Breville Smart Ovens

I have forced my mother onto a diet because her cardiologist wants to give her bariatric surgery before he decides if any surgical intervention is necessary on her heart. One of the biggest problems about cooking when you are single is that your oven is too big for little jobs. In my mother's case, it also holds baking sheets, cooking pots, strainers, etc. Between lugging out all that stuff, heating the oven, the wait, it is a little inconvenient. And obviously resorting to the microwave and convenience foods has hurt her. So I figured a small convection oven would be a good idea. It is convenient. It can handle a roast or a chicken. But it can also make a nice baked potato and roasted vegetables. My mother refuses to read a manual. Giving her a new phone every couple of years requires my taking dangerous amounts of Xanax mixed with alcohol. Computer pop-ups notifying her of updates result in harried phone calls. Tablets, Rokus, Blu-Ray players ... God help me. I wonder why I ever do it. (The obvious answer is so the neighbors cannot speak ill of me.) But the set up on this is simple enough that even she can handle it. The first nob is for method, the second is for temperature, and the third is for time. Yes, there is a convection setting button and one for frozen foods. She even figured those out. But it is intuitive. She knows now not to have anything touching the walls of the unit. She knows that it is necessary to pull it from the wall when she wants to use it. She knows not to touch the sides unless it has cooled down. What I am trying to say is that my mother, who was a government employee, can figure this thing out. It is great for cooking a one-pound pork tenderloin. It is great for baking a pork chop. In other words, it is great for a single cook. The window tells you what level to put the baking rack at. The bottom tray pulls out for easy cleaning. And because I read the manual, I was able to explain about not touching the elements when wiping down the inside, etc. This is a great little device for the single cook. One of the hardest parts about making food for oneself is either portion size or that you have to make big food and be stuck with it all week if you don't freeze it. This and a FoodSaver (which I also bought her) lets you buy a big roast and cut it down and vacuum seal it. Couple things I have noticed: 1) People who show photos of blown-out wall outlets or burnt walls or ruined plugs didn't read the manual. It clearly says that it should be four inches away from anything on all sides and six inches from anything above. This sucker gets hot. It is not insulated like a regular oven. Don't put it in a hole for a microwave, even if you have heat sinks all about. 2) If the thermal fuse blows on your oven, it is actually a five-dollar part and there are ample YouTube videos on how to fix this. It is easy to get the OEM replacement. There is no reason to throw the oven away. I'd also argue those who have this problem may be leaving their oven too close to walls. 3) I don't think convection saves a great deal of time. I cooked a one-pound pork tenderloin in there and followed the old rule about one-third less time at the same temperature. It didn't really work. But if you let the oven cook and use the convection, it results in a nicely cooked outside. I wouldn't say it is a sear, but it looks nicer than if one merely baked it. 4) This thing is great with frozen pizzas. It is auto-set for this and you just put it on the included pizza plate and let 'er rip. The convection gives a nice, even cooking to it and it doesn't come out all cracker dry and browned like in a conventional oven. Plus you don't have to look in on it every two minutes to see if it is done. It is hard to find a sweet spot on frozen pizzas in a big oven. Probably because of uneven cooking. I have not baked cookies or pastries in this oven so I don't know how that goes, especially with convection. I have only cooked meats, vegetables, and potatoes. Vegetables roast so nicely. I attached a photo of some Brussels sprouts I recently did. I think a single person or a couple will stop using their large oven if they get this. I am surprised that studio apartments don't just provide one of these and an induction top to save space. I am looking to build a very small home and I plan on doing just that. This is a fantastic little oven, and if used properly will produce satisfying results. Just read the manual. It is not as simple as just plugging in and making something. You do have to know how to use it.