Breville "Smart" oven vs. Oster "dumb(?)" oven.

Cyberider · August 23, 2016

Not a week after receiving the Breville "Smart" oven that I had been waiting for two years for a sale had arrived, another forum member posted photos and information about her new Oster oven. I was fascinated by it's appearance and size. I checked it out and, sure enough, it had even more room inside than my old Toastmaster convection oven that I had been using the last 25 years. I noticed that it was available both in a "digital" version and a manual version and that the manual version was only $99.95. That was $100 less than the BSO that I got on sale and it is so much roomier. Look at the difference in size! I like baking tall loaves of bread and that was clearly going to be a problem in the BSO. Not the case in the ODO! It's even bigger than the Toastmaster, has a timer, two shelves and those wonderful doors which are as practical as they are attractive. No worries burning my hands on the door when moving or removing things from the oven. Too bad I didn't know about this oven first because it will serve my purposes perfectly. (Thanks, Andie!)

boilsover · August 23, 2016

IMO, the BSO is consistently overrated and overpriced. I have the biggest one, the 800XL. Most of the functions are unused. It's a lousy toaster, especially if you try to toast breads containing no sugar. Anything tall cooked in it comes perilously close to the upper elements. It's not even all that "smart"--unlike Sunbeam toasters in the 1960s, these units don't judge brownness with a sensor, they merely run (sometimes poorly) on set programs. The build quality isn't tops, either

Still, the Breville is an OK Jack-of-All-Trades. And it's a somewhat manageable size.

Knowing what I know now, I would buy that Oster for small oven use, and find a minty Sunbeam T-20 for my toast.

JoNorvelleWalker · August 24, 2016

I'm paraphrasing from memory but in the current issue of Cook's Illustrated they say their top rated toaster costs $299 and the runner up does not even make good toast. For what it's worth they recommend a Breville.

Wonder if they checked a CSO?

gfweb · August 24, 2016

I think your review of the BSO is a bit harsh. I've used it for a few years and am quite happy with it as a small oven. The Oster thing looks interesting too. It might offer an upgrade in headroom but other than a big roast chicken, I'm not sure I need it. CSO would be the hands down winner if a little larger. As it is, i think it is the best of the three, if small

lindag · August 24, 2016

I own the Breville Smart Oven XL and have used for several years. It's really a great addition to any kitchen as it does many things so much faster than a standard oven. I replaced my BSO with a Cuisinart Steam Oven only because of the toast, the Breville does not do toast well. I also wanted to have the steam function.

If you don't care much about toast, the BSO is great to have.

rotuts · August 24, 2016

@Cyberider

"my old Toastmaster"

what a work-horse my old taskmaster was. I and it for over 30 years then it Konk'd out

a shame Osler isn't a steam oven. Steam is Night turned into Day , or visa versa depending.

Cyberider · August 24, 2016

boilsover:

That is the 800XL in the photo. No plans to use it for toast as I have a 1950's Sunbeam for that. (The one where the bread lowers and raises gently)

gfweb:

Wasn't intending to be critical. I should have paid more attention to interior dimensions than getting blown away by hype. The BSO is a nice little oven.

rotuts:

The only problem I've had with the Toastmaster over the years is the fan. I've had it apart several times to clean and oil it and it's good for awhile. However, it's noisy all the time now and a little bit annoying. Note the GE Toasteroven on top of the BSO. It's about 50 years old and continues to work as intended.

lindag

The CSO looks interesting and I've been following that thread faithfully. An oven the size of the Oster with steam would be very useful for my kind of baking.

All:

I think the BSO will work fine for me for everything but tall loaves. I've made several pizzas already and the heating elements in closer proximity might be an advantage for that. It came with a 13" diameter pan which just fits and that's a good-sized pizza for me. Had to make rectangular pizzas in the Toastmaster because it wasn't as deep. The ODO will take up to a 16" diameter pan according to the description. Both ovens have a bulge in back that allows for the deeper round pans.

