Best Review on Breville BOV650XL Compact 1800 Watt Toaster
I have not used a toaster oven for about 5 or 6 years, but I really was tired of using our kitchen oven, especially in the summer, and heating up the entire kitchen when cooking meals for two people.
The Breville Compact Smart Oven measures about 16.5 inches wide and 10.5 inches deep, but it takes up less room than my George Foreman grill did so George Foreman has been relegated to the pantry. It is surprisingly lightweight if you have to move it around.
It was very simple to set up. Instructions for use are clear. I really like the single touch feature for toasting and reheating is a breeze.
It is pricey, but is made of quality material. The door handle is metal and stays cool to the touch. The broiler rack/baking pan is enamel. The oven is very easy to clean and the crumb tray pulls out for easy washing. The metal rack slides easily. There is a display on the front of the oven that takes the guesswork out of where to place the rack for various cooking methods.
It would be a nice feature to have some sort of utensil to pull the metal rack out, but since I don't have that feature on my large oven, it does not detract from the Breville.
The LCD display is easy to read and while cooking, it turns orange and while in standby, it is blue and eventually will "dim out" when you are finished cooking.
I used a recipe in the instruction book and made Maple Glazed Salmon. It turned out very well. It is simple to add time to your cooking or to adjust the temperature if needed. The Oven remembers your last setting, which is really a nice feature.
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UPDATE-July 2010
I have now used every function on this oven and all functions work great. I really love the reheat feature because when I reheat in the microwave it sometimes dries food out, but with this feature I was able to reheat a turkey tenderloin and kielbasa and it tasted like it was just roasted.
This is such a simple oven to use and absolutely keeps my kitchen cooler in the summer than turning on my big oven to reheat, bake or broil.
Get your Breville BOV650XL Compact 1800 Watt Toaster Now!
BalasHapusI debated whether to get the smaller, or the larger, Breville. Fortunately for me, and for the place I wanted to put it in my kitchen I choose the 650. The instruction book states you need 4" clearance on both sides, first time I had read that critical bit of info. The 650 fits perfectly on the counter I wanted to use for it, the 800 would not have. I had also read one owner's recommendation of using a wooden spring loaded clothespin for pulling out the wire rack. I second it. It works great for that as well as for pushing the rack back in. The smaller oven may mean some changes in the sizes of what I bake but I'm certainly glad I got the 650.
BalasHapusI had my old toaster oven for decades, but finally felt I needed to replace the thing. Needless to say, I suffered significant sticker shock when I saw the price of the Breville, but the glowing reviews convinced me to go for it. And I love it. It looks good on the counter (and it will be on the counter - it is too big to stash away in the cabinet) and does it all -- and does it well. It's well constructed and has a modern look, but a sturdy feel to all its components. I threw away the stand alone toaster I had purchased because the old toaster oven "didn't do toast." The Breville does, and does it well. It also does a great job of roasting, baking, broiling, and reheating. During hot summer days, it makes a great alternative to starting up the big oven, because it is large enough to manage good sized portions. The front-empty crumb tray is a great improvement.
BalasHapusOverall, it is a high-priced choice, but swallow hard and buy it anyway. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
It's a shame you have to spend over $150 for a good toaster oven, but if the cost is not an issue, this is an excellent one. This is not a convection oven, but is exactly what I wanted and it fits perfectly where the cheap one it replaced was.
BalasHapusThis oven is well made, the door opens smoothly, the rack comes out easily. The pan that comes with it is heavy and enameled, not cheap sheet metal. The control system is excellent. The display is illuminated while setting or cooking, but dims out when not in use. I found it very easy to use. Toasting is a single touch and it compensates for the hot oven with multiple toast cycles. I've used the bake cycle and the muffins turned out great. It remembers your last setting for each cycle, so if you determine the 'perfect' setting for your favorite bagels or pizza, it's preset and ready to start when selecting the cycle. The crumb tray pulls out the front and is very easy to clean. This is vastly superior to out the back or from the bottom that most of the others I looked at have.
I have not used a toaster oven for about 5 or 6 years, but I really was tired of using our kitchen oven, especially in the summer, and heating up the entire kitchen when cooking meals for two people.
BalasHapusThe Breville Compact Smart Oven measures about 16.5 inches wide and 10.5 inches deep, but it takes up less room than my George Foreman grill did so George Foreman has been relegated to the pantry. It is surprisingly lightweight if you have to move it around.
It was very simple to set up. Instructions for use are clear. I really like the single touch feature for toasting and reheating is a breeze.
It is pricey, but is made of quality material. The door handle is metal and stays cool to the touch. The broiler rack/baking pan is enamel. The oven is very easy to clean and the crumb tray pulls out for easy washing. The metal rack slides easily. There is a display on the front of the oven that takes the guesswork out of where to place the rack for various cooking methods.
It would be a nice feature to have some sort of utensil to pull the metal rack out, but since I don't have that feature on my large oven, it does not detract from the Breville.
The LCD display is easy to read and while cooking, it turns orange and while in standby, it is blue and eventually will "dim out" when you are finished cooking.
I used a recipe in the instruction book and made Maple Glazed Salmon. It turned out very well. It is simple to add time to your cooking or to adjust the temperature if needed. The Oven remembers your last setting, which is really a nice feature.
