The Breville Smart Oven Pro is nearly identical to the Breville Smart Oven. The Pro does add a couple of minor features, like a slow-cook mode and an internal light. But the Bagel Bites we toasted between the door and the front of the oven’s rack were noticeably paler than those toasted in the middle and back of the oven.
We noticed that crumbs tended to accumulate on the inner ledge at the base of the oven’s door. However, we found it easy to brush them onto the crumb tray using a pastry brush or a paper towel. In our last round of hamilton beach toaster testing, in April 2021, we tried out two trendier models that ultimately couldn’t compete with our picks. It’s important to think about both the internal and external size of any toaster oven you’re considering.
For my next attempt (I like chicken), I used heatproof, waterproof barbecue gloves for more secure chicken extraction. The Cuisinart TOB-135 toasted bread unevenly, and its temperature control was less consistent, so we dismissed it. When we selected models to test, we didn’t consider convection to be a must-have feature. None of the parts are coated with a nonstick finish and hand washing is recommended. The aluminum baking pan became quite stained and we weren’t able to get it completely clean. Although it can toast 6 slices at once, in our tests, it didn’t brown the slices in the front as evenly as the ones in the back.
Since most of the door is glass, I suggest not slamming it in either direction and making it a point to close it gently. At 15 inches high, 23.4 inches wide, and 18 inches deep, this is a fairly large oven that eats quite a bit of countertop space. Fortunately, it’s not an unattractive piece, so it could sit out if it’s used every day.
The Balmuda has other design flaws (a flap on the door) and twee impracticalities (the easy-to-lose steam cup), and ultimately, we found it to be just a snazzy-looking prototype at best. Balmuda’s The Toaster is a $300 appliance that’s different from most other toaster ovens because it steams bread while it toasts. In theory, it’s supposed to help keep the “inner moisture and flavor from escaping,” but we’re not convinced it makes a difference. In fact, we weighed white sandwich bread and rustic sourdough bread before and after toasting to see how much moisture the bread retained. On average, plain white sandwich bread actually retained less moisture when toasted in the Balmuda than when toasted in our top pick, the Cuisinart. The KitchenAid KCO211BM Digital Countertop Toaster Oven didn’t toast as evenly as our picks, and several slices of bread were burned in patches on the bottom.