Our recommendations are made independently through Research & Testing. We may receive commissions from purchases made via our links.
Instant Omni Plus 18L Air Fryer Toaster Oven vs Panasonic FlashXpress Digital Side-by-Side Comparison
Our Verdict
- Performance (50%)8.1/10
- Design (25%)9.7/10
- Usability (25%)8.4/10
- Performance (50%)6.6/10
- Design (25%)6.0/10
- Usability (25%)4.9/10
The medium-sized Instant Omni Plus 18L Air Fryer Toaster Oven and the small Panasonic FlashXpress are both digital units, one with and one without convection. The difference is too apparent between our pick for the best air fryer toaster oven and our pick for the best energy-saving toaster oven in the small category.
The FlashXpress has an interesting auto-pull rack and a few distinct cooking presets that are typical in a Japanese appliance. Unfortunately, its timer and temperature range are nowhere near as detailed and expansive as the Instant’s. The Omni Plus also has much better designed presets.
The Panasonic has a pretty decent overall cooking performance for a small unit. It can achieve really high heat (as high as 500°F) with a low power output of 1500 W. However, it’s hindered by the lack of cooking space and a relatively large footprint, not to mention not having a convection system.
On the other hand, the Omni Plus has a higher power draw and useful accessories like its rotisserie kit and air-fryer basket. These features allowed the Omni Plus to produce great results in all of our cooking tests, including toasting bread, baking pizza, roasting whole chicken, and especially air-frying fries where it got the highest score among our tested products.
Instant Omni Plus 18L Performance
- Toast (40%)7.3/10
- Pizza (25%)8.6/10
- Whole Roasted Chicken (25%)8.4/10
- Baked French Fries (10%)9.3/10
- Toast (40%)6.0/10
- Pizza (25%)7.3/10
- Whole Roasted Chicken (25%)7.1/10
- Baked French Fries (10%)6.1/10
Toast
- Function: Toast
- Number Of Slices: 4
- Toast Level: 2/5
- Cooking Time: 5m 25s
- Second Batch: 4m 1s
- Convection: No
Using the steps of our Toast test, we determined that level 2—5 minutes 25 seconds on the timer—was the best option scoring a 7.3/10. In comparison, the level 1 and 3 had a more uneven while being lighter and darker surface color respectively.
The Toast Level 2 of the Instant Omni Plus 18L produced four pieces with an 85% even golden brown color. Since the fan couldn’t be deployed, the toast had some darker spots and lighter areas resulting in a 6/10.
The first batch of toast was nicely crispy while still soft and moist inside and we gave it an 8/10 for taste. Our head chef Tuyet Pham determined it would be excellent with omelet and eggs benedict but not so good for sandwiches or soup.
This is one of the few ovens with a smart program that automatically deducts time to reach certain temperatures when the oven’s already hot. Thus, the surface color of the toasts was quite consistent throughout multiple batches. In addition, due to its extra crispiness, the second batch was determined to be good enough for soup.
If you want the second batch to be similar to the first, remember to lower it by one level. Overall, the score for consecutive usability was 7/10.
- Function: Toast
- Number Of Slices: 4
- Toast Level: 1/5
- Cooking Time: 2m 20s
- Second Batch: 2m 11s
- Convection: No
There were a few interesting things, though not necessarily good, about our Toast test for the NB-G110P. We first tried the middle toasting level—level 3—and the results were all burnt. Then, we decreased the setting to level 2 and the toast was no longer burnt. However, it was still dark for our standard.
Finally, we cranked it down all the way to level 1—around 2 minutes 20 seconds on the timer. This setting allowed us to achieve an acceptable outcome scoring a 6.1/10 in total. Of course, this meant that we only had a reference for the darker setting and not the lighter one.
On the toasting level 1, the four pieces of toast had a nice golden brown color around the center of the oven. However, the color got significantly lighter as it got to the edges. This unevenness was all the more apparent on the bottom side of the toast, so we gave it a 7/10 for even surface color.
Unfortunately, such a short cooking time wasn’t able to crisp up the toast, even the golden brown areas. Our head chef Tuyet Pham deemed the toast, at best, passable to go with sandwiches, omelets, and eggs benedict and awarded it a 6/10 for taste.
