Breville BOV845BSS Smart Oven Pro

This is a cautionary note to everyone about how Breville operates. You have been warned. If you have ANY problems with the unit (minor malfunctions, breakage, etc.), you will be forced to pay more than your unit is worth to ship it to them and back for servicing, (plus the cost/hassle of finding a large shipping box). To the point, Breville does not provide ANY spare parts for purchase. Zero. We requested 4 glass/ceramic heating element covers, (all had shattered during shipping) and Breville's Customer "Support" reps informed no parts are available and that we must ship the unit for repairs ($100-$150 each way). The other option they gave? A 30% discount off a new unit. Imagine if car companies operated like this? Bottom line, Breville's business model appears to be "use until broken, throw away, and buy another one." Caveat emptor everyone ....

I purchased two Breville Smart ovens over three months ago. I wanted one for baking cakes and the other for roasting meat and cooking pizzas. I ended up buying the latest BOV845BSS model for $330 at Harvey Norman and the also the older BOV800 model that was on clearance for $200 at David Jones. The newer model is much the same as the old model except it has a slow cook function and an interior light. Before I purchased my smart ovens I read lots of reviews online. With all the positive feedback I thought I couldn't go wrong with this product. After owning my two ovens for three months I've come to the conclusion that the Breville smart oven is a disappointment. I'm not impressed!!!

The first shortcoming I noticed with my oven was when I cooked a packaged frozen pizza, it cooked uneven. The middle of the pizza was perfect but rear of the pizza was burnt followed by the front of the pizza that was burnt to a lesser degree. I believe that the rear of the pizza burns because it is closest to the rear heating element and the front of the pizza darkens because the heat reflects of the front glass door.

I also noticed that the internal enamel paint is starting to scratch off where the centre shelf slides back and forth. A stainless steel interior would have been more appropriate. The baking shelf (bottom shelf) only slides out a fraction of the way to 10cm on the latest model. The older model oven slides out nearly all of the way.

Another problem I encountered was that all my good quality baking pans and pizza trays would not fit into my smart ovens. Even my small 12 muffin baking tray did not fit, I had to take it out to the shed and cut it down to size with an angle grinder. Now my muffin tray has razor sharp edges and has worn holes into my favourite oven pair of oven mitts. To be fair I must mention that each oven came with a bake & grill pan and a pizza tray, but these are low quality and aren't even dishwasher safe.

The worst thing about owning a Breville smart oven is cleaning it after cooking a roast. I tried to follow the manufactures cleaning instructions but it was in vain. All the nooks and crannies from the wire rack mounts and the heating elements made it impossible to clean it. I was forced to take my oven out to the garden and bomb it with heavy duty oven cleaner (not recommended by manufacturer) and hose it out with the garden hose. (Also not recommended) just to get it clean again. When I tried to use it after the clean it sizzled and tripped my homes RCD until it finally dried out a few days latter.

Now to the positive things I like about this product.... As a kitchen all rounder the smart oven is not that great, but for cooking cakes, cookies and muffins it's perfect. I really enjoy cooking cakes in this oven. My cakes always cook evenly. It's simple to use and you don't have the cleaning problems you have when cooking a roast. Cookies come out perfect and with the interior light on the new BOV845BSS model it's easy to monitor so you can bake them to perfection.

If you do decide to purchase the optional bamboo cutting board to sit on top of your smart oven make sure the store gives you the correct one. The guys at Harvey Norman gave me the BMO734BB (model number) cutting board that is meant to sit on top of a Breville Quick touch microwave. My cutting board overhangs and the feet are not heatproof. The correct bamboo cutting board for the smart oven is the BOV800CB.

So all in all, the the Breville smart oven is great for baking cakes, but defiantly not a replacement for the tradition home oven. For the price I paid for these overpriced toaster ovens I could have purchased seven 14 litter Homemaker compact toaster ovens from Kmart.