KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Oven Review [year]

A Deep Dive Into The KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Oven

KitchenAid has a brilliant reputation for delivering high-quality electrical kitchen appliances all over the world. They are a reputable American company with over 100 years of experience in the trade, making them one of the leaders in their field.

Digital countertop toaster ovens are very convenient to have in your kitchen. They can be used to make a lot more than just toasting bread and baking pizzas. These days countertop ovens can be just as good as the typical built-in ovens found in the kitchen that cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

Regardless of whether your kitchen includes a built-in full-sized oven or not, there will most certainly come a time where you will need a countertop oven, too. They can solve common oven overcrowding issues when cooking for many dinner guests. Reheat food in a way that keeps its texture and tastes fresh.

This appliance can be used instead of a microwave. Not to mention it is a great back-up during kitchen refurbishments or if something goes wrong with your large oven.

If you are contemplating buying a countertop toaster oven for any of the above reasons then the KitchenAid KCO275SS is a reliable and multifunctional toaster oven to consider. It has had plenty of great publicity, but does it live up to the mark? That is what we are going to find out.

In this review, we will dive into the specifications of the KitchenAid KCO275SS countertop toaster oven and discover all there is to know about the product. We are going to take an in-depth look at its features. Identify what kind of customer it is best suited. What we like and dislike about the product and highlight this product’s pros and cons. By the end of this review, you will be an expert with a clear idea in your mind whether it is suitable for your needs or not.

About the KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Toaster Oven

KitchenAid was founded in 1919 by the Hobart Manufacturing Company and they now manufacture almost everything you could possibly need to kit out your kitchen. Their first manufactured product was the H-5 sand mixer and the rest is history.

The KitchenAid KCO275SS countertop toaster oven is a relatively new model on the market, available for purchase since 2015. KitchenAid offers many countertop oven models to choose from today, including the KCO275SS toaster oven (that we will be looking at in this review), the KCO255BM dual countertop convection oven as well as the KCO211BM toaster oven and more. All of the KitchenAid toaster ovens can be used as you would a full-sized oven.

The KCO275SS toaster oven provides nine cooking functions to choose from allowing you to find settings that will suit your every cooking need. This toaster oven bakes, broils, toasts, warms and reheats your food. It will bake bagels, pizzas, cookies, roast dinners, and conveniently cook frozen foods. That sounds like more than enough to me!

Because it is so compact, cleaning the KitchenAid KCO275SS toaster oven is really easy and takes a lot less time than cleaning a conventional oven. It is designed to be used in small apartments that do not have enough room for a conventional oven, in campervans, or use it as a portable oven option.

Who Will Want the KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Toaster Oven?

The KitchenAid KCO275SS toaster oven is great for people that do not have the kitchen space for a full-sized oven in their homes. It can also be used as an extra cooking option for when you have a lot of food to cook and not enough oven space for the needed quantities.

You can use this as a portable cooking option for when you go on trips to places that may not offer all the cooking facilities you need. The toaster oven is very easy to use and comes with clear instructions. There are two knobs on the front of the oven, one for choosing the oven setting and the other for setting a timer.

The oven settings are clearly displayed on the knob, and with each turn, the setting can be changed. There are three buttons on the right-hand side of the oven: ‘start’, ‘cancel’, and ‘frozen’ all of which are self-explanatory. As you can see, it is really easy for anyone to use the oven.

For such a long-lasting product, the price is pretty much spot on. This is a product that is not considered ‘cheap’ in any way, for what it does, it may appear to be a little underpriced.

It is significantly cheaper than buying a large oven, and the fact that you can reheat food and make things from scratch does save you from needing both an oven and a microwave. This is an extremely appropriate item for people living in small spaces or those of you that don’t want to throw money on both a microwave and countertop oven.

What We Like About the KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Toaster Oven

Firstly, the toaster oven is really attractive and fits in with any kitchen style. It is sleek and black and has a very streamlined shape so that it doesn’t stand out physically or aesthetically in your kitchen.

Baking and cooking smaller foods like cupcakes and small roast dinners are easy with this KitchenAid toaster oven as cooking time will not take any longer than usual. The food cooks evenly. You will not find your food burnt on the outside while raw on the inside, which is a common issue found with many countertop toaster ovens.

There is only one dial for the cooking settings so you don’t need to fuss about trying to work out the right setting for what you are making as it is all clearly labeled there for your convenience. The ‘start’ and ‘stop’ buttons are clearly labeled and within one or two pushes of a button you can turn the oven on and off.

All of the individual features work really well. We especially like the ‘keep warm’ feature to keep your dish warm until you are ready to serve. This is really helpful during dinner parties and family gatherings freeing up to be able to spend more of your precious time with the guests instead of running back and forth from the kitchen heating individual dishes in the microwave.

There is no need to purchase new baking trays, the KitchenAid toaster oven is big enough for regular baking trays and can cook a lot of food in one go. Gone are the days where you have to cook everything separately in a countertop toaster oven taking all day to make just one meal.

The temperature is accurate. The oven doesn’t overheat and automatically turns itself off. Once you have finished cooking the non-stick interior is really easy to clean. Vigorous scrubbing isn’t necessary so the interior won’t get scratched or lose its color for a long time.

If the toasting feature is very important to you, then you would be pleased to know that it gives an even, crisp toast all over the bread. The same goes for making pizzas and lasagnas in the oven. It evenly cooks and gets the food nice and crispy in all the right places.