All the existing problems of the first batch became slightly worse in the second batch. The cooking time for the second batch at toasting level 1 was automatically adjusted to be slightly shorter—2 minutes 11 seconds.
For some reason, the color was less even on top—one piece of toast was only lightly toasted, one was golden, one was golden brown, and one was brown. Nonetheless, the bottom of the second batch was similar to the first.
While the golden brown and brown pieces were a bit crispier than the first four, they weren’t enough to get the consecutive usability score to higher than 5.5/10.
Pizza
- Function: Bake
- Temperature: 450°F
- Cooking Time: 3m 50s
- Convection: High
The Instant Omni Plus, having a very strong convection system, did not seem ideal for baking a 9-inch thick-crust meat pizza resulting in an 8.6/10.
A cooking time of only 3m 50s was extremely fast compared to the recommended 10 minutes on the label. After comparing it to other toaster ovens in our Pizza test, it was more than enough for a 10/10.
The crust, although golden brown, was a little soft with some lighter and darker areas due to the short cooking time plus strong fan. It got an 8/10.
The entire surface was a little too dry due to all the convection. In addition, while the cheese was nicely melted, caramelization wasn’t even due to the short cooking time. Thus, the final score for the toppings was 8.2/10.
Our chef gave the pizza an 8.5/10 for taste.
- Function: None
- Temperature: 460°F
- Cooking Time: 3m
- Convection: No
Through our Pizza test, we noticed that the heating elements of the Panasonic NB-G110P seem to be very powerful. However, it wasn’t coupled with even heat distribution, which resulted in a 7.4/10 pizza score.
The toaster oven was able to bake a 9-inch thick-crust meat pizza in only 3 minutes. This was one of our fastest recorded cooking times, even faster than the powerful medium-sized Cuisinart TOA-60, and deserving a whopping 10/10.
However, such a short cooking time was only enough to cook the crust while not giving it any color at all. The silver lining in this was that the crust wasn’t dry, enough for a 6.5/10.
The toppings would have been quite appetizing if not for the burnt onions, bell peppers, and meat tips. Luckily, the high heat meant that the cheese was melty which garnered the toppings a 7.5/10.
Unfortunately, the burnt parts affected the taste quite badly with their bitterness. Thus, our chef could only give the pizza a 6/10 after tasting it.
Whole Roasted Chicken
- Function: Roast
- Temperature: 350°F
- Cooking Time: 50 minutes
- Convection: Yes
Following our Whole Roasted Chicken test, we chose a 3 lb chicken and it fit without a problem scoring an 8.4/10.
However, cleaning up was a big hassle as there wasn’t enough space below to use the drip pan. Worse still, during cooking fat splashed everywhere inside the oven causing the heating elements to smoke.
The roasting time was 50 minutes which was shorter than average and worthy of a 9/10.
The rotisserie kit and high convection together produced perfectly golden brown crispy skin deserving a 9.8/10. One thing to note is that due to the meat being considerably moist, the skin lost its crispiness in a relatively short time span.
The smooth rotation and high convection also allowed the whole chicken to be thoroughly cooked without any pink spots in just 50 minutes. The internal temperature was only a little higher than the USDA recommended 165°F-180°F at 178-190°F, so it got a 9/10.
The meat was almost fall-off-the-bone. Unfortunately, with it being so moist—to the point of softening the skin, our chef could only give it a 7 for taste.
- Function: None
- Temperature: 355°F
- Cooking Time: 1h 10m
- Convection: No
As we tried to fit a 3-pound whole chicken inside the Panasonic for our Whole Roasted Chicken test, the chicken grazed the hot upper heating element. This resulted in quite an impressive caramelization on the skin but also permanent stains on the heating element.
The lack of space for heat circulation was one of the main reasons behind the subpar score of 7.1/10. If you were to roast a chicken in this oven, we recommend cutting open the chicken or chopping it into pieces beforehand.
The Panasonic took 1 hour 10 minutes to roast the chicken, compared to the standard one hour, so it got a 7/10. We decided to stop the cooking at this point because our chef suggested that the skin wasn’t getting any more color and we didn’t want to overcook the chicken.
