De'Longhi Livenza 0.8 cu ft. Stainless Steel Digital True European Convection Oven

My old De'Longhi toaster oven finally died after 13 years and thousands and thousands of uses, and I chose this one to replace it.It does a great job, comes to temperature quickly, toasts great, and is easy to use. It's a bit bigger than the older models, but it fits perfectly in that weird space on my counter under the cabinet and next to the fridge that's unusable for anything else! As others have noted, the design of the door handle means it doesn't open 100% of the way unless you have it positioned over the end of the counter, but that hasn't stopped me from being able to take things in and out, change around the shelves, etc. - all without searing my knuckles on the elements!The only thing I really don't love are the control knobs. They're finicky, not intuitive, and you can't get the precise control you could on the older models. I've learned how to work with it, but honestly, it's an overengineered solution for something that needs to be just a simple knob. But other than that, I love it, and hope it lasts as long as my last one!

Because this $299.00 DeLonghi seemed to rarely come on sale, I seriously considered the exceptionally well reviewed Breville BOV845BSS. The not too infrequent (for me) complaints about expensive to repair thermal/electronics failures in Breville line ovens kept me on the sidelines until a discounted "Used-Like New" DeLonghi unit was offered on Amazon, so I bit: So glad I did. The double paned front panel and good insulation keep much of the heat and convection fan sounds inside the oven. It runs quietly and only on the 450 degree setting does the top get slightly warm to the touch. In our South Carolina kitchen it does a great job crisping up frozen french fries without causing the air conditioning to rev up to compensate. The controls quickly became intuitive, and it is easy to make time and temperature changes on the fly. Toaster function is a snap, and does a great job with the denser thicker whole grain bread slices we use each morning. The roomy interior makes it easy to retrieve the slices without singeing the top or side of your hand. The Breville advertises a low and slow roast function. The DeLonghi can do the same thing, albeit in 2 hour increments. I've had great results slow cooking/steaming foil wrapped pork ribs and roasts with this unit.

I've only had this for a few days, but it's performed quite well so far. It looks decent, has a pretty good capacity, stays reasonably cool. Absolutely maddening to use, but I doubt if any of the others are better- they insist on putting these idiotic electric brains in everything; it would be so much easier with just on-off, temperature, and convection on/off controls, but we soldier on. I've tried a couple of the pre set programs; the "cookies" setting worked pretty well with a pretty average sort of dough; the "pizza setting" was less successful and took almost 20 min. for a thin crust pizza, but it may be as well as you'll do with an oven that only reaches 450 degrees. The accessories that come with it are OK- a perforated pizza pan would work better than what they give you, and a cookie sheet or two would be great; then again, it's gotten pretty hard to find a regular size cookie sheet, and most of what's available is insulated (ie useless). Actually, the supplied pizza pan has embossed lettering so deep that it actually holds much of the crust away from the bottom of the pan, so that's not so good. There is a sort of sheet pan (I thought for a while that it was the bottom of the oven. It is not, however, flat- there's a large raised rectangle in the middle with embossed lettering, so it's pretty much useless for baking.The big question with these ovens is durability, which of course I can't tell at this point; the heating elements are metal rods, which are reputedly more durable than quartz elements, and the electronics seem to be pretty well protected from heat, but it's hard to be sure. The glass door is hinged at the bottom; this is probably the most convenient for loading the oven and placement, but it does make it vulnerable if you drop or spill something while loading/unloading the oven. The signal buzzer is nearly inaudible from more than a couple of feet, so not very useful. The included accessories are solidly built but poorly designed, a surprise from this company.

I liked the 4-level placement for the racks and pans. I had high hopes for this Delonghi air fryer toaster oven, great size. I used this oven to make toast, air fry, and bake cookies. It worked great for 9 days and then the bottom heating element stopped working. This item will be returned. A KEEPER: I decided to give this item a second try, I felt that I may have been too hasty in my opinion, and I liked the heating element configuration. Instead of the typical 2 bars at the top and bottom of the oven, the DeLonghi's elements have an S shape, one at the top and one at the bottom which facilitates more even heat distribution. I since have baked cookies, cornbread, and muffins, and I have air-fried chicken wings and french fries at the same time. I also went to bed while slow-cooking baby back ribs, which came out flavorful and tender. Last but not least, with a few adjustments, I have excellent golden brown toast every morning. I really love this oven. I spent a bit more than I wanted to but, you get what you pay for. Glad I decided to pay a bit more this time, It was well worth it. Before I forget this oven is so easy to clean, burnt drippings just slid off in warm water. I hope this report is helpful to you.