Quest 35409 Compact 9L Mini Oven/Temperature Controlled

 

This is an essential item for anyone in their 20s cooking food for one on a regular basis. I probably use it 3 or 4 times a week. It’s wonderfully simple.

It’s the perfect size to heat a supermarket quiche, OR some of the components of a larger meal for one e.g. 3 or 4 sausages, hash browns or fish fingers, OR to reheat part of a larger meal cooked days earlier in a normal oven. Some Sundays, I make a puff pastry tart in my normal oven, cut it into 4 slices, put the 3 unconsumed slices in separate takeaway boxes in the fridge, and then reheat a slice a day in this appliance for 10 mins. Because it is basic oven technology with two heating elements, rather than microwave, the puff pastry reheats with the crispiness of the pastry maintained! Unlike a microwave which makes reheated pastry soggy. All this said, I would never attempt to fit a cake tin into this appliance (not least because even if it fit, I am not confident the temp is consistent enough for baking — you really need to bake using a fan oven that evenly and consistently distributes the heat around the oven interior).

I’ve done the maths and it uses approx one third of the energy of a normal oven assuming you would’ve heated the thing for the same amount of time in either appliance. That saves energy so is good for the planet and your wallet. I’ve never paid attention to the temperature dial, always left it on the maximum temp (whatever that is, perhaps 230 celsius although I doubt it truly reaches that temp). You will see, the heating element switches on for a bit, off for a bit, on for a bit, off for a bit — it’s not faulty, this is how it’s supposed to behave, don’t be alarmed. Also a word of warning — there is a nasty slightly smoky factory smell the first time you use it. This smell is gone after 3 or 4 uses though, it was a distant memory after a few months of usage. Here I am 18 months later and it looks almost as good as day one.

Top tip: I am not confident it would ever be possible to clean the heating elements since they are surrounded by perforated metal shields. As such, I never put something like a pizza slice (which could drip melting cheese onto the lower heating element) onto the oven rack insert. Instead, I always put potentially drippy food items onto the solid baking tray insert. This is common sense really!

I also think the simple, understated design deserves some recognition. Good job on creating this highly useful addition to any kitchen! One of the easiest 5 star ratings I have ever given.