Zojirushi ET-ZLC30 Micom Toaster Oven, Black

I was not expecting much beyond a glorified toaster from this oven. But I was wrong!
It toasts bread so much better than my old Toast-R-Oven. It cooks crispy fish fingers so much better than my gas range! It bakes bread SO much better, and more evenly than my old gas range.
I hear a very faint fan noise that makes me think this thing has an undisclosed forced-air convection feature, because the even-ness of cooking beats the microwave and the gas range, no joke!

My Breville died. The control panel never worked properly and it finally stopped trying. I loved that toaster oven; but I read this electrical issue is common. Hence, my search for another brand. I use my real oven maybe twice per year. Everything else works inside a faster heating toaster oven; and I use it at least once daily, but more often three times per day. Therefore, I need something sturdy and dependable. My & everyone else's Zojirushi rice maker lasts forever, which played a big part to persuade me to consider this rendition.

I am glad I ordered this sexy beast. Nothing else looks this sleek. It also employs a far smaller footprint than its predecessor. At first, I panicked, thinking all my craving concoctions will not fit inside its tiny frame. However, I have been creating intricate meals for three months now. Everything fits!! I don't know how it does; but even my regular-sized cast iron pan, the size you see in old westerns on the campfire...it fits with room to spare.

And the TOAST: okay, it takes twice as long as the Breville, but the flavor and crispness are twice as perfect now. To bake or to roast do not add this sort of time, so I am ultimately happy with the performance.

There are a few aspects I detest about this appliance, though:

1. There are only two rack positions and broil must work with the center rack, which means a tomato that took 7 minutes to both heat & broil in a Breville can take 18 minutes in a Zojirushi. I need to find a pan to invert to set broiled items higher.

2. As mentioned in many reviews, the need to start the oven timer once preheating has been achieved: just start the countdown. I am not only addressing an oven while I prepare a meal. I am fixing side dishes and chopping and steaming. Why make me walk back to the oven to press yet another button?

3. This leads me to Buttons, Buttons, Buttons: While delightfully minimal in appearance, to toast takes up to 7 actions before the magic begins. Press, press, dial, press, dial...It's interminable and annoying.

4. I cannot take photos anywhere near it, because the intended recipient will see I am still in my robe. This oven reflects everything, far & wide. It sure looks great, though...other than me...in a robe.

However, I love that it memorizes the last setting used. Yes, I still must press buttons, but I don't have to re-invent the wheel I am prompted to spin.

Why do I still allot 5 stars? Again, Zojirushi does a spectacular job and somehow my meals taste more delicious through this marvel than they ever did with other toaster ovens. If it continues to work this well, I can endure the annoyances. They are worth it.

This product replaces one that malfunctioned out of the box. Amazon was great. They sent a replacement quickly and, at my request, sent UPS to my house to pickup the return (heavy). I’ve used Cuisinart for years, but I like this one better There’s no nonstick coating on the interior, which is hard to find. There are more heating elements, and it bakes and toasts perfectly. I hope this lasts a long time like the Cuisinart did because I love it.

Toast isn't burned unless I want it that way. Biscuits rise and fulfill the promise. The control is super simple and effective. Temperature control is just the best I've ever used, and I've gone through too many ovens. Its a small size, the oven is perfect for a family of two. The timer will allow you to extend the time for just that "perfect" degree of doneness. It doesn't over cook unless you set it up to do that. Zojirushi does it again!

Just to let people know a
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CZXD51M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pullman loaf pan just fits inside this. Pasted link not sure if works. The 1 pounder

I like everything about this, I'd love to give it 5 stars, but the preheating drives me crazy, and after 9 months, I still haven't gotten used to it. There are two things wrong with it. The basic problem is that it won't proceed to the timed cooking phase until it beeps when preheated and you push a button.

1. You might be able to use a separate timer and let it sit in preheat for half an hour or whatever, but I haven't tried it, and I wouldn't be surprised if it shuts off if left in preheat too long.

2. There is no indication of how long preheat has to go. 30 seconds? 5 minutes? No idea. It ought to show the current temperature so you can at least guess, but nope.

Where this really shows up is baked potatoes, for instance. I know if I put three large baked potatoes in, 2 hours comes out so close to right that I don't try to fine tune it. 5 minutes of preheat makes no difference. Why can't I just put the potatoes in and set it to cook for two hours, including preheat? I can't. That's several minutes of standing around waiting. It's not long enough to do much else. It's really annoying.