There are absolutely no problems with using a 12-inch baking pan in the oven. It can be stored in the oven when not in use and is great for traveling as you don’t need to remove any of your regular kitchen cooking appliances.

What We Don’t Like About the KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Toaster Oven

Although the oven is very easy to clean, we notice that the door hinge is designed in such a way that it collects crumbs in the very hard to reach places. To remove these crumbs you will need to either vacuum them or use a very small brush to remove the crumbs.

Another design nuisance is that the rack doesn’t pull out. That can make life a little difficult when you are trying to remove cooked food from the back of the oven. The oven is a great size for a portable electric oven, but it is very inconvenient if you are not able to easily remove any food situated near the back of the oven.

While the oven does feature heating at high temperatures and claims to be able to cook just as well as a full-sized oven, that isn’t really the case. Setting the oven to 350 degrees doesn’t necessarily mean that once it reaches that temperature it will be able to maintain it. The oven fluctuates and struggles to stay at a constant temperature during long cooking times.

There is a buzzer that goes off when you set a preheat temperature. On closer examination, the oven has buzzed to indicate it has reached 350 degrees when it has only preheated to about 200 degrees. In order to reach a temperature of 350 degrees, you would need to preheat the oven to 425 degrees. This means you are dealing with a massive temperature par between what the oven indicates and the real temperature of the oven at the moment.

The top and sides of the oven get much hotter than the middle of the oven. You can feel the metal getting very hot during cooking times. When you are making something that takes a while to cook, this isn’t too much of an issue, but for things like toasts and pizzas, it can leave you with dishes that are unevenly baked.

Over time the toaster ovens performance deteriorates when toasting bread and baking, as does the accuracy of the temperature settings. This is experienced more pronouncedly when the oven is used on a daily basis over a long period of time. If the oven is kept for occasional use only, then it will remain accurate and reliable for the long term.

What Comes With the KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Toaster Oven?

The KCO275SS countertop toaster oven comes with a baking pan that is 12 inches in size, saving you time and money getting a tray that is perfect for the oven. The pan can also be used in a full-sized oven and is made of durable, non-stick, long-lasting material.

There is a built-in grill rack in the oven that allows you to use the oven for toasting and grilling. The grill is suitable for grilling fish, meat, and other heat specific food items.

In addition to the grill rack, the toaster oven comes with a metal cooling rack. Use the cooling rack to let things like chicken and beef rest after cooking.

This toaster oven wouldn’t be half as easy to clean if it wasn’t for the removable drip and crumb tray. When fats drip onto the bottom of the oven and go unnoticed they can burn and cause an awful smell in the oven, let alone be a nightmare to clean. Having a removable tray prevents that. This convenient feature allows you to maintain the oven so it performs far longer than other models that lack this feature, without needing to scrub the oven on a daily basis.

The oven is made out of stainless steel which assures its longevity as it will be exposed to moist conditions and various liquids.

The purchase of this product includes a 1-year hassle-free replacement warranty. Of course, you would hope nothing would happen to an item such as this one for well over a year, yet it is still good to have this insurance on hand.

KitchenAid KCO275SS Countertop Toaster Oven Features Overview

With nine cooking options that you can choose from you can have the right settings for the appropriate dishes. This saves a lot of confusion and for when you come to make something new or you are simply in a rush.

Portability would be a great convenience, however, this product weighs almost 20 pounds. So moving it around the kitchen can be difficult. Finding a permanent dedicated and convenient location on the kitchen counter so you can refrain from moving it about unless absolutely vital. Its weight could also hinder your ability to take it easily from place to place if you want to use it on the go.

A 12-inch cooking capacity means you can cook two 12 inch pizzas, six slices of toast, a small roast chicken and plenty more. This is plenty of cooking room for a household of two or three people, or as an extra cooking appliance for a larger family that requires more than one oven as part of their available cooking appliances.

Interior CremaShield coating on the inside of the oven is PTFE and PTFO-free as well as being completely non-stick. Doing a deep clean of the oven is far easier with the CremaShield coating and also prevents the interior from becoming dull and full of scratches.

You can set a timer anywhere between 0 to 120 minutes with this model which accommodates most cooking times.

Review Summary

Overall, the KitchenAid KCO275SS countertop toaster oven is a great buy. You can rely on it to cook meals perfectly at high standards that are compatible with full-sized gourmet ovens.

Yes, the oven doesn’t heat up as much as a full-sized oven does, nor does it stay at a constant temperature during longer cooking times, but you can rely on the food being cooked well once it is ready. This self-explanatory oven is simple to use and effective would be a great addition to any kitchen.

Buyers Guide FAQs

Q) Can the oven be kept safely on a wooden countertop?
A) There is a 1 ⅛ inch gap between the countertop and the oven. The countertop will heat up if the oven is on for a long time, so I would suggest placing the oven on a glass cutting board instead of directly onto the wooden counter.

Q) How safe is the CremaShield coating on the inside of the oven?
A) CremaShield has been used for years to coat the inside of cooking appliances and is considered 100% safe and free of toxins.

Q) Is the non-stick pan and the drip tray coated in CremaShield too?
A) No, they have a Teflon coating on them. If this concerns you in any way, put aluminum foil on the trays to prevent any direct contact with the food.

Q) Can you purchase a second rack separately?
A) Only sometimes, the additional items that come with the oven are not always sold separately.

Q) Does the oven automatically shut itself off once the timer goes off?
A) No, the timer is a reminder for you to check on the food and to turn the oven off if what you have made is ready to serve.