Last Updated on July 9, 2023
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post deals with the 2017-2019 Ambiano Toaster Oven. For our review of the 2020 Ambiano Toaster Oven, click here.
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While traditional toasters are perfectly useful appliances, they’re also limited. They do one thing, and that’s really it. But toaster ovens do two different things — bake or toast — and that gives them far more use. I have a toaster oven, and over the years I’ve used it to bake or reheat things that I either 1) didn’t want to mess with putting in the oven or 2) couldn’t put in the oven because the oven was occupied.
I especially like using the toaster oven to reheat leftovers that might come out soggy or limp if microwaved. If you’re careful not to burn it, a slice of pizza can reheat rather nicely in a toaster oven.
Aldi is all about small appliances, which means that yes, the grocer sometimes sells a toaster.
What We Know:
The Ambiano Toaster Oven (model number TO9523H-UL) is an ALDI Find (Special Buy), which means that it’s only in stores for a short time. In the United States, the toaster oven consistently releases in July. At the time of this post, the toaster oven retails for $29.99. (In 2018, the same toaster was $24.99.) There are some budget toasters out there that are less expensive, but most of them run higher.
Aldi has sold the same toaster oven — with the same model number — since 2017. It’s manufactured by Kalorik, a Belgium-based manufacturer of various kitchen appliances and kitchen products. Kalorik’s products are sold in stores like Kohl’s and Walmart. As far as I can tell, Kalorik does not currently sell any toaster ovens under its own label.
In 2018, the oven was backed by a 3-year warranty, serviced by Kalorik. We expect that to be the case again in 2019.
The toaster oven comes with:
- The oven itself
- A wire rack
- A baking tray
- An integrated crumb tray
- A manual
Here are the listed features for the toaster oven:
- Adjustable temperature from 150°–450 °F
- A 0.5-cubic foot interior that fits up to 6 slices of toast
- Toast, broil, and bake functions
- A 60-minute timer
- Protection guards for the heating elements
What We Don’t Know:
At this point, there are a number of things we don’t know about this particular toaster oven. We don’t know how it cooks, or how fast it operates, or how easy it is to clean. We also don’t know much about longevity, although in our experience toaster ovens — even budget ones — usually last a while.
Have any experiences with this toaster oven? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
I want to know what is the temperature to set the Ambiano 1300Watt toaster oven on for the toast?
I’ve had this toaster oven for about a year now. Don’t know why they call them toaster ovens as I’ve never seen one from any manufacturer that made toast worth a darn. They’re also horribly energy efficient for making toast. If you want toast, just buy a pop-up toaster. These are counter-top ovens
Now, about this unit. I bought to use as a small oven. And once again I was disappointed. Everything I cooked burned. Bought a digital thermometer and found out why. The thermostat (rheostat) is very inaccurate. At an oven setting of 200 degrees F. It actually was 265 degrees. I moved the control at 250 and the oven soared to over 400 degrees. With the knob set to 300, the oven was actually at 479. I’m afraid to try it at 400. Things might either catch fire or melt. So the entire useful cooking range of this oven is between settings of 200 and 250 degrees. The only thing I can figure is a cheap rheostat. The rest of the oven looks to be solid and well designed. Quartz rod heaters are the industry standard and quite capable of very accurate temp control. The timer is accurate though I never liked the “turn past and return to desired” timers.
But I’m beginning to see a trend of poor temp control in Aldi cooking appliances.
Its a convection oven that means everything cooks in half the time.
There are actually 2 different ovens, one is a toaster oven, the other a convection oven, which cooks much faster than a standard oven.
I’m using this unit maybe 3 times a week. I like the convience of not heating up my oven and the entire kitchen. Especially in the summer months. The unit itself I’m pleased with however it is very DANGEROUS. The entire unit gets extremely HOT including the knobs. You must be very careful on where you have it on your counter. Never put anything on top of the unit as well while using it. Please PLEASE keep your kids away from this unit while in use and only adults should use this. Not kids. Once off it cools down quickly and clean up is easy. Also if you use aluminum foil please be very careful to have it close to the hot coils. It will start smoking from the foil burning. Trust me when I say this item would never pass the GOOD HOUSE KEEPING SEAL FOR quality and safety.
The ambiano toaster over is a nice product and very efficient. My only disappointment is that it does not come with a crisper tray. Difficult to find one on the market because of the dimensions of the oven. Otherwise I would recommend.