The control knobs on the ODO are large and very solid feeling. The timer is a mechanical clock that you can hear ticking. It rings and turns the oven off when the time is up. It can also be set for continuous on. There is function knob with various settings like bake, broil, etc. It varies the amount of heat from the top and bottom elements while the temperature knob sets the overall temperature.

Had I known about the ODO, that's probably what I would have gotten to cover all the bases. However, I'm sure I'll enjoy both ovens for what they're best at. The only problem is that between the two, the old GE, and the Sunbeam toaster, my counter is full.

boilsover · August 25, 2016

4 hours ago, Cyberider said:

I've made several pizzas already and the heating elements in closer proximity might be an advantage for that. It came with a 13" diameter pan which just fits and that's a good-sized pizza for me.

Just watch, the coating on that pizza pan will peel in short order. Also, try making sense of the "Frozen" v. "Fresh" and "Convection" v. fanless settings when making pizza. And who, really, needs a "Cookie" mode?

As I said, the BSO is OK for non-toast tasks. Just overrated, overpriced and not that smart.

Edited August 25, 2016 by boilsover (log)

Cyberider · August 25, 2016

13 hours ago, boilsover said:

Just watch, the coating on that pizza pan will peel in short order. Also, try making sense of the "Frozen" v. "Fresh" and "Convection" v. fanless settings when making pizza. And who, really, needs a "Cookie" mode?

As I said, the BSO is OK for non-toast tasks. Just overrated, overpriced and not that smart.

Thanks for the warning, I'll keep an eye on it. And I liked the pan because the pizzas slide right off! Yes, there are a bunch of settings for various things but none of them will turn down the upper heating elements enough to minimize scorching of tall items. Guess I should know better by now about anything with "smart" as part of it's name. 9_9 Incidentally, the ODO does not come with a pizza pan but I guess that can be sacrificed for $100 or $150 less.

Other observations are that the BSO consumes a maximum of 1875 watts while the ODO consumes 1500 watts. With the smaller size of the BSO and the additional power, I would expect it would be able to reach a higher temperature and do it sooner than the ODO. I notice that the cabinet of the BSO runs noticeably hotter than the ODO or the old Toastmaster. The Toastmaster actually has some insulation between the heating cavity and the outer cabinet while I suspect the BSO does not. The Toastmaster temperature control was calibrated up to 450F but it would never reach more than 400F no matter how long it was on. Will have to check the BSO and ODO to see what they'll do. The BSO and ODO are both made in China, of course. Expected on an inexpensive item but always disappointing on a "premium" item.

In the meantime, I'll be doing whatever baking I need to do and observing as I go. Going to make the most of having both ovens and looking forward to cooler weather down here in the AZ desert so I can do more baking soon.

Anna N · August 25, 2016

5 minutes ago, Cyberider said:

Thanks for the warning, I'll keep an eye on it. And I liked the pan because the pizzas slide right off! Yes, there are a bunch of settings for various things but none of them will turn down the upper heating elements enough to minimize scorching of tall items. Guess I should know better by now about anything with "smart" as part of it's name. Incidentally, the ODO does not come with a pizza pan but I guess that can be sacrificed for $100 or $150 less.

Other observations are that the BSO consumes a maximum of 1875 watts while the ODO consumes 1500 watts. With the smaller size of the BSO and the additional power, I would expect it would be able to reach a higher temperature and do it sooner than the ODO. I notice that the cabinet of the BSO runs noticeably hotter than the ODO or the old Toastmaster. The Toastmaster actually has some insulation between the heating cavity and the outer cabinet while I suspect the BSO does not. The Toastmaster temperature control was calibrated up to 450F but it would never reach more than 400F no matter how long it was on. Will have to check the BSO and ODO to see what they'll do. The BSO and ODO are both made in China, of course. Expected on an inexpensive item but always disappointing on a "premium" item.

