The FlashXpress made crispy-yet-melty Bagel Bites that were more consistently browned from one edge of the pan to the other. Some ovens’ results weren’t dark enough; others were overdone or unevenly cooked. This was also one of the only models in this price range that could bake chicken thighs with a golden brown, crispy skin.
Arcing can occur if foil is too close to oven walls. The foil should be at least 1 inch (2.5cm) away from oven walls. The bottom of browning dish must be at least 3/16 inch above the turntable.
The large Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven (TOB-260N1) has nearly all of the capabilities of a full-size oven. It delivers even heat to up to nine slices of bread and can easily handle a 13-inch frozen pizza or a whole roast chicken . The Cuisinart’s three-year warranty is outstanding, as are its impressive accessories, which include a ceramic pizza stone.
This chart featured in the Balmuda manual is misleading. Surface browning begins at a much lower temperature than the 320 °F indicated hamilton beach 900 watt microwave above. And at 428 °F, toast would be burning, not beginning to brown (on a medium setting, the toaster didn’t even reach 428 °F).
On average, plain white sandwich bread actually retained less moisture when toasted in the Balmuda than when toasted in our top pick, the Cuisinart. Without a doubt, the Cuisinart distributed heat evenly across its voluminous cavity, toasting nine slices of bread in a single batch to near golden-brown perfection. Similarly priced large toaster ovens concentrated heat in the center of the oven and had more significant fall-off of heat toward the edges.