While the skin close to the upper heating element was nicely caramelized, the rest of it lacked color. It was also really soft, similar to being steamed, so we gave it a 6/10.
Checking with a meat thermometer, we found the chicken’s internal temperature to be 196°F-198°F which was quite high compared to the USDA’s recommended 165°F-180°F. Of course, the meat had no pink spots, so we gave it an 8.3/10.
As a result of the long cooking time, the meat was a bit dry. Interestingly, the soft skin was able to make up for the dry meat, enough for a 7/10 for taste from our chef.
Baked French Fries
- Function: Air Fry
- Temperature: 400°F.
- Cooking Time: 15m
- Convection: High
The Instant Omni Plus was excellent at baking 12 oz of french fries with a score of 9.3/10.
After performing our Baked French Fries test on different toaster ovens, we came to the conclusion that the ideal cooking time for baked french fries was 15 minutes. However, it wasn’t the fastest one on our list so it scored a 9/10.
The strong convection combined with the air fryer basket produced evenly golden fries worthy of a 9.8/10 for color.
What helped the color also baked perfectly crispy fries while retaining a nice amount of moisture. This earned the oven another 9.8/10 for the texture of baked french fries.
Our chef gave the fries a 9/10 for taste.
- Function: None
- Temperature: 425°F
- Cooking Time: 25 m
- Convection: No
The problem of powerful heating elements and uneven heat distribution in baking pizza repeated here in our Baked French Fries test. However, the score for the Panasonic’s baked french fries was lower, at 6.1/10.
We tried to give the oven the benefit of the doubt and stop the cooking at 25 minutes. This was the time limit of our test and equaled a 5/10. We decided to stop the cooking so as to not decrease the cooking time score any further despite the fries’ lack of color.
Even after baking for 25 minutes, only the smaller fries had a light golden color. The bigger and longer ones were only golden at the tips while the rest of them was basically white. Thus, we gave the fries a 6/10 for color.
The smaller fries had a bit of crispiness to them while the bigger and longer ones were just plain soft. Nonetheless, they weren’t dry, so we could still give them a 6.5/10 for texture.
With such subpar colors and textures, our chef could only give the fries a 6.5/10 for taste.
Instant Pot Omni Plus Toaster Oven Design Review
- Exterior (25%)9.5/10
- Interior (30%)9.5/10
- Build Quality (50%)9.0/10
- Exterior (20%)5.0/10
- Interior (30%)5.0/10
- Build Quality (50%)7.0/10
In the Instant Pot Omni Plus 18L Box
- Model: 140-4002-01
- Warranty: 1 year (US and Canada only)
- User Manual
- Baking Rack
- Baking Pan
- Rotisserie Kit and Lifter
- Air Fryer Basket
Besides keeping all the accessories in place, the packaging also has interesting illustrations for the key information on the Instant Omni Plus 18L. You can quickly access the download page for the Instant Pot App thanks to the QR code on the package and the user manual.
Their website provides the full manual, how-to videos, FAQs, and more. You’ll also need to go there to register your product and activate your warranty.
- Model: NB-G110P
- Warranty: 1 year (US, Puerto Rico, and Canada only)
- User Manual
- Baking Rack
- Baking Pan
The Panasonic NB-G110P was positioned firmly inside its box with four foam pads upon delivery. The baking rack and baking pan are wrapped in carton sheets and taped to the oven. Besides some basic information on the box, the oven also came with a user manual.
Exterior
- Weight:25.4 oz (721 g)
- Length:16.5" (42.0 cm)
- Width:15.8" (40.0 cm)
- Height:13.9" (35.3 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Color:Silver
- Door Handle:cool-touch
- Tray Indicators:Yes
- Crumb Tray:Yes
An example of the Instant Omni Plus 18L’s clever design is the slide-out crumb tray not to mention its two strong base stands as well as air ventilation on two sides and the back. For safety, it has two buffers on the back to prevent the oven from sitting too close to the wall and a cool-touch door handle.
To accommodate its many cooking functions, there are tray-level indicators on the glass door. Our measurements of the oven’s footprint of 16.54" x 15.75" x 13.90" were quite different from the manufacturer’s 12" x 12" x 13.89" in terms of length and width.
