Breville Smart Oven with Element IQ Review

Breville knows what their strength is – and that’s making sure the entire world can enjoy their breakfast, lunch, and dinner as comfortably as possible.

Their Breville Smart Oven with Element IQ is their latest gift to everyone who loves to bake, grill, or just enjoy a basic slice of toast during a hurried breakfast.

Whether you’re in a rush to slather sour cream on your morning bagel or want to pop in a homemade pizza, this Breville smart oven comes with nine different pre-set modes to ensure you can enjoy what you want, when you want it.

Heat is trapped inside thanks to the tempered glass door and the unique heating elements that ensure a perfect spread of heat. Once you’re done cooking, all you need is to wipe it down – and it’s ready to be used again.

While this all sounds great, the devil is in the details and many a good kitchen appliance has been brought to its knees by forgetting to improve on one or two features.

We’ve had word that the warranty isn’t the luxury it claims to be, and the oven may have a general lifespan issue. While this is disappointing news, not all of our testers have encountered these problems.

Is it enough to warrant looking elsewhere? Here we break down all the good and the bad, so you can decide for yourself if the Breville Smart Oven is your next great purchase.

Breville Smart Oven with Element IQ Review: The Details

In a Nutshell

• Weight: 22.5 lbs.
• Dimensions: 18½ x 15¾ x 11 inches.
• Loaf Capacity: 13-inch pizza or six toast slices.
• Settings: Toast, bagel, bake, roast, broil, pizza, cookies, reheat, and warm.
• Timer: Customizable pre-sets available with each setting.
• Stand-Out Feature: Nine settings, auto-eject rack, and warming tray.

Features

Excellent Heat Distribution

The Element IQ is adaptive to your needs and uses five separate heat points to ensure you’re receiving the perfect temperature you need, exactly when you need it.

The machine learns your preferences and stores them for future use, ensuring you’ll always end up with the perfect cheesy pizza and most delicious casseroles.

Back-Lit LCD Screen

In the mornings, we don’t want to put a lot of effort into getting things done; we have a busy day ahead of us and if food could be ready instantly, we’d be that much happier.

While it’s not instantaneous, Breville Smart Oven does have a back-lit LCD screen that makes navigating your breakfast in the early morning hours easier.

Magnetic Auto-Eject Rack

Toasters should eject your toast when ready, we expect no less. It’s part of their style and class, but it also just makes sense.

The automatically ejecting rack makes it less likely you’ll burn your fingers while trying to fish out your toast.

Thanks to its magnetic properties, it’s easy to slide back in without having to try ten times.

Warming Tray

It’s nice to wake up later and have someone else hand you a nice piece of fresh toast. It’s even nicer if that toast is still warm.

Either your family members have impeccable timing, or they’re using the keep-warm mode that’s available in the Breville smart oven.

The best toaster oven lets you have warm goodies no matter what the time – and Breville knows it’s what we all expect.

Nine Distinct Settings

These days, a toaster isn’t just there to heat up a slice of bread. The technology to make your breakfast even better is here, and we’re making full use of it.

With nine distinct settings, you’ll find that bagels can join your morning regimen, while a pizza can be baked to perfection in the evening.

Tempered Glass Door

Heat distribution is a huge part of getting your food done just right. The glass doors of an oven are often a big factor in letting heat escape, resulting in uneven temperatures across your food and ultimately leading to imperfect results.

The tempered glass door of the Breville Smart Oven can withstand high temperatures while still keeping the warmth locked inside, making for superior heat distribution and less heat loss.

Convection Fan

Not many toaster ovens come with a convection feature, but Breville knows how important this is at ensuring your food is heated at an even temperature.

Convection fans also quicken the overall cooking and baking process since your recipe won’t be delayed by any unbaked areas.

Don’t expect this fan to be disruptive like other convection ovens. It’s whisper-quiet so you can have a conversation or attend to other tasks undisturbed (not to mention you’ll actually be able to hear when the timer goes off.)

Breville Smart Oven with Element IQ Review

The Positives

Non-Stick Coating

Cooking is all fun and games – right up until the moment where you’re expected to start cleaning. It seems like every kitchen appliance these days has to be easy to clean, and we can’t say we’re unhappy with this development.

