Another way is to put a tiny bit of olive oil in the skillet and reheat it there until the cheese melts. Crisp crust, warm top.
Wow, just wow.
We ended up going with the full size Breville (though everyone had it at the same price, Bed Bath and Beyond’s ubiquitous 20% coupon tipped our scales), and it is unbelievable.
Okay, so we’ve only had it for a few days, but who the hell knew toast could be so … toasty. We’ve done our own baked breads and some bagels and we’ve been floored. This is coming from people who only ate toast once or twice a year–who knew?!
Basically, it lives up to its hype (and fortunately its pricetag). The outsides are nice and crisp but inside is like soft, warm bread. It’s kind of like getting a sous vide-cooked steak: perfect inside and the exact amount of char that doesn’t go too deep.
We did a couple other things and it has performed excellently, but nothing wowed us like its toasting goodness.
Who knew?
Thanks!!!
Knew you’d like it.
You may have already figured this out, but it took me more than a few days.
The toast cycle can be set separately for brownness and number of slices. What difference would number of slices make, i wondered? What really happens is that each variation is 10 seconds longer than the last. So 2 slices, brownness 2 is 10 seconds less than 3 slices, brownness 2 which is 10 seconds less than 3 slices, brownness 3 and so on. (Or something like that. I need to be hands on to remember exactly.) So just decide what time is good for you and set it, regardless of how many things you’re toasting. Personally, I’d rather set a timer, but I’m sure this decision was made for the majority.
I did once, but didn’t like cleaning up the mess. 
Rhythmdvl, I was considering purchasing this oven a few months ago but was concerned about some reviews claiming that the outside surfaces became “dangerously” hot. Have you found this to be the case? Thanks!
If it doesnt consist of a grate w/tray, glowing red springy things and a volume knob…its gonna suck.
My old one died, so I bought a new fangled one that had a rotisserie and all kinds of temp settings and buttons…
The only thing it didnt do was TOAST BREAD!!! 
Or even melt cheese on bread…or even BUTTER so I can smooth it on.
The warm up time was longer than my Real Oven.
I griddle my toast now. :rolleyes:
I like using a toaster oven for small stuff where I don’t want to waste the energy heating up the normal oven. plus the kind I have has elements which heat up so fast that I don’t have to do any pre-heat either.
I don’t have one now, but I loved the one I used to have. You can heat stuff up much faster and with less kitchen heat than when you use a full-size oven.
I suspect you would find one in every restaurant - I know every sushi bar I’ve been to used them, as well as Subways.
Today in my toaster overn, I made a pan of cornbread, then as soon as it was out, I stuck in a cherry-blueberry pie. I used the convection feature and it took me half the amount of time to bake each. Love it.
Seeking opinions from the SDMB toaster oven fiends so I’m bumping this recent thread instead of starting a new one.
I too received the latest BB&B 20% off coupon and am considering the Breville that Rhythmdvl purchased. Any opinions on this model? CR gives it a good rating, but some of the comments indicate that the outside surfaces get very hot (“dangerously” so). Has anyone experienced this? Thanks.
I recently bought a toaster oven while our main oven was out of commission for a couple weeks. Considered the large Breville, but ended up with this Cuisinart from Costco: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11680187&Ne=5000001%204000000&eCat=BC|103|28485&N=4009927%204294892933&Mo=0&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US
Overall, I’m very pleased. It will (barely) fit a 12x12 pan. We’ve made cakes, bread, brownies, nachos, pizza, roast chicken…and toast. I like having the control panel below the oven compartment rather than to the side to minimize the footprint.
Main Negatives:
[ul]
[li]The digital controls could be simpler (why do I have to press Start after hitting Bake and setting the temperature?–if you read the reviews on the Costco site you’ll see a rant about how many button presses it takes for certain tasks)[/li][li]Removing the crumb tray from the rear is suboptimal[/li][/ul]
As far as heat, there’s not much insulation around a toaster oven–they’re all going to get hot.
Hell, I love my Magic Chef toaster oven, and it’s probably the cheapest one out there. I don’t know what I’d do if I got a GOOD one. Many times I’ve baked a single pork chop or chicken breast when I’m the only one eating at that meal. Since I live in Texas, it’s just not really a good idea to turn on the big oven for about 8-10 months out of the year, unless I’m cooking a complete meal in it, and even then it gets really, really hot in the kitchen. However, I don’t want to fry everything. So the toaster oven has been good, and next time, I’ll do a bit of research and pick out the brand myself.
Been meaning to get this done for a while. Single data point, but it’s worth something.
Using a Rosewill infrared thermometer, I took a sample of measurements during the last ten minutes and averaged them together.
Oven was preheated to 425; convection fans were turned on. A pizza was baked for 27 minutes.
Front glass: 278
Top with a 3/4" wood cutting board on top: 116
Top with no cutting board: 155
Left side: 85
Right side: 105 (this side has poor ventilation; it sits about 10” from the wall and has a stack of cutting boards and cookie sheets between it and the counter)
I did not take measurements of the rear, because the pizza was done and I was hungry.
We’ve had it for about six months now, and none of the novelty has worn off. It was an exceptionally good purchase and it continues to amaze us (not that we’re not amazed by simple things).
I use mine for roasting garlic. Peel a whole bulb, wrap in a foil pouch will a little olive oil, and roast at 350 for 45 minutes.
You’re not worried about the slippery slope?
We just banished ours to the garage yesterday. It never was any good at toasting, and for baking, it apparently couldn’t hold 350 degrees, and after an hour, we moved the food to the real oven as the total bake time was supposed to be 25 minutes.
I hoped a $99 appliance might have worked better, but no luck.
I hate heating up the main oven for small things. But after having $30 piece-of-junk toaster ovens for years, and having seen the America’s Test Kitchen episode where they poo-pooed toaster ovens, I just about gave up.
Then I saw that Consumer Reports recommended the model which I purchased. It was over $120 (Hamilton Beach.)
I works great and I love it. It simply works properly, is quick and accurate, and doesn’t force me to use the large oven for actual cooking. I can even fit my gratin dish in it. Highly recommend.
The infrared heating ones (Panasonic and B&D both made 'em, thouugh I think they’re both discontinued) are fantastic. I have a B&D Infraware and love it.
I apologize that this advice is somewhat useless.
Thanks Rhythmdvl. I saw this the other day and have been meaning to respond.
First off, I nominate this post for “most well-researched reply” for 2012 ;). Thanks for the info; these numbers do not sound onerous at all. I suspect you can’t touch the front glass on pretty much all toaster ovens.
I took advantage of my latest BB&B coupon and picked one up. Looking forward to setting it up.
Also, RIP to my old B&D. Still works OK after 17 years, but is simply Too Filthy To Live.
Does it live stream sports?