We could explain that the difference in width was because we also took the dial and the back buffers into account but not the difference in length. Nonetheless, we didn’t find this to be a problem.
- Weight:6.9 lbs (3.1 kg)
- Length:12.6" (32.0 cm)
- Width:11.8" (30.0 cm)
- Height:10.2" (26.0 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Color:Silver
- Door Handle:Cool-touch
- Tray Indicators:No
- Crumb Tray:Slide-out
Our measurements of 12.6" x 11.81" x 10.24" were marginally different from the manufacturer’s 13" x 12" x 10.25". Despite its high price, the NB-G110P only has the basic exterior features of a small toaster oven which tallies to a score of 5/10.
The only thing standing out from the stainless steel casing is the slide-out crumb tray on the bottom to help with cleaning (+1). Keep in mind to push the crumb tray all the way in or there’ll be gaps.
The oven has two bumps on the back which act as back buffers but we think they could be longer (+2). The shape of the cool-touch door handle makes it easy to grab (+2).
Control Panel
- Type:black LCD digital touchscreen + one master-control knob
- Temperature:150°F - 450°F
- Timer:1 - 60 minutes
- Indicator Light:Yes
- Status Bar:No
- Light Toggle:Yes
- Convection Toggle:Yes
- Rotation Toggle:Yes
- Automatic Preheat:Yes
- Audio Cues:Yes
This oven has a black LCD digital touchscreen and one master-control knob. The display includes the cooking status bar, functions, and toggles for Light, Convection, and Rotation. Besides the automatic oven preheat feature, it features an audio cue to turn food halfway through the input cooking time.
Audio cues include the beeps when you plug in the oven, select a function as well as adjust time and temperature, and when the oven finishes cooking. According to some reviews we’ve seen, they can be a bit loud, especially for households with children and/or pets. However, they can be turned off by pressing and holding the control knobs for 5 seconds until the screen displays S OFF.
- Type:LCD + 14 buttons
- Temperature:250°F - 500°F
- Timer:1 minute - 25 minutes
- Indicator Light:Yes
- Status Bar:No
- Light Toggle:Yes
- Convection Toggle:No
- Rotation Toggle:No
- Automatic Preheat:No
- Audio Cues:No
The Panasonic has an LCD and 14 control buttons in total. We have the standard buttons which are the power button, light toggle, two buttons to adjust the temperature, and two more to adjust the timer.
Then, we have six buttons for the six preset cooking functions and their two shade control buttons which are unique to this model. When you turn the oven on by pushing the power button, the indicator light will glow red.
Cooking Functions
- Air fry (180°F - 450°F)
- Broil (350°F - 450°F)
- Bake (180°F - 450°F)
- Roast (180°F - 450°F)
- Dehydrate (85°F - 175°F)
- Reheat (120°F - 360°F)
- Warm (170°F - 300°F)
- Toast (level 1-5)
Even though there’s no Rotisserie function, the oven comes with a tailored rotisserie kit and a Rotation Toggle. Besides making dried fruits, herbs, and meat jerky, the Dehydrate function is also ideal for proofing bread dough at 85°F and Low Convect.
- Toast
- Frozen Waffle
- Reheat Rolls
- Frozen Pizza
- Quick Reheat
- Frozen Hash Brown
You can simply operate the oven by selecting a temperature and adjusting the timer which was what we did with our performance tests. Also, you can choose one of the six preset cooking functions including Toast, Frozen Waffle, Reheat Roll, Frozen Pizza, Quick Reheat, and Frozen Hash Brown.
The Shade Control includes five levels that are applicable to all the preset cooking functions. It’s quite common for Japanese models to have very specific cooking functions like these. How useful they are, however, is up to the user to decide.
Interior
- Heating Elements:4 quartz and 1 nichrome
- Convection Fan:Yes
- Lighting:Yes
- Tray Levels:4
- Rotisserie:Yes
- Safety Hook:No
The Instant Omni Plus has four golden quartz heating elements. These pipes use infrared light to cook, which produces more heat and also cools down faster.
They are also easier to clean and more energy-efficient but don’t last as long in terms of durability. However, if grease splashes onto the heating elements while cooking, it’ll leave permanent stains.
