In the first few days I cooked toast, frozen waffles, and tacos. and used it to air fry french fries from scratch, breaded fish patties for sandwiches, chimichangas, and hard-boiled eggs. I had no previous experience with air frying, and I cannot believe how easy this to use, and how easy it is to clean. I keep a sheet of foil on the bottom of the pan, which helps to keep the pan clean, and most often even the foil wipes clean, and is good for many uses. Do not put foil or anything on the crumb tray though.
It did take me 3 tries to get my toast the way I like, but it was easy to adjust the settings to make it right for me. It makes great toast, and everything else has cooked great on my first attempt. It is a powerful convection toaster oven, and air fryer with many options to choose from.
Please read the manual! The Manual is very good, and you can also download it from the Cuisinart website. Like any new appliance, it takes several times of using the dials and buttons, before it starts to feel normal, and you understand how they all work. Then you can adjust settings to your liking with ease.
This is a big improvement from the Breville Smart Oven that I bought. The fan in it went out after 7 years. It was one of the best toaster ovens available when I bought it, but after 7 years of newer technology, it had nowhere near the cooking potential, or quality of this Cuisinart.
I don't know why this was so hard to find, as it is not in any of our local stores. Shame on them. However, the box is quite large, and would require a lot of shelf space. I am very happy to have this in my kitchen. It is a very good cooking appliance of high quality. Keeping it clean should make it last for many years.
Why did I wait so long!? I have refused to buy an air fryer because they are all cheap plastic. If found this and was stopped in my tracks. I knew Cuisinart was a reputable brand so I went all in and bought this. I could not be more happy with it! It's the perfect spacious toaster oven / air fryer to make a large costco size frozen pizza. Large enough to make a bag of fries. Fast enough to have food done in five minutes or less. Sturdy enough to not move across my counter when I open the door. There is no movement with this machine. Everything is smooth and perfect! I always use parchment to avoid staining the interior and I have had no issues with that as long as your parchment is trimmed to fit only within the tray. Do not leave excess hanging out. I wouldn't part with this thing if someone paid me $1000. I love it! Finally someone made a REAL AIR FRYER!! Did I mention it dehydrates? Make your own dog treats and dehydrated foods! This thing is a DREAM
This is a great product. Now that we have a good air fryer, we are using it all of the time!! All of our kitchen small appliances are Cuisinart, it's a great brand!