord is 36" long, emanating from the reservoir end of the rear panel. (14) Does it leak water from the plastic reservoir? -- No. During shipping, there is a narrow piece of glass tape on the top side of the oven to keep the plastic reservoir from vibrating. If you don't remove that tape, the plastic reservoir is hard to remove and reinsert. Failure to remove this may have caused some of the complaints of leaking. And there is a petcock on the rear, which you should open to drain water from inside the oven when it is not in use for long periods, but otherwise you don't bother with it at all. (15) Can you get extra racks, pans, plastic water reservoirs, etc? -- Yes. These can be ordered from the Cuisinart website. (cuisinart.com/parts/toaster_ovens/cso-300n.html) (16) Is Amazon's picture of the CSO 300N accurate? -- No. On the new 300N model, the "light" button is half as big, and a new button has been added alongside it, for "steam clean." Also, the main removable rack has ten wire bars, where the earlier model had only seven. (17) Does the manual give you all the recipes you'll need? -- No. But was the manual for your built-in kitchen oven written by Betty Crocker or Julia Child? If you don't enjoy experimenting with cooking, just eat out! (18) Overall, this is a one-box wonder -- a culinary sports-car / dump-truck!

This is the best kitchen gadget ever. I replaced my good-old toaster oven with it. The internal of the oven is big. It fits the Corningware 12.5in oval platter. [...] I first tested the standard steaming function with ginger-chicken, cut into bite-size pieces and marinated. I estimated it would take about 18 mins steaming on stove top, so I set the same amount of time. I can see it was not producing the heavy steam I expected and at the end of the 18 mins, the meat was cooked well outside but not in the deepest part of the dish. I then switched to "super-steam" at 300F for an extra 10 mins. The result was perfect. After that I mainly used super-steam for Chinese dishes (tofu with scallops, prawns, meat pies, whole fish, while chicken). I tried other super-steam settings with 225F/250F/275F/300F all with great results.The super-steam function produces a lot more steam then the standard steam function, and the added heat more closely simulate the stove-top steaming environment. I found 250F a good starting point to experiment.

Love, love, love my Cuisinart steam oven. Don't really need to use the 'steam' features as use of the regular settings benefit, in any case, from the increased moisture content. Wanted to try it for at least 9 months before writing a review and can honestly say that this was well worth the money. Have only used the oven in my stove 6 or 7 times since purchasing my Cuisinart mid-2016 and that was only to cook large roasts of meat in my cast iron roaster. One thing which I did notice about 6 months ago was that the unit suddenly became much louder (as had been mentioned in several reviews when I was first considering the purchase). Has not affected the performance of the unit so I'm not too bothered. No leaks or other problems; seems to be very well made. I would not hesitate to recommend this unit.

Received my CuisinArt CSO-300C two days ago. Immediately noticed a weak link in its design. The water container is made of thin plastic with a flimsy handle. No filling hole at the top of the container! Water has to be filled from the bottom of the container! Every time you need to fill with water (which is often), you have to remove the container out of its seat, unscrew the plastic valve cap at the bottom, fill it with water at the sink, carefully replace the container making sure the plastic valve at the bottom of the container is properly seated, or a leak may develop. I predict my CuisinArt CSO-300C will leak water soon. Message to the CuisinArt Designer/Manufacturer: Why is there no filling hole at the top of the plastic water container? If I were to open a hole at the top of the container, do you see a problem with that? (My Keurig Coffee Maker has a removable lid at the top of the water container. No need to remove the container from the machine for the once-a-week water top-up. My CuisinArt needs a water top-up every other day.)

This oven does a great job of cooking things. I like that there are no coatings on the inside, and I like that the door is gasketed. The steam functions really do work as advertised (I won't waste time explaining how or why, since others have done so already). This would have been a 5 star review except that the control system on this oven is TERRIBLE. Every single function has to be set to a timer, so it doesn't behave like an oven at all. You can't turn it on and have it preheat, then put the food in and set timer when you are ready. You have to preheat it on a timer, then when you're ready to put the food in, all you can do is shut it off and start a new timed oven cycle to actually cook your food. You can't change the temperature OR the timer, or the cook function without "Cancelling" the current operation and starting over. Cuisinart apparently let software engineers decide how you should use their kitchen appliance. AWFUL user interface.

The picture displayed is the older model. I got the newer model, which has 3 buttons under the dial. The oven works great...it does everything you would expect from a conventional toaster oven, plus the ability to steam. When steaming, you can steam along with the bake/broil function or you can steam on its own. Great for cooking fish from raw, reheating food (replaces the need for a microwave). There are some comments by other users who have experienced issues with rust...I've had this for about 2 months now...no rust as of yet. I always let it run on toast mode after steaming...to ensure all the moisture is dried up.