In the meantime, I'll be doing whatever baking I need to do and observing as I go. Going to make the most of having both ovens and looking forward to cooler weather down here in the AZ desert so I can do more baking soon.

I hope you keep posting as you do your baking. I have the Breville smart oven and have been pleased with it since the beginning which was some years ago. The Oster, even without steam, strikes me as the better option for bread baking because of its height.

**andiesenji** · August 25, 2016

I am really enjoying the Oster oven. My baking molds fit in, except for the popover rack, which is just about 3/4 inch too long for the doors to close.

I too have baked tall bread loaves but more important, I baked some sponge cakes, in the tall tube pans with the "feet" that holds the pan upside down to cool.

These sponge cakes (orange chiffon) rise almost an inch above the pan edges and they baked nicely without having the top scorched - which really doesn't matter because it would be the bottom of the cake to serve, but it's annoying.

I did a cheese soufflé and it came out perfect. I roasted a chicken with a parchment "tent" because I wanted a crisp skin but no spatters and it worked nicely. I used it to "toast" lightly several THICK slices of bread for a bread and butter pudding with the "Toast" setting at 2 instead of the standard 4 - this on the digital and the toast came out evenly toasted, crisp and just right. The pudding baked nicely too.

Cyberider - I don't think you have enough clearance on the side of the oven next to the other one. Check the instructions, You really do need to have adequate clearance for circulation so the oven itself can exhaust some of the heat.

JoNorvelleWalker · August 28, 2016

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 10:18 AM, Cyberider said:

I notice that the cabinet of the BSO runs noticeably hotter than the ODO or the old Toastmaster. The Toastmaster actually has some insulation between the heating cavity and the outer cabinet while I suspect the BSO does not.

It would be interesting to compare temperatures. The top of my CSO reaches 200 deg F. when the oven is on steam bake at 425 deg F. The top of my conventional oven reaches only 160 deg F after heating for over an hour at 460 deg F.

I use the top of my CSO for heating plates. Stoneware, that is.

rotuts · August 28, 2016

I do the same w my CSB.

lindag · August 28, 2016

I made the mistake of heating of a plateful of food on a piece of very expensive dinnerware in my CSO...I did not know that it got so hot that it would crack in two.

JoNorvelleWalker · August 28, 2016

3 hours ago, lindag said:

I made the mistake of heating of a plateful of food on a piece of very expensive dinnerware in my CSO...I did not know that it got so hot that it would crack in two.

In or on? I've been known to crack a dinner plate by putting it down on a hot burner on the stove.

lindag · August 28, 2016

Inside. Was heating a plate of leftovers. When I opened the oven the (Potrmerion) plate was in two pieces.

should have posted in the 'I won't do that again thread.

Cyberider · August 29, 2016

On 8/25/2016 at 7:26 AM, Anna N said:

I hope you keep posting as you do your baking. I have the Breville smart oven and have been pleased with it since the beginning which was some years ago. The Oster, even without steam, strikes me as the better option for bread baking because of its height.

Here goes! 95% of my baking is bread (including pizza), cake, and cookies. This weekend, I baked the fourth pizza in the BSO since I got it about six weeks ago. Here are the before, during, and after photos. I used the standard programmed setting for a 13" fresh pizza which was 14 minutes at 450F. I put the pizza in after the pre-heat beep which, as those who've read the instructions, means it was 80% up to temperature before the door was opened. I baked it without rotating just to see how evenly baked it would be. It turned out pretty well, baked about to my taste and fairly even.

I haven't tried the ODO for pizza yet but probably will when I get or find a larger pizza pan to take advantage of it's larger size. Since I'm the only one who's going to be eating it, 13" is big enough and I'll eat on it for a week. Taking the distance of the heating elements from the pizza, I suspect the CSO will be the winner, especially if speed is taken into account. Time will tell, though.

