Cuisinart CSO-300N Convection Steam Oven, Stainless Steel

I've been using this little oven for several months now, and I love it. It takes a bit of creativity, trial and error to learn how to cook with a steam oven. To my surprise, it's hard to find recipe books that are written just for steam ovens! The main sources for recipes seem to be either the user guide for high end steam ovens such as Meile, Viking and Bosch (which tend to be written in terms of fancy programming), or personal blog posts. As a result, I've been learning largely by trial and error, but after some learning curve, it's working out great!First of all, it will function as a normal toaster oven. You put your bread in, select the done-ness you want, and it toasts it. Or, you can use it as a convection oven. The oven is large enough to hold several pieces of toast or a 2 Qt. casserole, so it's a nice size for one dish, single family baking. Then, there's the steam feature, which is the "wowie" for me.The oven lets you set up steam so that you can "proof" bread at a low temperature. It holds the equivalent of two loaf pans. My favorite feature, however, is the steam / broil and steam / bake settings. Steam, by itself, will only go to 212 degrees F, but you can set the broil to go up to 450 or 500 degrees F. This allows you to brown food at the same time the steam is keeping it moist. As an example of a recipe where this works great, I used to boil potatoes to soften them a bit, then toss them in olive oil and some spices and broil them in order to brown them. The "boiling" step can be skipped with this oven: just cut the potatoes in bite size pieces, toss in olive oil and whatever spices you like (I use a flavored vinegar, garlic and and some rosemary), and then steam broil them on 350 degrees for 30 minutes. A video on the Williams Sonoma web site demonstrates this oven being used basically to poach salmon and then to steam broil some bok choi to go with it. The oven also has a steam / bake setting, which doesn't apply the broiling heat but rather heats from the bottom. I haven't tried roasting chicken yet, but others say that this is superb for roasting chicken. There are a few recipes in the users manual, but to be honest I've read some but then done mostly my own using trial and error.There are two last things I'd like to mention in this review. One is that the size of the oven is great for a small family. I have a very nice convection oven that I paid a lot of $$ for, but I find myself using this little workhorse instead, because it's small and convenient. (The only drawback is that due to its size, it can only cook one dish at a time!). The very last thing I'd like to mention is the cleanup. I believe it's important to follow instructions and unplug it before putting your hands near where there are heating elements and water and etc., but the steam means that residue and dripped food never crusts on and sticks in this oven! I wipe the oven out after each use, and it looks as clean today as the day I purchased it!Obviously, I'm pleased with my purchase and would purchase it again. This, most especially, when considering that a full size steam oven from one of the high end manufacturers costs a couple thousand dollars more than this! I am somewhat of a "foodie" and cooking is my hobby, and so I'm thrilled to have been able to add this to the tools I use in my kitchen.

I got this oven to replace a microwave oven, and I really like it. You can use it to steam food, cook it just like in an oven, reheat and defrost. I thought it might take a lot more time to get things cooked than in a microwave, but the time isn't that much longer - for things that took 6 or 7 minutes in the microwave, it takes maybe 12 to 15 minutes in this oven. And the taste and quality of the cooking is really much better. Reheating does take longer, but with things like bread or pizza, the result is worth the additional time.

The best purchase I have ever made on amazon...seriously.This thing is freaking awesome. My main oven now gets used twice a year at most (holidays for a big turkey etc). This little device cooks everything so much better than a normal oven. It does take a little time and practice to master as the instructions aren''t the best. Look up steam convection recipes online for a good place to start. The price has gone up which is a shame as I am seriously considering buying a second. This is the ONLY decent counter top steam oven on the market, and if it gets discontinued (cuisinart has a bad history of this), it will suck as I use it many times a day and is my main cooker.Things I cook in this that turn out way better than on a normal over, stove: Fish (not even close), chicken (not even close...MAYBE rotisserie...but this is just as good), roasts of any kind (not even close), vegetables (just as good as steaming any other way, but so much easier), bread (impossible to get artisan bread like this any other way in the house...), rice (much better than even my now-never used rice cooker) and lets not forget...left overs...there is simply no other way to achieve without a steam convection over.As for quality, I have been using for over 6 months with no issues. I use it daily, at least 2-3 times a day...sometimes all day long.Its not perfect...I would like both lower and high temps (lowest in 100...would like lower for better bread proofing, better defrosting...etc), and higher for better hi temp dished (it goes up to 500 only on broil, 450 for every other mode). It could be bigger, but it works well for a family of 4 so far. Can't do the holidays meats in it of course.I hope the thing lasts, but Its already more than paid for itself. If they ever stop making this, I will have to shell out a couple grand for a normal kitchen steam over...but until then...this is (almost) just as good for 1/10th the cost.