Delonghi Esclusivo Convection Toaster Oven, DO1289

Delonghi Esclusivo Convection Toaster Oven, DO1289 Review

We live in a small cabin and a toaster oven is all the oven we have room for. I'm also a raw food enthusiast, as well as anxious to preserve our harvest from the short growing season here in Alaska, and was very interested in a toaster oven that could double as a dehydrator. I was also hoping to find something with enamel rather than teflon on the inside, due to concerns about toxins. I bought it to replace the old Cuisinart toaster oven that had been in the cabin from my husband's bachelor days, and was looking for an all-round oven to bake all kinds of things, not just toast!

I was very grateful for Alexei H. Pfeffer-gillett's review comparing other highly recommended models: it confirmed what I suspected from reading about them myself and helped me to decide that this was the closest thing to what I was looking for. Experience has me in agreement with his review, and there are a few things that I would like to add.

It is very important to make sure that the oven is level: if it isn't, it can be very noisy in convection mode. Even when it is level, convection mode is not silent, and seems especially noisy when dehydrating, so if you're dehydrating overnight, you won't want to sleep in the same room (hard to accomplish in a 1 1/2-room cabin!) Another thing that may be particularly relevant to the small cabin context is that the digital display is so bright, it practically functions as a night light!

I would not recommend using the dehydrator function completely unmodified. It just consists of the convection fan with no heat, and for the initial dehydration time it is wise to have the circulating air at around 145 degrees to avoid proliferation of mold/bacteria. The 'defrost' function is a little warmer, so sometimes I'll run it like that first. Or start dehydrating right after baking, while the oven is still hot. It is by no means an ideal dehydrator, but it works as a compromise, and the manual clearly disabuses you of any expectations for it to be ideal in that regard.

It does a good job of baking and the fact that it turns itself off after a preset default 30 mins is a good safety feature: it is just important to remember to adjust to your needs. Especially so, because adjusting the temperature from the default 350 is a cumbersome process that you don't want to have to do over again in the middle. You just keep pressing the 'adjust' button, which is unidirectional, and each press accompanied by an annoying beep, so that if you want a temperature of 325 (just one click back from the preset 350 if it was bidirectional), you get to press (and get beeped) 8 times!

I have generally found that baked goods take _longer_ than the recipe stipulates, but this may be because a lot of the baking that I do is with alternative grains and other tweaks. I do bake regular sourdough bread for my husband and have never had a problem with it burning on the top or bottom, as I did with the old oven: it really does a beautiful job with that. Being able to fit two loaf pans in side-by-side is also a plus, although the baking trays seem to bow a bit under that kind of weight, which is a concern when using heavier bakeware also. With cookies, pizza, etc, it is important to rotate trays and to turn them around, and the manual clearly states this.

Toasting is rather slow and adjusting is accomplished by the same unidirectional high-pitched beep process. Default is 4 pieces, which means that the largest number of clicks is for my husband's usual two pieces... Usually we just leave it on 4!

The door of the oven is very well designed to keep your hand away from the glass, and it is wonderful to be able to see what is going on inside, but I wish that the door, sides and top did not get quite so hot. It seems like better insulation would improve its energy efficiency (although it is definitely better than the old oven in that regard too). In terms of countertop footprint, it seems little bigger than the old oven and the same size trays fit it, but its internal capacity is impressively larger.

The cookie sheets are hard to clean and seem to stain. I have only used the pizza pan once and it worked wonderfully except that the crust stuck to it something fierce, even though I had greased it (and the holes in the tray made greasing a messy business). The broiler pan (which is black) warps alarmingly when used for broiling, but reverts to its proper shape when cooled down. I find this a bit scary. I really do appreciate the slide-out crumb tray.

Aside from these issues, I am pleased with it, but I also feel like the challenge is there for someone to come out with an oven that combines the good qualities of this one (large capacity in a small package, good baking quality, multiple functions, non-toxic materials) with better insulation, greater temperature range at the lower end (to facilitate dehydrating) and more user-friendly adjustability. Oh, and if there was any way that those beeps could be eliminated (or even made adjustable for sensitive ears), I would be so happy!

Delonghi Esclusivo Convection Toaster Oven, DO1289 Feature

• COOK TWO 12" PIZZAS: The interior is large enough to cook two 12" pizzas, bake an entrée or side dish. Make a meal for the whole family right on your countertop.
• LARGE 6-SLICE TOAST CAPACITY lets you make enough toast for the whole family – all at the same time. with the 6 PRE-PROGRAMMED TOAST SETTINGS, time and temperature are preset for room-temperature or frozen bread. The TOAST COLOR SELECTOR lets you choose from 7 settings for toast just the way you like it. End-of-cycle signal tells you when toast is hot and ready to eat.
• CONVECTION COOKING AND DURASTONE II™ ENAMEL INTERIOR works with fan-circulated hot air to distribute heat faster and more evenly. Food cooks 30-40% faster for a perfectly browned outside and moist, juicy inside. You can even cook on both racks at the same time! The DURASTONE II™ Enamel Interior distributes heat evenly from maximum consistent cooking results. It is so easy to clean – just wipe with a damp sponge.
• MULTIPLE COOKING FUNCTIONS: This is the ideal multi-function family oven. With the USER-FRIENDLY DIGITAL CONTROLS, you can choose from BAKE (200-450°F), BAKE WITH CONVECTION, DEFROST, BROIL(500°F), TOAST, KEEP WARM AND PIZZA – all with the touch of a button for precise and convenient cooking. The DIGITAL THERMOSTAT lets you choose the precise temperature and monitor current temperature during the heating process.
• CONVENIENT 2-HOUR TIMER WITH AUTO SHUTOFF

Delonghi Esclusivo Convection Toaster Oven, DO1289 Overview

Multifunction countertop oven has all the full-scale qualities of a conventional oven, yet cooks food 30-40% faster. DeLonghi has raised the standard on energy-efficient, compact cooking. The combination of fan-circulated hot air with Durastone II enamel interior allows superior heat distribution for consistently uniform cooking results. Digital thermostat lets you push a button to select the exact temperature and monitor temperature during the heating process. Interior is large enough to bake 2, 12" pizzas or an entree, plus dessert. Digital control makes cooking a breeze with convenient 2-hour timer and auto shut-off, plus 8 pre-programmed pizza settings to bake fresh or frozen pizza to perfection. Six pre-programmed settings pre-set the time and temperature to toast fresh bread or frozen bread. For discerning tastes, level of toast color can be selected, from 1 to 7. End-of-cycle signal reveals when toast is ready to serve! Bake cookies using the cookie sheets included and easy Smart Cookie function. Dehydrate food utilizing the hot-air fan circulation.The DeLonghi Convection Toaster Oven is the multipurpose oven you'll use daily in your kitchen! Includes removable crumb tray, baking pan/broil tray, 2 wire racks, 2 cookie sheets pizza tray and dehydrator kit. .5 cu. ft. capacity.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Apr 12, 2010 02:30:06