Featuring safety guards, the heating elements are kept out of direct contact with baking pans and trays. The oven even includes a coil nichrome heating element at the top, specifically for broiling.
To top it off, this oven has a powerful and not noisy convection system as an interior light. In addition to 4 tray levels, you can make use of the baking rack with its rack-up and down positions.
- Heating Elements:2 quartz
- Convection Fan:No
- Lighting:Yes
- Tray Levels:1
- Rotisserie:No
- Safety Hook:Yes
Despite having some uncommon interior features, the NB-G110P still suffers from common limitations of a small toaster oven. Its interior score ended up at 5/10.
The oven has two quartz and ceramic heating elements, one upper and one lower (+1). They use infrared light to cook which makes the process faster and more energy-efficient. Nonetheless, two heating elements may not distribute heat as evenly as four or more will do.
While not as durable, they cool down faster and are easier to clean. However, if grease splashes onto the heating elements while cooking, it’ll leave permanent stains.
The upper heating element is closer to the front of the cooking chamber while the interior light is closer to the back (+2). During cooking, the light automatically cycles on and off in sync with the heating elements which means you can manually turn it on but not off.
The oven has a mechanism to smoothly pull the rack halfway toward you as the door is opened (+1). However, this design choice meant that the cooking chamber only has one tray level instead of two which is more common in small toaster ovens (+1).
The cooking chamber has a coating for easy cleaning but it’s not 100% non-stick (+1). The oven doesn’t have a convection system to help with heat distribution, similar to many other small units (-1).
Capacity of the Instant Pot Omni Plus 18L
- Length:13.8" (35.0 cm)
- Width:12.6" (32.0 cm)
- Height:8.7" (22.0 cm)
The Instant Omni Plus can comfortably fit a 12-inch pizza or a 4-pound chicken which is true to its description. However, it can’t quite fit 6 slices of toast. Moreover, when roasting only a 3-pound whole chicken with the rotisserie kit, there wasn’t enough space to fit a baking pan below. This wasn’t the case with a larger unit like the Cosori CO130-AO.
We measured the cooking chamber’s volume to be roughly 24.6 liters—a lot different from the manufacturer’s provided capacity of 18 liters. However, this could be because we measured from the cooking chamber’s walls to walls whereas the manufacturer stopped before reaching the heating elements.
- Length:11.0" (28.0 cm)
- Width:9.8" (25.0 cm)
- Height:9.1" (23.0 cm)
We could fit 4 slices of toast, a 9-inch pizza but we could barely fit a 3 lb chicken inside the Panasonic. We measured the cooking chamber volume to be around 16.08 liters, slightly different from the manufacturer’s provided capacity of 15.52 liters.
Looking at our measurements of 11.2" x 9.84" x 9.05" compared to the manufacturer’s 10.2" x 9.8" x 4.1", we speculated they measured the height only from the baking rack to the upper heating element.
Power Cord
- Length:2.8 ft (0.9 m)
- Type:3-prong plug
- Power:1800 W
- Rated Output:120 V ~ 60 Hz
The power cord is roughly 33.46"—more than long enough for household use. However, the cord can’t fully wrap around the two back stands as they are too high up.
- Length:3.1 ft (0.9 m)
- Type:2-prong plug
- Power:1300
- Rated Output:120
The power cord is 37.6 inches long, suitable for household use. However, the oven doesn’t have any storage space for it.
Accessories
- Length:12.4" (31.5 cm)
- Width:11.4" (29.0 cm)
- Height:0.9" (2.4 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The rack fits perfectly with the guide which helps prevent accidents when placing your food in the oven.
- Length:10.6" (27.0 cm)
- Width:9.4" (24.0 cm)
- Height:1.2" (3.0 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The baking rack has two hooks in the back to latch onto a horizontal rod in the middle of the cooking chamber and two hooks in the front to connect to the door. Opening the door will pull the baking rack and the baking pan on top of it halfway toward you to help keep your hands and fingers safe from the heat. Keep in mind that when the rack is removed, the door won’t be able to close tightly.