Otherwise, it is a fantastic toaster oven. Toast comes out great, and repeatedly great. Everything is fine.

Needed a new 'toaster oven'. This goes way beyond the toast making requirement. Actually functions like a full size oven perfectly. Example: Can easily bake potatoes with this instead of using too much electricity heating up the full size oven. And it makes perfect toast every single time. Good assortment of trays included. And pretty easy to clean. Nice quality product.

Very stylish. Looks like it is well made. Easy to use. The size is perfect for my small kitchen, not too small and not too big. Bread dough proofing function is a plus. Love this toaster oven.

After having spent many hours researching toasting ovens - far more than I care to admit, actually - I stumbled upon this small miracle appliance.

Zojirushi (Zojirushi.com) is a Japanese company highly regarded for its quality bread makers, rice makers, and other appliances. During the past few weeks since I purchased a Micom Toaster Oven, I have baked rolls and cookies, toasted English muffins, bagels, and bread, baked a small ham, and reheated various foods with great success. (I admit, the cookies were a teeny-tiny bit more browned on the bottom than I prefer, but maybe that's just me.)

I purchased this device primarily for use as a toaster, and in this respect it truly excels. As with almost all toaster ovens, when initially turned on it must heat up in order to function. If more bread is placed into the toaster oven after the oven is heated, the oven automatically reduces the toasting time in a cycle. While operating, the remaining time in each toasting cycle appears on a bright blue led screen, allowing one to plan accordingly. I appreciate that it may not work as quickly as some other toasting devices. In my experience, this is an acceptable compromise. Being able to read the “count-down” timer on the oven display allows me to plan accordingly.

The oven has an internal memory and stores previously used settings for future use; no need to keep guessing what setting you should use every time you turn it on.

I feel it’s important to emphasize that unlike many other toaster ovens, the trays on which one places bread are made of expanded metal. (Other manufacturers tend to use wires trays.) The use of expanded metal allows for reasonably even browning on both the top and bottom of sliced bread. In my experience with toaster ovens, unless one flips bread over, it typically is much darker on the top than the bottom. While the Micom won’t toast both sides of your bread equally well, (I would argue that no toaster can.) it does a great job with toasting the bottom of a slice of bread while not overly toasting the top. (I guess you could buy a model that requires you to take the bread out and manually turn it over half way through each cycle, but where’s the fun in that?)

Of course, all bread is not alike. Typically, I toast store-bought sandwich bread that is consistent in slice thickness, density, etc. Commercial bakeries also add sugar to their dough as a browning agent. These (and other factors) affect toasting outcomes. When I toasted some bread I baked at home, it required more time to toast than store-bought bread. Again, sugar content, slice thickness and other factors, e.g., moisture content, density etc. must be taken into consideration. But this is true regardless of what toasting appliances we use.

If an item requires additional toasting/baking/reheating time, adding more minutes immediately following the "count-down" is easy - just turn the knob to add time and push the start button. (If no action is taken the oven completely turns off after about 5 minutes.)

The oven interior is not particularly tall; I wouldn't recommend roasting a chicken in it. But for foods that aren't too high, it's great. There are eight evenly spaced heating elements - four on the top and four on the bottom to ensure even heating.

As far as other uses are concerned, while I haven’t actually tried, I don’t imagine that the broil setting in this toaster oven (or any other toaster oven, for that matter) will generate sufficient heat to reasonably sear a rib-eye steak or burger. (Let’s temper our expectations, shall we?) But if you want to brown the cheese on top of a tuna melt, I’m confident it will offer satisfactory outcomes.

Another reviewer mentioned this oven should be better known. I agree. It's surprising (and actually kind of disappointing) to research toaster ovens and come across so little information about this particular model.

I had considered purchasing a Panasonic Flash Express toaster oven, but in the end, I purchased the Zojirushi Micom. In my research I read that although the Panasonic Flash Express toasts quickly and evenly (with no pre-heat required) its controls are awkward, and aside from its toasting utility, the Panasonic does not offer the same degree of heat control and distribution as a Micom. So, to my way of thinking, I ended up with a slightly more costly device with a wee bit larger footprint whose usefulness is considerably greater than that of the Flash Express.

Thank you for reading. I hope that my insights will be of use to you.

The oven is roomy and pretty easy to operate. Lots of functions. However, it only goes to 450 degrees and broil does not seem to work on mine. Does not brown meet well.