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UPDATE-July 2010
I have now used every function on this oven and all functions work great. I really love the reheat feature because when I reheat in the microwave it sometimes dries food out, but with this feature I was able to reheat a turkey tenderloin and kielbasa and it tasted like it was just roasted.
This is such a simple oven to use and absolutely keeps my kitchen cooler in the summer than turning on my big oven to reheat, bake or broil.
I researched toaster ovens for quite some time and found a few that met my requirements. I did not want a convection capability because it was just something else to break. I was also space constrained by the location on our kitchen counter where we place the toaster oven. You get a lot of Toaster oven in a small space, check out the dimensions. Previously we had a DeLonghi unit for about 15 years and it was great. For the longest time I wanted to purchase a new one to match our other appliances and my wife thought that one was just fine; I had to wait until she thought there might be a problem.
BalasHapusThe day finally came and I looked for a good counter top oven with the capability to toast, bake, broil, etc. There were a number of units that most likely would have lasted a long long time. And, knowing I'd have to live with it for all of that and more I looked and looked. Understanding that background and that I read all the reviews on all the products here goes.
We got this unit, opened the packag and put it together in 3 minutes. I didn't even read the instructions at first. I plugged it in, reset it and went through the functions one at a time. (My wife was reading the instructions at that time). She said, "you have to preheat it for 15 minutes before using.". So we put the DeLonghi back on the counter and toased our Bagels for breakfast. After that we did the burn in. This was important because, as they said, there were some "smells" that came from burning off the residue from manufacturing.
I did not find the controls "flimsy", but they also don't feel like they were made for an industrial application. They are electronic controls (everything here is controlled by the electronics) and as such they don't have a mechanical feel because they are not mechanical controls. I think they will last a very long time.
All the functions work as described and are pretty simple to use. My wife was using it in less than 10 minutes and she has a hard time with electronic items.
I like dark toast and my wife likes it medium: we just took her's out early. The controls are accurate; you have to put it on the higher number to get dark toast.
The timer is not loud, but it is loud enough unless you have the TV blaring and are in the other room. I like how it counts down cooking time and the on/off button.
The function buttons are nice (like a microwave) because they simplify how to cook different things. Just like you'd expect.
Bottom line, I paid twice as much for this as my next choice and since I'll have to live with it forever; I am glad I did.
We already have avoided using the big oven a few times; we dont' use the oven much anyway. ( the oven has a nice feel to it and the door doesn't slam shut unless you slam it)
It is worth the extra money and if you want convection get the next model up; that is also worth it. We have convection on the big oven.
OH YEAH, it matches all the other Pro Appliances in our kitchen; right down to the nice handle.
I'm not one to write reviews, but this toaster is worth the time investment! We bought this toaster about a month ago. The whole family (inc. the kids) fell in love with it from the first time we ate toasted bread out of it, but we decided to hold off writing the review for "further testing". Initially, we had a Black and Decker for a bit less than 13 yrs till the toast lever caught fire (literally) and stopped functioning properly. So we needed a replacement. Our criteria was a small toaster/oven, that is not complicated to use, does not offer convection cooking (I already have two full size convection ovens), does not have the annoying ticker timer and that was about $50 - $70. I searched among many brands, unfortunately, many either were simple but offered the ticker timer OR offered convection baking which I know I would not use. The day I came across The Breville toaster and read the reviews, I was impressed with the features, but not the price. The reviews were so positive that I reconsidered the budget allotted for a toaster oven. This toaster is so easy to use, my 8 and 11 yr old can operate on their own with minimal supervision. It toasts toast, and french bread/baguette with beautifully, even golden color, crisp outside and warm chewy inside. We fell in love with toasted bread all over again! I reheated whole chicken the other day, and that came out perfectly warmed, through and through with crisped skin. We love this toaster and thank Breville for making it. I will definitely be recommending it to anyone who's looking for a good toaster oven, and it willing to make the investment. It's an investment, that's well worth every penny!
BalasHapusI was searching for a toaster oven for a while, but I didn't see anything I like at Target, so I searched online and found Breville's oven on Amazon. I was gonna buy the bigger one (BOV850), but after looking at the measurements, I thought the smaller one (BOV650) would fit better for my kitchen. As soon as I took out the oven from the packaging, it's a little smaller than I had imagined. I should have bought the bigger one. That's my only regret... But if you have a small kitchen, this should be a perfect-sized oven for you.
BalasHapusI have this oven for almost 2 months now. Everything is so far so good. I mainly use this oven to bake, and I've baked several times already with it. The cakes and bread turned out very good. Since this oven is very powerful, I always set the time to the lowest setting. For example, if a recipe tells you to bake the cake for 30-40 min, then I will bake for only 30 min, and the cake will come out just right.
Although this oven is expensive, but it's worth every penny.
Pros:
- The door is very easy to open.
- The trays that came with the oven is heavy, and don't look like cheap metal pans.
- The crumb tray can be pulled out from the front and is very easy to clean.
- Auto shut off function
- The LCD panel has different background colors to indicate the oven is in use or not in use.
Cons:
- Very powerful oven. If not used correctly, it may burn your food.
- The tray doesn't automatically slide out like the bigger version.