Black and Decker TC3290XSD Toaster Oven This is an attractive unit with stainless steel sides and top and wide glass front. The controls are digital, which is a plus since you get exactly the same setting each time you select it, as opposed to the more traditional spring loaded countdown timer knob. The controls are on the right front, and have little icons to tell you what they do. The icons are not that easy to understand initially, so there are descriptions of each icon on the glass just to the left of the controls in three languages, which is a lot of writing on the glass. The unit has settings for convection bake, broil, toast, reheat, pizza, bagels, and frozen snacks. You can accept the default settings for each or use the temp up and down buttons to change the setting. You also have access to a timer which you can set so you don't accidentally over cook something. It will not start timing until the oven reaches the set temperature, and will shut the oven off when the timer is done. Nice feature for those of us who tend to put things in the oven, go into another room to "take care of one or two emails," and then finally pull the food out when the smoke alarm is going off. However, it is worth noting that the timer does come on automatically even if you don't set it, so make sure it is giving you enough time to cook your food, or set it to just "stay on." This is a large unit, primarily for families (or those living without an oven!) It measures 21.5" wide by 11.25" tall by about 13" deep. It is advertised as an 8 slice toaster oven, however, as you can see in my pic, if you are using normal size bread you will only get 6 slices toasted at a time. In my first test, I put 6 slices in the oven and set it to "4" (the default). As you can see in the pic, they are minimally toasted, and the slices on the sides, especially in the back, were not quite as done as the middle pieces. Test 2 was to determine how each setting toasts, and so the next pic is of two slices (placed in the middle of the oven) on "4" then two on "5" then two on "6." The 4 setting took 3 minutes 30 secs and is just barely toasted with a chewy center. The 5 setting (4:20) is more golden brown and still chewy inside. The 6 setting (six minutes) was obviously overdone. So I tried the 6 setting again, but this time put 6 slices in the oven. The last pic shows the results: an even brown color, with some chew left in the center. I would only use the 6 setting (not to mention the 7 setting) for either frozen bread, or when the toaster oven is full of bread. By the way, the second time I did the 6 setting it only toasted for 5:40, so the unit makes internal adjustments when the oven is already warm. Nice feature usually only found in more expensive ovens. It should be noted that toaster ovens can save money, especially vs electric stove ovens, since the toaster oven is heating up a smaller space. That said, it always makes sense to get the smallest toaster oven for your needs, as this will be the most efficient. If you consistently only toast 2 bagels for breakfast, this is not the toaster oven for you. If you consistently toast 4 bagels, you've got yourself a winner. Was able to bake an orange/olive oil cake in a cake pan, and a pizza directly on the oven grate in the middle position- both came out perfect. As with almost all toaster ovens, the outside of this unit gets hot. A couple of minutes after toasting, the sides were still measuring 145 degrees, and the front stainless just above the glass door was 160. Care should be taken to avoid these surfaces.
