Black and Decker Toaster Oven - TRO355 Review

Okay, let's try to do this quickly.  Do you like toast?  Do you like it quickly?  Do you sometimes have to heat up some frozen waffles, pancakes or chicken nuggets for the kids?  Yeah?  Then your search could be over.

Look, I'm a pretty simple guy (mostly).  Basically, what I'm looking for in a toaster oven is simplicity, speed and compactness.

First and foremost I want my Toaster Oven to make toast.  I like my toast medium dark, you?  When I want toast, I want it now, and that's just what this basic Black & Decker Toaster Oven excels at.

A while back when my last B&D Classic Toaster Oven finally gave up the ghost after 13 years I went looking for its replacement.  Looking at Toaster Ovens over at Target I couldn't believe how Toaster Ovens had evolved over 13 years.

After purchasing a couple of the newer more versatile models that could even bake a 12" pizza only to return them in as little as hours later I gravitated back to the lowly  Black & Decker TRO355 that sat lonely on the corner of the shelf.  It looked so familiar, so basic, so compact, so inexpensive.

Why?

As versatile as some of the newer incarnations of Toaster Ovens have become, they seemed to take forever to produce a couple of pieces of toast.  One machine took just under 10 minutes to provide me with my morning rye toast.  And, all the while I had to listen to that timer clock click down.  Annoying, very annoying.

The familiar B&D TRO355 coughed up 2 pieces of medium dark toast in just 2 minutes with a simple click of a rocker switch, about the same time it would take a conventional toaster.  Now that's what I'm looking for.

Weekday mornings my most important job is getting everyone out of the house on time.  Yep, this awesome responsibility falls on these broad shoulders.  For that I need speed.  My daughter, flying down the stairs expects her Eggo Blueberry Waffles will be there waiting for her.  And what about those Perdue Chicken Nuggets she just remembered she wanted in her thermos?  This is the machine.  And, for $29.99 or less it's a bargain.

I mean all this versatility seems pretty cool and all, but isn't that why I have all that other stuff in the kitchen?  And, if you're wondering about that 12" pizza  I have to admit that I've never been moved to attempt one in my oven, let alone my toaster oven.  When I'm in the mood for pizza at home I rely on another handy device found in the kitchen, my telephone.  It produces a perfect large cheese pie every time in about 30 minutes.

Regards,

Rudi