Here's the scoop:
The FlashXpress Toaster Oven is equipped with a unique quartz and ceramic heating system that allows for fast cook time and convenient, preset menu buttons which eliminates your need to calculate cook time. Double infrared heating system made up of both quartz and ceramic heating elements allows for food to be cooked more efficiently than conventional toaster ovens, which are heated with coils. The far-infrared heating element is used to cook the outside of the food while the near-infrared element penetrates food to cook from the inside out. Additionally, the FlashXpress Toaster Oven’s quartz heating element heats up instantly to the desired temperature, ranging from 250°F to 500°F, eliminating the need for preheating and allowing users to cook food fast when in a hurry.
I'll be honest, I don't have a toaster oven for a reason. They take up a lot of room and I just don't use them that much. We have a toaster to do bread and we don't eat a lot of convenience food or leftovers which are the sweet spots for toaster ovens.
The first thing I noticed about this product was the size. The dimensions are 13 x 12 x 10-1/4. That's it! So it fit nicely on my countertop between the toaster and the food processor. It seems small but the oven itself is a good size. This would be a great model for anyone with limited counter space.
We decided to test the oven on a Friday night with some frozen apps and a bottle of wine. (Note: the wine was not put into the toaster oven but rather into some thrifted stemless glasses and then my belly.) The apps in question were called "chicken bruschetta" and were a slice of French bread with chicken, cheese and spinach. The directions on the box said to preheat the oven to 400 degrees and cook for 20 minutes. The instructions for the toaster oven said no need to preheat and to use the frozen food button instead. It says not to pay attention to the directions on the food. Hmmm. I was a bit skeptical but this was a test so I went for it. Perfect! They were done in about 11 minutes and were toasted perfectly.
The next test was to reheat a bowl of cocktail weenies. (yes, I know, it was party food night.) The bowl I used was a plain glass Pyrex and I used the reheat button and increased it to "dark" which made the cook time 8 minutes. I will say that the bowl was blazing hot but the weenies in the center were only luke warm. I think it would have been better to stir them half way through for better results. (We ate them anyway.)
One more test on Saturday was to reheat some left over shoe strings fries. (I know, it was that kind of weekend. Don't judge.) I again used the reheat button and moved it to dark. The fries were heated evenly and were crisp. That's a win-win in my book. I was planning to also bake some Sculpey clay in there but didn't have the materials. That will come in another post.
So all in all I like the oven. I love the size and it certainly is fast and convenient. The only thing that was a bit odd is that the inside lamps flick on and off while cooking. According to the instruction booklet this is normal and they are heat lamps. I think I could get used to it after while though.
For more information and to purchase your own Panasonic FlashXpress™ Toaster Oven click HERE.
While I was given a product for review the opinions are mine and were in no way influenced by Panasonic.
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