Appliance Review: Oster® Digital French Door Oven

~ Carrie

My trusty Breville toaster oven finally gave up the ghost, so I have a new toaster oven, an Oster® Digital French Door Oven. It’s not what you probably think of as a “toaster oven”, and it does a lot more than just make toast. Called a “countertop oven”, when you see it in person, you understand why: it’s roomy enough to bake large pizzas or whole chickens in. So why buy an extra-large toaster oven? Because most of what we bake could actually be done in an oven this size, rather than our full-size oven.

Our Breville toaster oven made toast, and could accommodate a small pizza or a couple of large sweet potatoes. This oven, with a significantly larger footprint (meaning that you need to have adequate available counter space) can accommodate most of the meals that we cook on a regular basis; this is especially attractive because the manufacturer touts “up to 50% less energy” use with the convection setting (versus a standard-sized oven).
My comments on the features (bolded) listed at Oster’s site:
  1. Single door pull opens both doors with one hand ease and convenience: the door is both a pro and con: yes, you can open both doors with one hand, but it takes up more space on the counter because it must have a clear area to each side so it can open fully
  2. Digital controls provide precise cooking time and temperature to take the guesswork out of cooking, including DEHYDRATE function to make your own dried fruits and vegetables: I’d honestly prefer manual controls because, in my personal experience, appliances with electronic controls are more prone to issues than manual ones. I’m not sure how often I’ll actually use the dehydrate function because I have an Excalibur dehydrator, but I’ll update the blog if I do try this function.
  3. Turbo Convection baking technology cooks faster and browns more evenly: sourdough loaf baked for 25% less time and at 25 degrees lower temperature with results comparable to full-sized oven – clearly, more energy-efficient
  4. Two racks provide maximum cooking flexibility: easily accommodates 9×13″ baking pans, so making lasagne is a breeze!
  5. Extra-Large capacity fits two large take and bake pizzas: we’d probably never actually put two take and bake pizzas in there, but it is cavernous as far as toaster ovens go
  6. Removable crumb tray: nice feature – I overfilled the baking dish I used for the pumpkin guts and some juice oozed out onto the tray, which was easily cleaned
  7. Conveniently check on food with interior light: nice feature – you can watch cooking progress easily and the light is an LED
  8. Preheat setting gets oven temperature up to where you need for precise cooking: preheat seems efficient (much quicker than our full-sized oven)
  9. 90-minute timer with signal turns oven off automatically: works as advertised
  10. Durable baking pan and baking rack used together can double as a broiling pan: while not utilized yet, this is a creative idea

Today, we baked a sourdough loaf on the convection setting and it came out at least as good as those baked in our standard-sized oven. As noted in #3 above, the loaf baked for less time and at a lower temperature, too.

Muffins and lasagne baked on the regular “bake” setting came out great, too.

Based on how well it performs (and how much it can accommodate), I can see this replacing a standard oven in a small home/apartment or other living situation where space is at a premium, especially if only cooking for a few people. Between this and a Crock Pot©, who needs a big oven taking up all that space and using all that energy?

Looking for a deal on this appliance? We got ours at Costco, and found it cheaper in the warehouse than on their website. 

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