Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven Review 2023
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From the age of 11 to 18, I lived in a house without an actual oven. That plus my years writing reviews has made me something of an expert on the best toaster ovens. The best one I’ve used is the Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Oven. Not only does it come with everything you need to get baking right away — from two baking racks and baking pans to a 13-inch pizza stone — it also bakes evenly, heats up quickly, and doesn’t take up much counter space. Here’s why it’s one of our favorite countertop appliances.
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Design and accessories
Cuisinart’s oven has a sleek, stainless steel build that looks great in any kitchen. Although it’s not the smallest toaster oven, it doesn’t take up a ton of space, either. It is under two feet at the largest side and fits on the slim, bar-like countertop on one side of my galley kitchen. The sides of the oven can get warm, so it’s important to have a few inches of clearance on the back and sides.
The interior is large enough to fit a 13-inch pizza, a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, or nine slices of bread. Cuisinart includes everything you need to get cooking right in the box: a 13-inch pizza stone, two cooking racks, one 9 x 13-inch enamel baking pan, and one broiling pan of the same size.
What it’s like to use
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The toaster oven is incredibly simple to use, and I’ve baked everything from cupcakes and croissants to salmon and potatoes. I also regularly make pizza with the included pizza stone, and it turns out a perfect, crispy crust every time so long as I use the pizza setting and let the stone heat up first.
Cuisinart has a clear display on the front of the toaster oven along with a dial that runs through the various preset cooking functions. You can choose between toast, bagel, bake, pizza, and other settings, or just adjust the temperature to your liking and ignore the modes. The oven shuts off when the preset baking time is over, too, so you won’t burn your toast unless you chose the wrong setting for your bread.
The included pans, racks, and pizza stones are all high quality and well-made. There’s no need to go out and buy more pans, which is great because this toaster oven isn’t cheap. If you factor in the cost of all those baking pans and the pizza stone, you’re getting a great deal. This is a toaster that’s made to last.
What are the alternatives?
You can check out alternatives in our buying guide for the best toaster ovens. We also recommend the Breville Mini Smart Oven if you need a smaller one or the Panasonic Flash Xpress Toaster Oven if you want an infrared one. There are plenty of cheaper toaster ovens, but they lack the features and accessories of the Cuisinart one. If you want a countertop oven with even more functions, check out the best air fryer toaster ovens.
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The bottom line
If I could go back in time and gift myself this toaster oven back when we didn’t have an actual oven, I would. It is a wonderful toaster oven that comes with all the accessories you need, bakes food evenly and has a lot of helpful presets that cook food to perfection.
The Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven may be expensive, but it’s well worth the money if you like to bake and cook a lot if you need an additional oven, or if you simply want to use this instead of a full-sized oven.
Pros: Bakes evenly, easy to use, includes pans and pizza stone, lots of settings, heats fast, good size
Cons: Expensive, gets hot on the sides
