Cuisinart TOA-60 vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Cuisinart TOA-60 vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Toaster Oven. A close match between a medium-sized analog toaster oven and a large digital unit. Who will win?
Specifications
Design
Where the Cuisinart TOA-60 Air Fryer Toaster Oven shines most is in its simplistic design. Even though it only offers a few features, it does them all justice.
The oven features a powerful top-mounted convection fan and six nichrome heating elements, all powered with 1800 W. From our understanding, these two are the main factors behind the oven’s excellent performance.
The Ninja DT201 shows a high build quality in all of its design features from the exterior and interior to the included accessories. What stood out to us the most was the powerful convection system and the number of heating elements. We couldn’t confirm the accuracy of the Ninja’s claim that it had ‘up to ten times the convection power’ of a traditional full-size convection oven, though.
Usability Comparison
Due to its simplistic approach, the Cuisinart TOA-60 Air Fryer Toaster Oven doesn’t offer many usability features. However, it also doesn’t pose any problems.
For example, the oven lacks the automatic features and the ability to precisely adjust time and temperature that most digital units otherwise have. Nonetheless, its cooking performance is more than worth these minor inconveniences.
The straightforward control panel on the Ninja DT201 allowed for easy adjusting and readjusting of the cooking settings. Moreover, the informative display combined with distinguished buttons removed all of the guesswork when it came to operating the oven.
The oven’s practical cooking functions shined all the more in combination with the 2-level even cooking feature. The oven’s interior could be improved with a coating for easier cleaning, though.
Performance Test
All of the Cuisinart TOA-60 Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer’s results are in the top tier among our collected data. A big win for the oven’s performance is its steady and stable temperature. Combined with the fact that the convection fan is always deployed, it consistently produced excellent test dishes. Even though it doesn’t have a rotisserie kit for our Whole Roasted Chicken test, it still performed in a splendid manner.
The Ninja DT201 performed differently on each of our tests but even at its worst, it still gave good results. We were most impressed with the oven’s ability to quickly reach and maintain its temperature despite the large cooking chamber. This could be attributed to the oven’s high power output, powerful convection system, and a total of 5 heating elements.
With these factors, you don’t even need to turn food during cooking, especially if you incorporate the air fryer basket. Interestingly, this was one of the few units where we felt increasing the food amounts would lead to even better results.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Simple and straight-to-the-point control knobs
- Sturdy design and durable material
- Convection fan is all-applicable
- Electrical safety feature for the door
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Plenty of recipes included in the user manual
- Straightforward and informative control panel
- Tailored cooking functions
- Family-sized capacity
- Tray-level suggestions
- Sturdy construction
- Well-designed accessories
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Opening the door also turns off the light
- A bit heavier and taller than other same-type ovens
- Not very budget-friendly
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Faulty interior light upon received
Conclusion
The match between the medium-sized analog Cuisinart TOA-60 and the large digital Ninja Foodi XL Pro DT201 was a close one with the latter emerging victorious. They both are excellent toaster ovens, one is our best convection pick and the other is our best large pick.
They have the same interior score for having plenty of heating elements, a convection system, and internal lighting. The Cuisinart gained an edge in its exterior thanks to it having carrying handles and a thicker casing for better insulation.
They are tied in terms of build quality but with different strengths. The Cuisinart has fewer features but everything is well-built, especially the control dials. The Ninja has many more convenient features like a precise timer and temperature control, cooking presets, and an informative digital display.
More features do leave more room for errors during manufacture though. Nonetheless, its high usability score was enough to give the Ninja the necessary advantage in the overall score.
What’s most noteworthy is that the Cuisinart has a higher performance score than the Ninja. In terms of toasting bread and roasting chicken, the Cuisinart and the Ninja were quite equal, with the slight edge going over to the Ninja. What got the Cuisinart the matchpoint were its results in baking pizza and air-frying fries.
With both ovens having the same power output, we speculated that the nichrome heating elements of the Cuisinart made better use of the convection fan and thus, achieved better results in browning carbohydrates.
Behind the Comparison
Alan Nguyen is a writer and product reviewer at HealthyKitchen101. His major in English language teaching taught him to present concise information. In addition to his cooking hobby, he values the practical aspects of household appliances.
Tuyet Pham is an award-winning Saigonese chef passionate about delicious and healthful foods. At HealthyKitchen101, she develops recipes and collaborates with our Research, Testing, and Review lab to evaluate the performance of cooking appliances. Her assessments add a strong authoritative voice to our product scoring process.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