Accessories
- Length:13.8" (35.0 cm)
- Width:12.4" (31.5 cm)
- Height:1.8" (4.6 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
Thanks to its perfect size, the baking pan does a great job of catching the meat juice and drippings from the air fryer basket. Thus, it helps prevent making a mess and avoid the danger of fire from dirty heating elements. Keep in mind that the dishwasher can damage the enamel coating.
- Length:9.8" (24.9 cm)
- Width:9.8" (24.9 cm)
- Height:0.8" (2.0 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Not advisable
The baking pan fits nicely on top of the baking rack to prevent accidents. It has a grooved surface which can give your food attractive roasting marks and catch the dripping better. It also has a coating but it’s not completely non-stick so you may need to watch out for some stubborn stains after a heavy roasting session.
Accessories
- Length:13.4" (34.0 cm)
- Width:11.4" (29.0 cm)
- Height:0.9" (2.4 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The rotisserie kit does a perfect job of securing a chicken thanks to the 4-pronged forks with adjustable angles.
The structure of the forks isn’t very strong so parts can get bended although not by much.
Accessories
- Length:14.6" (37.0 cm)
- Width:11.0" (27.9 cm)
- Height:2.0" (5.1 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The air fryer basket has a good elevation to help with heat circulation around the bottom of the food.
Build Quality
The Instant Omni Plus 18L is a well-built and intricate piece of equipment, to say the least. It provides a helpful cooking status bar, smart programs, and automatic features. The oven does consume a lot of electricity so make sure your outlet can provide and handle 1800 W.
The meticulous design shows in the bottom tray, safeguards for heating elements, and cooling fan for its mainboard. However, the bottom tray can easily slide out if you tilt the oven. Also, during our roasting of a whole chicken, the hot drippings created some oxidation on the crumb tray.
The price of the Panasonic is partially reflected in its build quality score of 7/10. A small footprint doesn’t stop the oven from having a sturdy construction (+2). Its casing is made from thick durable stainless steel so the oven only gets hot to the touch after a long cooking time at a high temperature (>400°F) (+2).
With the way the control panel is positioned, the NB-G110P has less length and more height than most toaster ovens of the same size category. The entire oven is shaped like a square which could be beneficial for some kitchen space (+2).
The LCD is black and glows red creating good color contrast and the analog buttons are responsive and can last a long time (+2). One thing to be nitpicky about is that you need to pay attention to push the crumb tray all the way in or else the oven won’t be tightly sealed (-1).
Instant Omni Plus 18L Usability
- User Control (30%)9.9/10
- Ease of Use (50%)8.0/10
- Cleanability (20%)7.0/10
- User Control (30%)7.0/10
- Ease of Use (50%)3.0/10
- Cleanability (20%)6.5/10
User Control
The Instant Omni Plus 18L has 8 settings to choose from but can serve more than 10 functions. Although the LCD display could be improved with better contrast, it’s not a big problem.
The master-control knob can be confusing for first-timers but it should take little effort to get familiarized with it. The temperature can be adjusted in 1°F increments by turning the knob slowly and in 10°F increments by turning the knob fast. Also, the timer is specified by the minute.
If you want to readjust the setting during cooking, simply tap the feature and adjust it with the knob. Don’t tap Cancel as it will reset your inputs and repeat the automatic preheating.
The convection setting is applicable to almost all except for toast. One thing to note from the manual is that most recipes recommend reducing the temperature by 25°F when convection is on.
The convection fan speeds can toggle between high and low which is not very common for ovens, especially at the same price range. The two exceptions are Air Fry which always uses High Convect and Warm using Low Convect.
The control panel of the Panasonic wasn’t the easiest to use but it also didn’t cause any problem, so it earned a 7/10.
The current setting on the LCD is indicated by a red light which makes it easy to see (+2). Thanks to the light toggle, you can turn on the light even when the oven is not running (+2).
The preset cooking functions seem to be designed for worry-free cooking (+2). However, because they don’t allow for the adjustment of time and temperature, they weren’t applicable to our test.
Moreover, we couldn’t find the exact preset temperature and cooking time in the manual (-2). Thus, we simply chose to operate the oven by adjusting the temperature and timer on the control panel (+2).
