Expensive, attractive, and effective

I recently bought a KitchenAid KCO1005OB. It works as advertised, and I have no real complaints. It's not amazing, but performance is good and I'm happy.

We chose the KitchenAid KCO1005OB for a couple of reasons. First we like this type of large, multi-function toaster oven. Second, it looks great - we have had KitchenAid Architect Series appliances in the past and always liked the look. Finally, it feels sturdy and solid, which, given the short life of our last toaster, was of particular importance.

I had to replace my last toaster oven when it simply stopped working one day. We immediately went shopping, found a decent price on the KitchenAid, and brought it home. It was similar in size and function to the KitchenAid KCO1005OB, with an adjustable rack, multiple cooking modes, and a timer-based cooking (rather than the thermostat-based systems used in most upright toasters and some toaster ovens).

Performance is good. If you are used to a vertical slice toaster, it will seem slow to make toast, but it's pretty good for a large toaster oven, which has to heat a much larger space. For baking and broiling, performance is excellent. We do everything from reheat pizza to make small batches of muffins, with good results. It is especially good at maintaining low temperatures to keep things warm (there is a separate setting for this). The oven space is nice and big. Controls are large, easy to use and easy to read. The rack adjusts to four different positions. There is a crumb tray at the bottom that slides out for easy cleaning.

Perhaps my one complaint is that the rack has a tendency to slide out when it is pulled out more than halfway. The Teflon interior of the oven makes it easy to clean, but also eliminates the friction that would otherwise keep the rack in place. I would also have liked a convection feature, especially at this price.

Overall, I am happy with the KitchenAid KCO1005OB, and hopeful that it will be durable enough to justify the price.