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Note: This review is lengthy, for folks wanting to jump to the conclusion here it is: This toaster oven is amazing. At it’s price point ($50) it falls into the “absolute no-brainer” category. The performance, quality and ease of using it are hands down 5-stars across the board and you’ll feel that way within a day of having it.
Our poor 10 year old Black and Decker Walmart-special toaster oven recently had the door break on it (the spring pulled out so it would no longer shut on it’s own to cook). After so much time with this ratty looking toaster oven I really wish it had died a better death and blown up in a flash of smoke, but instead it hobbled itself and just wasn’t useful anymore.
Hunting around Amazon toaster ovens there was one oven that kept popping up, the Panasonic NB-G100P-S Flash Express 1300 Watt Infrared Toaster Oven. Are you serious with that name? I was originally gunning for a Kitchen Aid or Corsair toaster oven as big names in the kitchen… but this ugly little toaster oven intrigued me, so I started to do my thing and dig in.
The first thing to notice about this toaster oven is that it’s square, not rectangular. This ended up working better for a lot of folks for two reasons:
- Takes up less counter space
- Easier to cook square or round items like a mini pizza
I read in one review that this toaster oven had “two selves”, but I’ve not seen this anywhere. In fact, I believe due to the infrared nature of the toaster oven having two shelves inside of it would be impossible. As it seems to me, the reason the oven is square is so it can be taller and offer more clearance to the infrared bulbs at the top and bottom to cook with and not destroy your food.
After getting the oven, I unpacked it, noticed how light it was and stuck it on the counter… hmm, a little ugly, but at least it sort of matched our Jura-Capresso Impressa S9 Avantgarde since it was silver as well.
The first thing we decided to make was a piece of buttered toast. Unfortunately the only toast we had was from the freezer because we had just finished the last of the toast that morning… oddly enough the toaster has both Toast and Frozen Toast buttons on it. So we threw in a frozen heal and hit the Frozen Toast button and sat back and started watching it.
First thing to notice is that because the oven uses infrared to cook, cooking time is about 25% or more shorter than normal. Also there is no visible light put off by the elements, so the toaster incrementally lights it’s halogen bulb inside to show you how the food is looking. The light inside is very bright and makes watching your food a cinch. We noticed that our toast started to brown very quickly and evenly. That was something we weren’t expecting but was a welcome surprise… I don’t know if it’s the use of infrared or the orientation of the elements, but this oven cooks so evenly across any kind of food you want to prepare.
Needless to say the toast was delicious. We tried it a few more times and as I mentioned, besides the cooking time being noticeably shorter and food beginning to cook immediately, the quality of the cook and evenness of the heating was fantastic.
We’ve had the oven for a few weeks now and I’ve made the following items in it:
- Toast (wonderful)
- Microwave mini pizza
- Reheated Pizza Hut deep-dish pizza (fantastic)
- Cookies (Surprisingly how evenly they cook. Even thick cookies didn’t burn the outside while the inside was cooked perfect)
- Frozen Chicken Strips
- Hot Dogs (amazing)
The last, Hot Dogs, I made yesterday and the taste was on par if not better than a grilled hot dog. I prefer making them in the oven now because I don’t have to watch them or turn them. I just hit the venerable Pizza button on the front, which translates to 12.5 minutes of cook time and walk away until the oven beeps. The hot dogs (Nathans) were plump, sweaty and juicy.
I can’t really recommend this oven enough. Even if you have a working toaster oven, as long as it wasn’t too expensive, I would even suggest you donate it and get yourself this oven. I normally don’t get so rabid about appliances as they all have their obvious down sides, but so far, besides the industrial look of this oven, I haven’t found it. The amount of effort it takes me to use the device and accuracy with which it performances is such a nice surprise. None of this “walk by every 2 mins to see if your bread is burned yet” business. Just hit a button and wait for the thing to beep when it’s done.
I would encourage anyone interested to read through the reviews on Amazon to see that most people mirror these same impressions if you are interested.
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June 24th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Do you wrap the hotdogs in foil to prevent splatter? I tried to cook a porkchop and the grease splatter was pretty tough to scrub out.
June 24th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Oddly enough no, nothing I’ve cooked in there splattered… it might have to do with the heat, I’m just hitting the “Frozen Pizza” button, I’m not actually setting the oven to 425 or anything like that.
I made 4 hamburgers recently (really oily patties) and they didn’t splatter either because the oil sort of collected on the tin foil that I use to line the pan and just as it was going to start spattering, the hamburgers were lightly browned and done, so I took them out.
I’ve made the hamburgers both with “Frozen Pizza” and using the Temp control and setting it to 395 for about 18 mins. (The hamburgers took longer to cool than I thought… Chicken breasts, especially big ones take longer as well).
July 13th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Hi,
Where did you find this toaster for fifty bucks? Thanks.