The Breville Smart Oven comes with a non-stick coating that makes tidying up a matter of wetting some cloth and swiping it over the dirty area. Easy, quick, and it leaves plenty of time to tackle other chores!

Customers even found that baked on stains weren’t as hard to get off as in regular ovens, so don’t be afraid to pile that pizza with cheese.

Versatile

There are a ton of kitchen gadgets available and it can be hard to decide which one you need to get. Luckily, any smart oven worth its salt can also perform as a variety of other kitchen appliances.

This smart oven can easily take the place of a traditional oven, while being as easy to use as an old-fashioned toaster.

You won’t be limited to standard toaster oven cooking options either. While it’s great at handling the basics like toasting and re-warming pastries, but you can go ahead and bake tasty treats, or roast some meat while you’re at it.

The Breville Smart Oven isn’t a one-trick item and will surely prove its worth in your kitchen.

Ideal for Smaller Kitchens

Few things can stand in the way of our love for cooking, but a lack of space is sure to bring most of us to a screeching halt.

The versatility of this Breville oven is a big help in reducing our need for space. Another thing is the smaller footprint of this oven.

While not the tiniest of smart ovens, the footprint versus versatility ratio is one of the best we’ve encountered so far.

If you’re short on space in a studio, small apartment, dorm or office, the Breville Smart Oven will allow you to keep your kitchen counter minimal so you don’t feel cluttered.

Speedy Cooking

Perfect for the busy baker or home-cook, the Breville Smart Oven won’t let you down when you’re in a hurry. Thanks to the convection fan and this oven’s overall build, you’ll have your meals ready in no-time.

The oven will let you know once it’s preheated, and it does so quickly, so you can get your recipes in and out of the oven faster. No one likes to wait around forever while their oven heats up.

The Breville Smart Oven also cools down just as quickly as it heats up, making this a safer option to have in your kitchen. It’s easy to forget that a device is hot after it’s turned off.

Customers living in hot environments also appreciated the quick cooling capabilities of this oven, since it allows their kitchen to cool down so much faster than other options.

The Negatives

Not PTFE or PFOA Free

If you’re a stickler for your non-stick coatings, you’re likely paying attention to the ingredients involved in making them.

Sadly, the Breville smart oven is not free of either PTFE or PFOA materials, so if that’s a deal breaker for you, this is not the oven to suit your kitchen.

Replacing May Be Necessary

Most of our testers didn’t encounter a problem at all, but if you’ve read another Breville Smart Oven review you may have heard that it doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to longevity.

Extra-hard use is sure to wear out even the sturdiest of ovens, and while the warranty can go a long way in safeguarding this oven, it is a point to consider.

If you’re looking to use this toaster oven for professional cooking or baking, you may be better off with something made for commercial use.

Here’s a video showing what the Breville Smart Oven looks like out of the box.

Overall Verdict

At the conclusion of our Breville Smart Oven Review, we find that it can handle pretty much everything you need it to.

Thanks to both its size and the many pre-sets, it’s a great fit for families with busy morning routines. If you’re renting an apartment or don’t feel like renovating just to fit in a traditional oven, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Breville BOV800XL can take over for most traditional ovens with very little effort.

The ease of use and overall capacity of this kitchen appliance make it a great fit for most households.

All that said, the non-stick layer may present an issue for those who want to be careful about the health standards of their appliances. It doesn’t pose an immediate danger, but as the non-stick coating will be exposed to heat, it could develop issues later on.

If you find yourself part of this group, there are many great alternatives out there.

Where to Buy the Breville Smart Oven with Element IQ

Breville is no newbie to the world of kitchen appliances. They have a variety of items under their belt and manage to stay on top of the market with their innovative designs.

By using smart technology in their appliances, Breville is able to turn even more heads and make their Smart Oven a popular item in their line.

Thanks to this brand’s overall success, it won’t be hard to find items like the Breville Smart Oven with Element IQ both in-store and online.

While it’s always best to check home depart and kitchen appliance stores, you can kick-start your search with the following online retailers.

• Best Buy (from $269)
• Crate and Barrel (from $249)
• Macy’s (from $312)

And of course, you can also find this toaster oven on Amazon.

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That’s a wrap on our Breville Smart Oven review. Are you curious to give this oven a try?