Everyone has probably owned a toaster oven at one time or another.  It’s one of those things that you pick up – along with sheets, laundry baskets, and a mini-fridge – when you’re about to embark on your freshman year of college.  It’s cheap, it gets the job done and it very quickly becomes an indispensable part of your student budget dorm meal prep routine.  In fact, many of us remain allied with our toaster ovens long after graduation, first jobs, and first marriages have come to pass.

If you’ve moved on from your toaster oven to bigger and better things in the intervening years since your college days, you may be surprised to know that, much like Cylons, they have evolved.

For the past three months, I’ve been using a review sample of the new Smart Oven that was graciously provided to me by Breville.  To even compare the Smart Oven to a toaster oven immediately does it a disservice – even though the Smart Oven shares elements that are common to your old standby, such as heating elements and an adjustable rack, the similarities end there.

Featuring 1800 watts of cooking power, the Smart Oven comes equipped with a simple interface that offers three primary dials and a single on/off button.  A turn of the function knob brings the LCD display to life, backlit in a brilliant blue that makes for easier reading of your available options.  Just scroll through the available modes – Roast, Bake, Broil, and Toast, among them – then set the desired temperature on the second dial and the timer with the third.  Pressing the on/off button starts the cooking process.  I appreciated the ring of red light that outlines the button when the unit is in operation – providing me with the assurance that the Smart Oven is on, even if I’m standing  across the room.  Nothing throws your meal pacing off more than when you forget to, you know, turn ovens on and such.

By default, the Breville Smart Oven prepares your food using convection heating, which can be toggled on and off using a small button.  When it’s on, air is circulated around your food by a small fan, providing more even heating and reducing cooking times considerably.  If anything, experimenting with different cooking times is the one learning curve that one would face with the Smart Oven.  Preparing some frozen items, for example, according to the directions on the box may sometimes result in overcooking.

Since bringing the box in from my doorstep, I’ve spent weeks throwing everything that I could think of into the Smart Oven, and have been very impressed with the results.  Bone-in chicken breasts roasted to perfection in about a half hour.  One of my favorite sides, roasted brussels sprouts, cooked in half the time of the original recipe, with the added benefit of freeing up our oven for the preparation of the main course.  The ‘Reheat’ function works extraordinarily well for leftovers, and I never had to worry about overcooking since the Smart Oven shuts off when the timer runs out.  Of particular convenience is the ‘Warm’ function, which maintains a consistent minimum temperature of 160 degrees (or whatever temperature you wish) – this feature is very useful for parents of infants, where eating dinner in shifts is common.

From an economic perspective, I always felt a little wasteful whenever I would heat my large gas oven just to warm dinner rolls, and with the Breville Smart Oven, I no longer have to.  It’s the perfect size for small-batch cookery, such as the aforementioned rolls, a few cookies, or scones for breakfast.  Since it’s considerably smaller than a standard kitchen oven, it heats to temperature much more quickly, ultimately using less power but still delivering fantastic results.

It all started with a simple message, floating out of the darkness of the Internet: “Can you keep a secret?”

Behind those five words were an invitation to be a part of one of the largest product launches in culinary history, to have the opportunity to become the Chuck Yeager of cookware and push the envelope.  But this was no covert training program, no secret military aircraft were involved, and this was no test rocket – this was a saute pan.

Along with a handful of others, I have been selected as an All-Clad ambassador, and have had the privilege of testing a piece of their new d5 line of cookware.  Those of you who are familiar with All-Clad’s line of products are already well aware of the enhanced performance and level of control that can be achieved and, like me, are wondering how All-Clad could have possibly improved on their build quality.

Having owned a couple of pieces of All-Clad in my arsenal of well-used cookware, I was already well versed in their ability to heat quickly and evenly, so I approached testing the d5 series with high expectations.  I’m happy to say that the d5 line not only meets those expectations, it completely surpasses them.  Combining five alternating layers of high and low conductivity metals, All-Clad has created a line of cookware that excels in even heat control and stability, with a few surprising usability perks thrown in for good measure.

