Instant Omni Plus 18L vs Cuisinart TOA-60 Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Instant Omni Plus 18L vs Cuisinart TOA-60 Toaster Oven. A battle between smart technology and simplistic analog in medium-sized convection toaster ovens.
Specifications
Design
The design of the Instant Omni Plus 18L 140-4002-01 Air Fryer Toaster Oven shows attention to detail and makes use of modern technology, which resembles the larger Ninja DT201 a lot. While not perfect, its strong points are more than enough to make up for the minor drawbacks.
Stood out to us were the combination of one nichrome and four quartz heating elements as well as the oven’s powerful convection settings. However, the spacing between the four rack levels made it difficult to place a baking pan to catch drippings while roasting a whole chicken with the rotisserie kit.
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.
Usability Comparison
The Instant Omni Plus 18L 140-4002-01 Air Fryer Toaster Oven is the opposite of a simplistic analog unit like the Cuisinart TOA-60. It maximizes its ease of use but that leads to some weak points in and of itself; the same goes for its user control.
The oven’s touchscreen LCD is very easy to operate with all of its separate cooking functions and feature toggles despite having only one master-control knob and a subpar color contrast. Due to insufficient space, however, the cooking chamber can get quite tricky to clean in case of big greasy messes.
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.
Performance Test
The performance of the Instant Omni Plus 18L 140-4002-01 Air Fryer Toaster Oven is consistently great. In particular, it’s excellent at baking/ air frying fries and roasting a whole chicken. This is thanks to its great design, strong convection system as well as useful accessories—including an air fryer basket and rotisserie kit.
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.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Informative and eye-catching package
- Smart Programs and cooking status bar
- Electrical safety feature for the door
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- Safeguards for all heating elements
- Complimentary app with detailed instructions and numerous recipes
- Helpful toggles
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- 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
- Touchscreen digital displays need more contrast
- The master-control knob can be confusing
- Opening the door also turns off the light
- A bit heavier and taller than other same-type ovens
- Not very budget-friendly
Conclusion
With its one swirl nichrome plus four quartz heating elements and a strong convection system, the Instant Omni Plus consistently performs well. However, the Cuisinart edges out its competitor with its steady and stable temperature from six nichrome heating elements and an all-applicable convection fan.
The Instant shines with an LCD touchscreen fed with smart programs and all the necessary cooking functions. While each oven is user-friendly in its own way, the unique cooking presets of the Instant can be extra helpful for beginners.
The Cuisinart’s strength lies in its robust, effective, and lasting construction with a straightforward 100% analog control. In all honesty, the control dials of the Cuisinart make it more difficult to pinpoint an exact time and temperature compared to the digital display of the Instant. However, that makes it all the more impressive when it out-performs the Instant.
Although both ovens feature an interior light and a slide-out crumb tray, the Instant has three tray levels while the Cuisinart has two. Both ovens have an air fryer basket in addition to the standard accessories, but the Instant comes with a rotisserie kit as well.
The Instant suffers from minor drawbacks of its own technology while trying to maximize convenience. The Cuisinart doesn’t offer many features of convenience due to its simplistic approach, which is also not an issue.
Delivering excellent quality in every cent, the Instant Omni Plus 18L and the Cuisinart TOA-60 are both high-performing medium-sized convection toaster ovens.
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.
