Oster 6293- feelin' hot, hot, hot!

I bought the Oster Toaster Oven with Convection Cooking in black at Target on sale 3 months ago for $49.99. There is also a red one available in the same model, 6293. One reason in buying this particular oven was because of the size, it is just the right length to fit on the area of countertop where our old toaster oven was. The oven measures about 17 inches long, 9 inches tall, and 10 inches deep. The finish on the oven is a very shiny black that is very durable.

Here are a few words from Target.com about this oven:

“Personalized light-to-dark toasting of up to 6 slices of bread is only one feature of the Oster Inspire Toaster Oven. This extra-large versatile toaster oven can bake, broil, toast and warm a wide variety of foods from pizza to tall roasts. Two reversible/removable cooking racks can accommodate 3 dishes at once (comes with baking pan and broiler insert for various cooking choices). A variable broil function enables cooking at various temperatures using only the top elements. The double-wall, continuous self-cleaning interior assures uniform cooking with fully adjustable 150°-450° thermostat. A 60-minute timer and bell signal automatically turns oven off. Cool-touch side handles for easy, safe movement of oven. Removable crumb tray. Easy cleaning.”

There are 4 functions on this oven, toast, bake, broil, and warm. The oven is a convection oven, and the temperature dial goes from 150 degrees to 450 degrees, and there is also a timer function that can go up to 60 minutes, and there is a stay on feature on the timer as well.

The rack on the oven is reversible and adjustable, and it also comes with a small baking sheet, which in my opinion is entirely too thin and cheap. I suggest covering the sheet with aluminum foil if you want it to last. The oven also comes with a broiler pan, but I don’t use that at all, just the baking sheet. Also, there is a removable crumb tray at the bottom of the oven that you can take out and clean at any time, and I find just soap and water in the sink gets it clean.

As far as operation goes, it is pretty simple, the top knob is the function knob where you select bake, broil, warm or toast, then the second knob is the temperature dial, and the third knob is the timer function. Do note on the timer function that if you need to cook less than 20 minutes, or use the toast timer, in order for the timer to work you have to turn the timer dial past 20 minutes then put it on the shorter time.

Experience:

Well, over the past few months, I have learned that I can’t use the toast function because it will burn everything to a crisp- toast, bagels, muffins, frozen waffles, it just doesn’t take any time for it to burn it. I find if I use the toast function I have to stand right by the oven and watch it before it burns, because it only takes a moment with this oven.

So, I mostly use the bake function, and I find that the convection cooking feature works pretty well- it can cook chicken nuggets in about 10 minutes, and frozen pizza rolls in that much time as well. As far as how much you can fit in there, it claims you can fit 3 dishes in there at once, but I would say no on that- unless it was something small like 3 pot pies. No way could 3 full sized dishes fit in there. As far as pizzas, a smaller whole pizza could fit in there, but not a full sized pizza such as a Red Baron brand pizza, but those smaller Tony’s brand pizzas could fit fine.

The broil function works about like the toast function in that you really have to watch your food constantly to make sure you don’t burn it. I don’t use the broil function all that often, but it does work pretty well as long as you keep an eye on your food. I don’t think I have even used the warming function on the oven at all- but my husband has used it a few times to keep his food warm while doing something else.


As I mentioned earlier, the pan that comes with the oven is rather flimsy and cheap, and to get it to last anytime I suggest keeping foil on it at all times or else it will be ruined in a week. It is a light aluminum color, and to me those just don’t last as long. Or, you could do like me and save the pan from your old toaster oven just to have as a spare incase you ruin the other one. Also, the cleaning is easy with the removable crumb tray, and the inside of the oven has stayed really clean throughout the 3 months I have had this.

But, I do have a huge concern with this oven. One day I touched the top of the oven while it was on accidentally, and man it was hot! I mean really hot, and it had not even been on long. So, I became curious and touched around on various areas on the oven and they were all hot, the front, the back, sides, even the little cool touch handles on the sides of the oven. Even if I stuck the pan on the top of the oven while not using it, it would become hot to the touch resting on top of the oven. Even if you use the short toast cycle on the oven the exterior becomes entirely too hot. So, this has me wondering if this thing is a fire hazard? It is just entirely too hot, and also that puts you and children especially at risk for burns just by touching the exterior of the oven.

Overall, I am going to have to rate this thing below average. Sure, it does cook decently, as long as you keep an eye on your food, but if you don’t watch it will burn anything to a crisp. Also, I have a huge issue with the safety of this oven, because the exterior gets entirely too hot during use, even the shortest cycles. I would not recommend this to you at all.