From a design standpoint, the d5 line sports a few highlights that are worth mentioning.  For one thing, the handles on the lids are now oversized, allowing you to slip an oven mitt-clad hand through them, which provides greater stability than using mitten-y fingertips.  A redesigned pour lip enables the transfer of hot pan sauces from any side of the pan without the associated random splattering and loss of control, like those people on late night infomercials that need locking perforated lids to avoid a trip to the hospital.  The handles are now broader, allowing for less fatigue when dancing your meal across the flames of your burners.  Fans of the ‘tip and roll’ technique of making omelets, take note.

As with prior All-Clad lines, the surface of my d5 saute pan heated quickly and evenly, and sustained sufficient temperature to maintain a steady sizzle even over medium heat.  Over a few weeks, the pan held a starring role on our stove, serving as the stage for preparation of our usual weekday dinners of chicken, fish, and the occasional pork chop.

My wife, who absolutely rules the kitchen when it comes to seafood, professed that the All-Clad d5 saute pan provided “the best skin ever” on a recent fillet of salmon, prepared simply with olive oil and some garlic.  Indeed, the salmon skin came out as crisp as pork crackling, while the flesh remained a rosy pink throughout, a testament to the ability of the pan to accommodate minor temperature adjustments.  This matched my own experience with chicken breasts, coated with salt, fresh ground pepper, and a dusting of flour – searing them in the d5 saute pan yielded evenly browned, crisp medallions that, when paired with a simple pan sauce, yielded a quick and easy dinner.  As a side note, the 2 quart saute pan is appropriate for couples and single cooks – if you are cooking for more than two people, I would highly suggest going with the 3 quart pan or larger.

Cleanup was quick and easy – since the d5 line maintains such even heating, there are no hotspots, so there are no burnt spots of food that need to be scrubbed away after the meal.  Plus, as any cook knows, the secret to easy cleaning is deglazing – why wash with water after dinner when you can wash with wine or stock and end up with a killer sauce to serve with dinner?

When I was in college, in the days before Starbucks had transformed into the behemoth that it is today, I worked for a small coffee chain which was located in a well-trafficked corner of the food court at the mall.  For up to eight hours a day, I pulled hundreds of espresso shots and made hundreds of cappuccinos and lattes, frequently for an audience that didn’t even know that the word ‘espresso’ does not contain an ‘x’.  At that time, people bought espresso-based drinks as status items, and I can’t tell you how many times a customer tried to return a cappuccino because “it wasn’t sweet”.

Truth be told, I never understood what the fuss was about.  I had free reign to sample everything that we sold, and the espresso didn’t really appeal to me.  I found it to be a bitter, acrid concoction that was only improved by the addition of disproportionate amounts of sweetener and milk, and by that point I would have been better off with a regular cup of java.

I could have lived happily ever after never tasting espresso again, but then something happened that served to change my perspective forever.  I got married, and we went to Italy for our honeymoon, just two young kids going out of the country for the first time.

We found ourselves in Venice, and on the first morning after our arrival in the city, we had breakfast on a rooftop hotel cafe overlooking the Grand Canal.  With the morning sun glinting off of the waterway, which was beginning to fill with the early rush hour traffic of water taxis, gondolas, and speedboats, the setting was absolute perfection.  A light breeze tinged with the faint smell of marsh, bright skies, and a stellar buffet of platters of prosciutto crudo, cheeses, and pastries completed the scene.

Feeling adventurous, and determined to sample the local product in the one nation that would definitively know how to make it correctly, I ordered an espresso.  What was presented to me was nothing like what I had produced so many times by my own hand – the espresso was topped with a luxurious cap of crema, and the bouquet of the bean, instead of being acrid, was almost sweet, even without the addition of sugar.  Tipping the cup to my lips, the taste was a revelation – intense, yet not bitter, and smooth on the palate.  I spent the rest of our trip ending each of our meals in Florence, Capri and Rome with a single shot of espresso, accompanied only by a single sliver of lemon rind.  Since then, I’ve often considered buying a machine for our kitchen, but was hesitant to do so, having heard unkind tales of inexpensive, underpowered machines, but also unwilling and unable to spend thousands of dollars for a higher quality one.