One annoying thing about the CSO that I haven't seen mentioned is the fact that it pulses the heating elements about 8 to 10 times per second instead of just turning them on and off every minute or two like a conventional oven. What this does, in my case, is put an annoying flicker on the fluorescent lights in the kitchen. I thought there was something wrong with the lights the first time I used the BSO until I figured out that it was causing it.

MSRadell · August 30, 2016

5 hours ago, Cyberider said:

One annoying thing about the CSO that I haven't seen mentioned is the fact that it pulses the heating elements about 8 to 10 times per second instead of just turning them on and off every minute or two like a conventional oven. What this does, in my case, is put an annoying flicker on the fluorescent lights in the kitchen. I thought there was something wrong with the lights the first time I used the BSO until I figured out that it was causing it.

That element pulsing sounds very annoying and I really don't see any advantage to it. It seems think it would be easier to just regulate the power going to the elements instead of turning them on and off which also has to be hard on the elements themselves I would think. It's kind of like the way microwave ovens use to just turn on and off when you set them to low-power instead of adjusting the power input like the newer ones do.

Cyberider · September 2, 2016

Since I'm usually only baking for myself, it's going to be a long time until I have many comparisons from one oven to the other. In the mean time, well known baker Rose Levy Beranbaum had an interesting comparison of a bundt cake baked in the Breville oven and a Panasonic oven. I'm not surprised that the top is darker on the BSO cake since there is little headroom and the top elements can't be disabled or turned down. It's interesting, though, that the crust of the cake in the pan is just the opposite. Here is the link: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2016/08/know_thy_oven.html

palo · September 2, 2016

I'm thinking that with the Breville, the top (with little headroom) was browner due to direct exposure to the top elements, whereas the sides were shielded by the cake pan.

p

Edited September 2, 2016 by palo (log)

Cyberider · September 7, 2016

Baked brownies Saturday in the ODO. Why the tall ODO for brownies? Because the usual 9" X 13" pan with "tabs" for handles will not fit in the BSO. This goes for 9" X 13" pyrex baking dishes too. Note that there is plenty of room in the ODO. While we're on the ODO, the control knobs are large and very solid feeling compared to the wobbly controls on the BSO. Needless to say, there was no problem baking the brownies.

Cyberider · September 7, 2016

One more pizza in the BSO. This time, I preheated for two minutes after the "preheat" beep before I put the pizza in so that it would be close to the set temperature. Again, I didn't bother to rotate it during baking because it seemed to come out evenly enough baked the last time. It came out pretty close to perfect at the end of the pre-programmed time. It was actually darker than it appears in the photograph.

The BSO works well for pizza and anything that isn't too large or too tall. If one can live with these limitations and has limited counter space it would be a good choice though I imagine there are less expensive options that would do as well.

Thanks for the Crepes · September 8, 2016

On 8/24/2016 at 8:26 PM, boilsover said:

Just watch, the coating on that pizza pan will peel in short order.

On 8/25/2016 at 10:18 AM, Cyberider said:

And I liked the pan because the pizzas slide right off!

I have had good luck by seasoning non-stick coated metal bakeware with a very thin coat of oil in a hot oven, as you would with cast iron. The polymerized oil sort of "welds" or melds with the coating, and it lasts much longer. Maybe it doesn't look as pretty to some observers, but, I'll take durable utility over pretty in my bakeware and other kitchen equipment any day.

I get best results by just cooking on it for a while until I start spotting a little deterioration in the coating. It's too slick at first to hold onto the seasoning oil. By the time you see any degradation, it probably has microscopic imperfections that will hold the oil, and allow you to build your protective coating in several applications and baking. Once you do, the pan is both more durable and non-stick than the original coating. I even use my WearEver sheets under the broiler without fear of damage after this treatment, and they are very easy to clean up after a soak. Of course, I don't put them in the dishwasher.

Kerry Beal · September 16, 2016

Look what I saw in Costco today

MelissaH · September 16, 2016

Did it find its way home with you?

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