Bill
July 14th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Yeah, I’m finding it but only for $100-plus.
July 16th, 2007 at 7:21 am
Guys,
That was a brain fart on my part, I paid $69 for it at Amazon when I ordered it… I have no idea where I got $50 from, sorry about that.
$100 seems a bit steep, but I would still pay $70-ish for it.
If you sign up for the Amazon Credit card you’ll get $30 off
August 7th, 2007 at 8:55 am
I just received one of these for my B-Day. Boy do I love it. I had a Cuisinart bought a year ago for $90. and it was actually dangerous – slide controls on counter would have it start up when hitting it without knowing, and toast was awful! This is a great product.
August 7th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Doreen,
Thanks for posting your impressions.
Out of curiosity have you baked in this yet? I was impressed how even everything came out (cookies in my case).
October 24th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I did bake successfully with it but the top clearance is an issue. The chicken Kiev recipe worked great, reducing the cooking time a bit for the speed of the oven. A recipe in a loaf pan had top-singeing-issues, but possibly controllable had I covered it with foil at the beginning for a while.
October 24th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Prose,
Thanks for following up. I don’t know what you mean about the clearence.
I *love* how evenly the thing bakes. We make cookies in it and it works out great.
Also the Frozen Pizza button has turned out to be surprisingly helpful for either heating frozen pizza or just reheating some refrigerated pizza and giving it a nice browned crust.
I’d definitely buy this thing again.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Hi:
Is this toaster oven still available anywhere; it seems all websites & locations indicate it is out of stock.
A couple of places say it is backordered.
Thanks
Sandeep
January 17th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Sandeep you are right… I just went scouring a few places online and the oven has officially been discontinued (http://www.portlandfood.org/index.php?showtopic=6331)
I’m trying to figure out why though…
so I dug around Panasonic’s site, and I can find the *support* page for the toaster oven under Kitchen Appliances, but the Shop/Buy page for new products lists no such product under Kitchen Appliances… it’s like Panasonic made one of the coolest toasters, I guess didn’t sell enough, and just got out of the market.
In my searching I did see that Black and Decker had a Infrared oven out there… I have to imagine it will be the next fad, it’s pretty slick.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I WAS wondering if any other place got it.We had one and my hubby just love that tiny oven.Somebody gave it to us and was already used but wow! it was perfect.I wish we could find it somewhere else as I have been searching for it all night long, and everywhere is ot of stock Or unavailable.Please is anybody find it LET me KNOW !!!
July 4th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
We have this toaster and it is awesome. We’ve had people stay over and ask us where we got it. We wanted to buy it for someone recently & realized it is no longer available. WHAT THE HECK?!! Panasonic makes the best toaster oven around and stops selling it? Please bring it back.
July 5th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Nate,
I think you and I got really damn lucky. I have no idea why Panasonic discontinued this toaster either. I also don’t know of a competator infrared toaster that is as good, I haven’t really been keeping track.
In general I’m a little surprised how little I see them at Kitchen Appliance stores, it still seems like you have to hunt for them.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I’ve had my toaster for 2 years and I love, love, love it!! I bought one for my sister and she said it’s the best toaster oven she’s ever used. I bake mini meatloaves in it and they come out perfect every time. I’ve put cookies and a cake to bake too. PERFECT!! I put a frozen 1″ steak in and it was done in 18 minutes, perfect med. rare. When my toaster over at my job broke, I went to buy one for
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Don’t know what happened to the Anonymous above, but when I went to buy one for my office, it wasn’t available. So, I bought the Black and Decker infrared oven. Nothing like the Panasonic. I am disappointed that Panasonic stopped making the oven. Please bring it back. It’s the best toaster oven EVER!!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Stephanae,
I agree… it seems to be a total mystery why they discontinued it, it was one of the highest rated toasters on Amazon, everyone that has one loves it, and now none of us can find it anymore.
How is the Black and Decker out of curiosity? Decent?
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:59 am
I have both the nbg100 and the B&D Infra-Wave. I first bought the Panasonic. It is controllable like an orchestra. It seems to think. So I bragged about it to others, and then summer 07 my cousin wanted to get one. So I checked to find it, and as you know it was already unavailable by then. Before I would give advice on a substitute brand, I wanted to check it out myself. So I purchased the B&D. It is larger and much less sensitive than the Panasonic. But it was infrared. So I recommended the B&D to my cousin. She bought it, and the result was that they were very excited and pleased. They were unable to compare or experience the Panasonic, so they didn’t know any better.