The temperature is displayed in both °F and °C. It can be adjusted in increments of 35°F/20°C from 250°F to 500°F / from 120°C to 260°C, which is quite uncommon (+1). The timer can be adjusted in 0.5-minute increments below 10 minutes and 1-minute increments after 10 minutes (+1).
In addition to not having a stay-on feature, the timer only lasts from one to 25 minutes which is very short. It’s also worth noting that the timer is displayed in a 0.5-minute multiplier and not by the minute and second, unlike most other toaster ovens.
The cooking starts as soon as a timer adjustment key is pressed which makes it a bit tricky to get right. In addition, if you want to switch cooking functions, you’ll need to turn the oven off and on again (-1).
Ease of Use
When you adjust temperature and time for a function, the Instant Omni Plus saves your setting for next time use. After the oven finishes cooking, it will beep and automatically switch to Keep Warm mode until the display shows End.
After a period of no interaction, the digital display will show the word OFF similar to when you’ve just plugged it in. You’ll then need to push the knob once to turn it on. It’s advised to unplug the oven after you finish using it.
The light automatically turns off after 30 seconds of no interaction and turns on 30 seconds before finishing cooking. Opening the oven door pauses the cooking but the light stays on for another 30 seconds. Closing the oven door resumes the cooking but it will go into stand-by mode resetting all inputs after 5m30s.
Taking the rotisserie kit out of the oven can be a bit tricky even with the lifter. However, with a bit of practice, it’ll be no problem at all. The oven has good heat insulation, so the casing doesn’t get too hot to the touch at 350°F and 400°F but be careful at 450°F.
Despite having some features of convenience, the Panasonic didn’t quite meet our standards and scored a 3/10.
In addition to the cool-touch door handle (+2), the auto-pull rack minimizes the risk of burning due to contact (+2). The oven rack can be a little awkward to remove but it’ll be no problem with a bit of practice (+2). However, the auto-pull mechanism means that the oven door can only open or close all the way and not open partially to let food cool inside (-2).
The manufacturer claims that this oven has a smart sensor that turns the heat on and off automatically to maintain the perfect temperature and prevent burning. However, our tests showed no significant increase in terms of cooking performance compared to other small units.
It’s also advertised that this oven requires no preheating due to its efficiency. While we didn’t agree with this, we were able to confirm that the NB-G110P could reach a high internal temperature very quickly—4 minutes 50 seconds to reach 450°F.
The interior light makes it easier to make our way around the oven (+2). Keep in mind that opening the door doesn’t stop the oven or the interior light (-2). Be careful as the oven’s casing can get very hot after a long cooking time at a high temperature (-1).
When the cooking cycle finishes, the oven will beep once and then turn off. Nonetheless, we advise you to unplug the oven after use because, according to the manufacturer, the oven still consumes about 0.4 W when plugged in and not turned on.
Cleanability
We cleaned the Instant Omni Plus 18L following our toaster oven cleaning guide. Despite having an internal and external coating, it still wasn’t easy to clean due to some very tricky nooks and crannies. The small gaps between the heating elements and internal walls didn’t help either.
Most of the mess came from the considerable fat splatter from roasting a whole chicken. It left difficult stains on the heating elements and their safeguards which were already tricky to clean.
With the removable oven-bottom tray, cleaning up the crumbs was extremely easy but we still had to tilt the oven to get all of the crumbs out. On the bright side, having thought it would be difficult to clean caramelized bits of food from the air fryer basket due to the fishnet design, we were happy to find this wasn’t the case.
The Panasonic was quite easy to clean overall scoring a 6.5/10.
It has a stainless steel exterior and a non-stick interior (+4). The cooking chamber has no tricky nooks and crannies to make cleaning any more difficult than it needs to be (+2).
Thanks to the slide-out crumb tray, we could easily remove most of the falling debris after cooking. For the remaining crumbs on the cooking chamber’s floor, we could simply tilt the oven and get all of them out (+1).
Unfortunately, during our Whole Roasted Chicken test, the chicken grazed the upper heating elements when we put it in and left permanent black stains there (-1.5). The baking tray also suffered some stubborn stains but we were able to brush them off with a paste of baking soda and water (+1).