Black+Decker TO3250XSB Review

The Black+Decker TO3250XSB provides better performance and more features than most other toaster ovens in its budget-friendly price range, making it a great choice for those looking to maximize the money they spend.

Performance Comparison

Baking Performance

The Black+Decker TO3250XSB displayed good but not great baking performance in our tests. It will likely be plenty good enough for most people but may disappoint if you're looking to make more advanced, temperature-sensitive dishes. When using this oven to make chicken drumsticks, the meat remained fairly moist, but the skin only got crispy in certain spots and remained chewy in others.

Cakes similarly retained moisture but displayed some uneven browning on the surface. The oven seemed to struggle a bit with smaller items, namely cookies. No matter what adjustments we made, the oven consistently sucked the moisture out of cookies and tended to cook them somewhat unevenly. Still, it's hard to ruin a cookie, and we still enjoyed the ones made in this oven. We found the convection mode to speed up cooking times significantly. This is a great added bonus considering convection settings are generally only seen on much more expensive models.

Ease of Use

The Black+Decker TO3250XSB features simple operation but largely lacks some of the extra user-friendly touches that many more expensive models offer. It utilizes a simple control panel with one knob to set the temperature, one for the cooking time, and one dedicated to making toast. This makes the operation quite easy and straightforward. However, the lack of an LCD screen means you can never tell exactly what the temperature is nor exactly how much time is left on the timer. We like the crumb tray, which we found to slide out quite easily with little to no spillage.

Temperature Accuracy

We found the Black+Decker TO3250XSB to run a bit hotter than its set temperature in our testing, often to varying degrees depending on the situation.

When set to 375˚ Fahrenheit and allowed it to preheat, our testing thermometer fluctuated between 400˚ and 425˚ — much hotter than the set temperature. When we cranked the temperature higher, that discrepancy shrunk a bit. For example, when we set the temperature to 400˚, the actual temperature never got above 410˚. When we cranked the temperature even higher to 450˚, the oven actually ran a bit cold, maxing out at 445˚.

Frozen Food

The Black+Decker TO3250XSB prepped all the frozen food we cooked in it adequately, but with some minor flaws. Frozen pizzas fared best of all the frozen foods. They came out quite even with slightly crunchy crusts and gooey cheese. Tater tots were subject to a bit more unevenness but still maintained a good texture. Frozen meals and leftovers were heated thoroughly without sacrificing too much of their moisture.

Toasting Performance

Overall the Black+Decker TO3250XSB made near-perfect toast in our tests. Both sides received an even amount of browning without any colder or hotter spots. Our only real complaint is that if you fill the oven wall to wall with toast, which comes out to eight slices, the slices around the edges of the oven will have some colder spots where they touch the wall.

Should You Buy the Black+Decker TO3250XSB?

For those whose cooking needs and fare are relatively simple, the Black+Decker TO3250XSB offers everything you need and then some at a relatively low price. While certainly not a high-performing gourmet machine, it still offers a lot of capabilities and conveniences a relatively inexpensive package. This combination makes it a great overall value for those shopping at the budget end of the spectrum.

What Other Toaster Oven Should You Consider?

If your budget is super tight, it is hard to do better than the Black + Decker. However, if you can stretch your dollar or have a more generous budget, the Breville Mini Smart Oven offers better baking and toasting capabilities with accurate temperature testing. It will cost about double that of the Black + Decker, but is worth it depending on your goals.