Black and Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven Review 2023

While testing the best toaster ovens, I was impressed by the reliability and functionality of the Black+Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven, especially given its affordable price. Here’s why I believe it’s the best budget-friendly model available.

These days, many of the best toaster ovens are designed to function as a miniature oven, capable of everything from toasting and baking to air frying and dehydrating—and their cost reflects that. But what if you just want a toaster oven that covers the basics? Or you don’t want to spend the equivalent of a smartwatch on a countertop appliance? After rigorously testing eight top-rated models, I believe the Black+Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven is the best budget-friendly model you can buy. With a large capacity, easy-to-use controls and convection heating—all for just under $90—its value is unmatched.

Black+Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven is a fantastic budget-friendly pick.

While cooking with the Black+Decker toaster oven over the span of multiple weeks, the appliance produced reliable results across the board. Equipped with convenient presets for frozen snacks, bagels and more, this 1,500-watt oven has the range: It can toast bread, reheat leftovers and bake cookies. It’s also large enough to fit a 10-inch frozen pizza and a small chicken, making this model well suited to families. While it might not be able to do everything that its fancier counterparts can, its no-frills build has its perks—notably, the controls are clear and intuitive, making it a breeze to use. Ahead, here’s why I recommend the model as the best bang-for-your-buck buy.

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Dimensions: 14 x 23 x 16 inches | Bread capacity: Six slices | Convection: Yes | Wattage: 1,500 watts | Warranty: 2-year limited warranty

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As a busy working mom, I’ve long relied on a toaster oven to help me get meals on the table—and fast. Whether I’m trying to defrost frozen fish sticks or crisp up frozen tenders, a quality model can get the job done in less time than it takes to preheat a whole oven. During the weeks that I tested the Black+Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven, the affordable model stood out for its reliability and unmatched value. The oven comes with four main functions—toast, bake, bagel and broil—which, as a longtime toaster oven user, I believe to be the most essential settings a model can offer. It also has a generous capacity: The roomy interior is large enough to fit a frozen pizza, half a dozen cookies and even a full rotisserie chicken. While it does have some hot spots (like most toaster ovens), once you get a sense of where the heat is most concentrated, it’s easy to place items accordingly.

Overall, I found the Black+Decker to be a trustworthy model that would please any home cook that doesn’t need a souped-up model with tons of bells and whistles. Busy families in particular are sure to get great mileage from the machine, which not only does a fine job cooking basics like frozen pizza and chicken but also works great for reheating leftovers.

One function that makes the Black+Decker stand out from many budget models is its convection setting. Turned on with the press of a button, this function activates a fan that circulates air around the food, resulting in fast and even cooking. (Air fryers rely on a similar mechanism.) In particular, I found the convection setting useful for reheating leftovers. When I used the oven to warm up a soggy, cold cake doughnut, it expertly toasted up the exterior and warmed through the interior. I also tried out the setting with a day-old rotisserie chicken and I was thoroughly impressed: It took the toaster oven just 5 minutes to reheat the whole bird and crisp up the skin.

These days, most premium toaster ovens feature fully digital control panels, which look sleek but take some time to get the hang of. Many budget models, on the other hand, have manual dials that are easy to use but lack precision. And then there’s the Black+Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven, which has an intuitive interface that’s half manual, half digital, offering the best of both worlds. The main functionalities are grouped together as buttons at the bottom of the panel, while more specific presets—such as cookies, pizza and potato—are placed together near the top for added convenience. The digital display shows the cook time and temperature. (Another thing I appreciated: The baking temperature jumps up 5 degrees at a time, and the time increases in 1-minute increments, so you have plenty of control and flexibility, which is not always the case with fully manual toaster ovens.)

Once the full cooking time has elapsed, the machine alerts you with a series of beeps. If it looks like the item requires more cooking, you can simply select the same function again and it defaults to the previously set temperature and time, which I found to be a much-appreciated timesaver.

In my test of eight toaster ovens, the Black+Decker stood out for its strong performance and budget-friendly price. At just under $90 dollars, it was one of the cheapest models on the list. Compared to the aforementioned model, the Black+Decker yielded far more reliable results during the cooking tests, especially when it came to the basic task of toasting bread.

Enhancing its overall appeal, the appliance’s versatility is closer to that of higher-end models, like the overall winner, the Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven, thanks to a digital time and temperature control, which many budget models don’t feature. Where the appliance leaves something to be desired is in its design. Because there’s no interior light, it can be hard to track the progress of a dish. The buttons, although intuitive, are made of a flimsy plastic (Black+Decker calls them one-touch, though I found myself having to hit them twice or making an effort to press down hard). Finally, the door doesn’t have a catch and slams onto the countertop, an issue I recall having with a Black+Decker toaster oven I previously owned. I eventually found a solution to this annoying but not deal-breaking problem: Place a pot holder in front of the toaster oven so the door handle has a soft place to land.

To get an idea of the functionality and capabilities of the Black+Decker Countertop Convection Toaster Oven, I challenged it to a variety of cooking tests. First, I toasted bread, noting how efficiently and consistently the appliance browned a single slice of bread, as well as a full rack. Next, I baked chocolate chip cookies, observing how many the included baking tray could fit, how long it took for the toaster oven to preheat and the resulting texture of the cookie itself. Finally, I cooked a frozen 10-inch pizza and examined how evenly the crust crisped up, while also melting the cheese.

I also turned to the Black+Decker multiple times in place of my oven to see how it could handle other tasks. To see how it reheats, I warmed a rotisserie chicken using the bake function with the convection heating turned on; on another occasion, I used the same setting to cook frozen spring rolls from Trader Joe’s as a crispiness test (it passed). Finally, I baked a full 8-inch cake, taking note of the color and evenness of the baking. Throughout testing, I also took into consideration the machine’s ease of use and cleaning, design and value.

In my decade-plus as a food writer and editor, I’ve spent a lot of time researching and cooking with different products and appliances. I have written for Forbes Vetted since August 2022, helping readers find everything from the best pizza-making tools to the best Japanese knives, so I understand the brand’s criteria for recommending products. I also write a monthly column called Under the Radar, where I interview founders in the food and home space.

As a mom of a 4 year old, my toaster oven has become my daily go-to tool for toasting and reheating; in other words, I’m quite familiar with its versatility and culinary potential. To complement my own knowledge and testing, I tapped into my network of experts and spoke with chef Evan Kleiman, host of the “Good Food” radio show; registered dietitian Sally Kuzemchak of Real Mom Nutrition; and Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore, who developed recipes for Toaster Oven Takeover: Easy and Delicious Recipes to Make in Your Toaster Oven.