Russell Hobbs 26090 Express Mini Oven – Countertop Electric Oven and Grill, 2.5x Faster than a Conventional Oven, 1500 Watts

 

adding review about the delivery, bang on time excellent service.
haven’t used the oven yet looks good clear dials and very spacious, the only thing i noticed was the door was a bit slack not got strong spring back when closing the door. but like i said hvnt cooked with it yet.

 

I’ve cancelled the insurance on my new big oven – I don’t use it since this darling came – yes, you need to adapt cooking style but a bit of experimentation will repay: So…. we want an oven to cook:
I’ve made excellent small cakes (in brownie trays with 18 divided squares)
roast dinner
flapjacks – again in brownie tray
reheated frozen meals
shepherd’s pies
bacon, pizza, toast, cheese muffins….so anything you can reasonably fit – and it is so time-saving! Quick, quiet and clean!

It has two sets of 2 heating bars (one set above and one set below) that glow to reach temperature and any food directly under the two top (when glowing) WILL get scorch lines BUT… the workaround is to pre-heat to just above the desired cooking temperature, – then put in food (say cakes), and reduce cooking time by 50% before checking. You will hear a lovely audible ‘ping’ AND the oven switches itself off (Absolutely love this feature !! – It will save a lot of forgotten overcooked / burnt (hem!) items in this house). You can watch food turn colour under the lit-grill function; the little drop-down glass door can be left open too – it thankfully doesn’t have a safety cut out which for me, is a plus – Just as safe as any other grill at that level.
I love the fact that it’s built on the functional ‘keep it simple, stupid’ principle (Occham’s Razor) you can treat it like a hot box with a timer – For me that’s what an ideal oven should be. At this price point and – if you register it shortly after purchase with Russell Hobbs, you get the warranty extended from 2 to three years.

The tiny downside is that as yet, there are not enough small oven trays on the market – the standard tart tray is about 1 cm too wide: the max internal measurements are c29cm x c26cm. The oven will take round pizzas of standard large size. After much searching I found this wire tray answers the need for an air fryer basket for chips, etc.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PG1TYL3?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

But wow, in short let this useful thing out of the camper van and be your friend – it will save time and money – it truly is scarily quick till you get used to it 🙂

 

I bought a mini, counter-top oven two years ago from another source. It wasn’t expensive, I simply wanted to check if it would be more beneficial than my main cooker. I have to say that I have not used my main cooker since.

I had promised myself an upgrade, a counter-top oven of better quality, and so spent some time researching online reviews on the “professional” sites. This Russell Hobbs model seemed to feature at the top or at least in the top 3 or 4 of all the reviews. That gave me a lot of confidence. I read through a number of the Amazon user reviews and they mostly seemed to concur that this would be a good buy.

When it arrived I was amazed by how light it was compared to my other model. The interior is the same size but the overall design makes this Russell Hobbs model look smaller and neater on my counter. Plus, the shiny stainless steel body is extremely attractive. There is a very slim instruction book that you will need to glance at in order to be able to set the controls correctly – especially if you are going to use the grill and toaster functions.

I will admit to making a mistake with the first items I cooked. I set the temperature, set the timer, and expected it to operate the same as my other model. I was mistaken. The heat from the bars, especially the top bars, is very fierce when you turn it on and it cooks the top of the food much too quickly. A bit of research informed me that the best place for the oven function is to place the tray on the lower setting, not the middle (the middle is much hotter), pre-heat the oven, and then, as Russell Hobbs point out in the instructions, you may (you will) need to reduce the temperature and timing a bit. I have found I need to reduce the temperature by 10 degrees at the very least, and cooking time is oven closer on 25 minutes rather than 30+ minutes.

One important thing here is that by being able to use a slightly lower temperature setting and needing less time to cook means less energy being used and a subsequent saving on electricity bills. I had already proved that a counter-top oven uses much less electricity than a standard oven and so I am looking forward to a further reduction in bills using this oven.

Pre-heating – the instructions say to pre-heat for 10 minutes but there is actually no way to determine how long is best. Some Amazon reviews suggest 2-3 minutes to be sufficient. There is a light on the front of the unit but this does not go off at all, it remains on to let you know that the unit is plugged into the wall, receiving electricity, and is operational. As with all new and different appliances, I am assuming that a bit of guesswork and experimentation is needed. The large glass door is a great help and the door folds down easily onto the counter for you to inspect the food. Obviously, if it seems to be cooking too quickly on the top, then lower the temperature a bit and also check food regularly to ensure it is not over-cooking because this little oven really does pack a punch when it comes to heating. Express cooking it definitely is when compared with my older model.

There are two heating elements on the top and on the bottom – the top ones do seem to give off the stronger heat. When the interior of the oven reaches the desired full temperature, the bars do go off and so no more electricity is being consumed for heating, and they come back on again when the temperature inside drops a little. Again, this is good energy-saving.

Although this model is taking a little time to get used to, what with some pre-heating, checking if the temperature needs to be reduced, checking the food doesn’t overcook, the more I use it, the easier it gets – and that is the same with all things.

On a negative side – sometimes the front left side rattles during cooking. It isn’t a loose section, it isn’t a loose door, there are no loose screws. The rattle is annoying but oddly goes away as quickly as it appears, so I have no idea what that might be. As a result of this I have given 4 stars and not 5.

All in all, I am pleased with this oven. It looks good on the counter, it is a nice shape, it has a good exterior body, it is lightweight – but it does get very, very hot so ensure you don’t have children too close to it and take care if you need to go close to the sides. On the plus side, the handle to the door never seems to get hot at all. I can certainly see why Amazon’s user reviewers like this and I can certainly see why it is rated so highly in so many professional reviews. Would I buy another in the future if it was needed? Definitely.

To conclude, there is an extra year added to the guarantee if you register online when you purchase.

 

I like how easy this oven is to clean, and it does the job. Grilling is wonderful but I have one gripe. The shelf that food is put on to grill has too wide wires and food drops through on to the catching tray. I have got around this by using tin foil on top of the shelf. It would be nice if the wire rails were much closer together, a crisis cross of wires would be even better. That way food wouldn’t fall through and there would be no need for tin foil. It’s early days for me and the mini oven. I have yet to gauge the right temperature setting for cooking ready meals that are frozen. I put an Oakhouse ready meal in it on the advised temperature of 200C and the tray melted. It never did that in my gas oven at my old place. I have only had this oven a matter of days but so far I am happy with its performance. BUT, I am keeping an open mind about temperature settings. This oven cooks everything fast so you have to gauge the temperature and watch your food closely, until you are used to it.

 

Heats up quickly, temperatures seam to be greater than dial setting,toasting very good,after a little more use learning it’s foiables it’s got to be a good purchase.

 

This oven is a life-saver. Our kitchen is being renewed and we needed something portable and infinitely variable. It’s great for all sorts of dishes. It cooks a large chicken beautifully as well as pizzas and all sorts of dishes you could think of. Best money we ever spent.

 

Very satisfied with the purchase. It heats up very fast and it actually holds up meaning food doesn’t get undercooked or anything. I’d recommend it.

 

Don’t need a full sized cooker and this does the job perfectly. Cooks things like pizza, quiche, plant based foods, toast etc very well – I’m not a meat eater so can’t comment on carcasses. Bargain.