Now my daughter wants to replace her old toaster oven and wants my advice. Well, she ain’t gettin’ my Panasonic, that’s for sure. So I will most likely recommend (and maybe buy for them) the B&D. It is good, gets hot instantly, can be programmed to deliver lightly tanned toast that I like, but it is more like a bull in a china shop. You have to watch what is going on in there while it is cooking. The heat is so intense that toast can turn from untoasted to burned in less than a minute after it starts browning. So today I came across this website while hoping to find the Panasonic back in stock. To be certain of what I would say in this message, I decided to toast some bread for a sandwich. Playing with the B&D controls, I set the toast on 2 minutes. It completed the task and the bread had just barely started to tan. So I set for 1 more minute. Well the tanning process went very quickly, so I had to stop the power before 1 minute had gone by. I could see it changing color while I was watching, and I knew that if I waited for the minute to conclude that I would end up with blackened toast. So that is what I mean about watching the process.
Back to the Panasonic, I can just set it and walk away and come back when the bell rings, and there is my toast exactly light tan as I want it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 am
Mike thank you for the in-depth review, you are exactly right… the Panasonic’s pre-set timers seem to be *Exactly* right… I let things toast and then get around to them when I need the toast without worry as opposed to sitting there watching what’s in it to see if it’s on fire yet.
October 18th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’m still looking for another Panasonic NB-G100P. I have one that I purchased 4 years ago from BrandsMart. Paid $88.00 for it. After using it I was amazed at the great job it did in all settings. So, I bought another one to give as a gift. The recipient loved it as well. It made such a welcome gift that I decided to buy another one to give as another gift. Went back to BrandsMart (about a year and a half ago) and found out that they no longer carried it. But the biggest surprise was when the appliance manager told me that 3 weeks before they had a clearance sale and sold the remainder of their stock at $44.00 each. What a buy! But, I was unaware of the close-out so I wasn’t able to purchase another one.
So, I’m still looking on the internet to buy another one for myself, as the time on the one I have intermittently turns off by itself. All indications are that it might be failing. As we all know, nothing lasts forever! I’m hopeful that I will get one somewhere at a high price to keep in reserve. But, it’s worth it at any price considering the excellent job it did in all manner of cooking.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Richard,
Do you happen to know why these things were recalled? I think all of us that have them love them and so far none of us have any idea why Panasonic pulled the plug on these awesome toaster ovens.
I’m also not aware of a comparable one out there, even from a competitor… it’s sort of depressing. I hope my lamp or oven never go out.
Also have you called Panasonic and see if they will take it in for a repair? They might still have some laying around for replacement parts.
October 20th, 2008 at 7:07 am
No, I do not know why Panasonic stopped making the unit. Perhaps it would be a good idea for present owners to contact Panasonic and let them know that there certainly is a market for their toaster oven, as nothing out there comes close to what they had stopped manufacturing. Phone calls and emails to their marketing department could help.
I do believe that there are repair shops that advertise the repair of that unit.
November 27th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I am so bummed to find out this has been discontinued. We got one right when they came out because I thought the tech was cool. Turned out to be the best toaster oven we’d ever used. Even at the $100 we paid for it, it was totally worth it. Now I find out its price was cut in half over the years (yay!) only to then discover it’s been discontinued (boo!).
We were gonna get one for my mom for Christmas. This totally blows.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I have one and it’s the best toaster oven I’ve owned ever. Now I find it discontinued. It seems that quality products just don’t survive in a market dominated by cheap Chinese imports. I would love to buy another one in case mine breaks!
September 24th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
These are the best damn toasters period. We have had 2 over the last 8, yes 8 years, and now they are discontinued, and they probably shot the designer. The math is simple – buy one of these for $100 and have it for three years or better, or buy some cheap POS EVERY year for $49.00, and be constantly annoyed by it.
Probably some finance or manufacturing weenie said – “Hey – these are way too good for the great unwashed public ! Now we have to kill it..”
Nice going Panasonic !
September 24th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Josh, you are so right “These are the best damn toasters period.”
Mine is still holding up, except that the power button turns off intermittently during toasting. Wonder why some other manufacturer use the same technology and produce a toaster oven equal to the Panasonic model.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Josh it sure seems that way, everyone that has met this toaster loves it — I still love mine and had it for years now. If that IR tube ever goes out in it, I’m going to cry.
October 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 am
The B & D also appears to be discontinued – cannot get anything on their web site. B & D recalled a toaster having the same technology..
October 5th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Damn, good find Mike. Now I’m starting to get very nervous — why would two big manufacturers recall acclaimed appliances and kill the product line? I also find it odd that I don’t see the market place flooded by these things from other manufacturers either.
My guess is that it will either open a black hole in your house, gives you cancer, or some IP-trolling company is walking around suing everyone because they held a patent on IR-based cooking… which I imagine could only be GE since they offer that tri-heat convection oven and microwave.
If anyone can find another manufacturer that makes one of those tri-heat ovens or microwaves, then that debunks my IP-trolling company idea atleast… which only leaves cancer and black holes… neither of which I’m happy about