I’ve spent the last two weeks testing a demonstration unit of the new CitiZ espresso machine, manufactured by Nespresso and available for purchase in the United States on August 1.  For you espresso geeks, I will certainly revel in all of the details of my experience, but for everyone else, here’s my summary:  The Nespresso CitiZ produces a perfect cup of espresso, one that rivals the depth and quality of the product that is served in European restaurants.

If you’re in the midst of performing research on espresso machines for home or office use, you probably already know that the key to high quality espresso, one that features a thick layer of crema and maximum extraction of flavor, is the amount of pressure produced in the process.  While most consumer-level espresso machines produce 15 bars of pressure, the pump-driven Nespresso CitiZ outputs 19 bars.  The results speak for themselves – each shot of espresso that I have made has consistently been capped with a generous layer of golden foam, and the flavor profile is spot-on for how espresso should taste.  Honestly, I never expected an espresso machine that is designed for home use to deliver results that so closely matched restaurant quality.

From a design perspective, the CitiZ offers an extremely easy user experience, with virtually no learning curve to speak of.  The 1 liter water reservoir detaches easily from the back of the machine, giving you the freedom to carry it to the sink instead of using a receptacle to bring water to the machine.  Once you’ve got the water reservoir filled, just plug the CitiZ into the nearest outlet and hit the power switch – the two buttons on the top of the machine (one for regular 1.5 oz shots, the second for the larger lungo shots) start blinking.  Once they remain steadily lit, about two to three minutes in my experience, the machine is ready to do its thing.  Just lift the lever, drop an espresso capsule into the machine, close the lever, and push a button.  After the machine is finished expelling its golden elixir, a second lift of the level ejects the spent capsule into a holding area cleverly hidden behind frosted plastic.  As the owner of the CitiZ, you’ll know if there are empty capsules to discard – but casual observers will never be the wiser.

With respect to physical dimensions, the CitiZ manages to occupy only 5 inches of horizontal space on your kitchen counter, although it is worth noting that the machine is around 14 inches deep – you may need to store it at an angle to prevent it from jutting out into your workspace.  At nearly 11 inches tall, it easily fits underneath my kitchen cabinets.

I used to be an espresso snob, and wanted a machine that would allow me to measure, tamp, and pull my own shot.  After all, I was a barista for quite a while, and part of me considered using capsule-based espresso systems to be cheating.  The Nespresso CitiZ has changed my mind.  You can tell that a lot of research went into creating a machine that’s calibrated to deliver the perfect shot, time and again.  Plus, there really is a measure of convenience in being able to go from craving to satisfaction without all of the manual fuss.  Granted, there will always be purists who insist on sourcing their own beans, grinding, measuring, and tamping, but when you’re pressed for time, or find yourself making many shots of espresso for a crowd, you’ll be grateful for the push-button ease of this machine.

The other mark in favor of Nespresso’s capsule system is the sheer variety of espresso variants that’s available, which allows you to serve espresso for hardcore enthusiasts as well as newcomers who aren’t sure whether they’ll like it.  For benchmark purposes, I used Nespresso’s Ristretto variety as my definition of a “standard” espresso, which did not disappoint.  Nespresso rates the Ristretto variety as a ‘10′ for intensity – if you were preparing a shot for someone who thought that the Ristretto was too bracing, you could easily opt for a Livanto (rated as a ‘6′) or even go as low as the Cosi (an intensity level of ‘3′, and way too low for my taste).  The intensity of each varietal changes based on the origin of the beans and the depth to which the beans are roasted.  Nespresso even goes as far as to recommend which varietals are appropriate for standard and lungo shots, or as components of cappuccinos and lattes, and offers a handful of varietals specifically designed for lungo shots.  The cost per shot comes in at a reasonable .55 cents.

At a suggested price point of $279, the Nespresso CitiZ should definitely be on your short list of candidates if you’re looking for an espresso machine for use in your home or office.