This 11-in-1 Countertop Appliance Saved My Family’s Christmas Dinner When My Oven Broke—and It’s on Sale

My family always hosts gatherings for our relatives during the holiday season. My mom takes comfort in putting together the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals despite the stress, so the rhythms stay consistent year after year: the turkey, macaroni and cheese, potatoes, bread, and champagne. This year, our traditions felt more crucial in the wake of a loss; the first holidays after losing a loved one are always difficult, and we needed to hold onto the comforts. So when our 25-year-old oven conked out at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve—right before attending our go-to church service—my mother immediately burst into tears. Enter: The Calphalon Performance Countertop French Door Air Fryer Oven.

To buy: $280 (was $350); amazon.com.

In the luckiest of timings, we’d just replaced our standard four-slot toaster the week before; this stainless steel beauty had arrived, gleaming, in the mail after a long period of coaxing my mother to accept a countertop oven rather than a traditional toaster. I’d received a sample from the brand to review the oven, and figured it would be the perfect replacement (plus, I really wanted an air fryer at home, and my mom refused to have another single-use appliance in the house). Without this countertop oven, we wouldn’t have been able to salvage our holiday dinner.

During our dinner crisis, we first took stock of what needed finishing. Luckily, the turkey was taken care of already. We still needed to cook the bread, potatoes, a cheesy appetizer my aunt had brought over, and the vegetables. Four of us in my nuclear family were home for the holidays, plus six other relatives. 

A normal air fryer oven wouldn’t have cut it, but the 11-in-1 function of the Calphalon Performance Countertop Oven allowed us the versatility to complete our meal. Similarly, its large capacity gave us the room to actually cook for the 10 people involved in one go without having to constantly swap out trays. 

The oven has a sophisticated double French-door opening (which only requires a single pull), a large capacity design, an LCD display controlled by two convenient dials and three intuitive button controls. The full 11 modes of cooking included toasting, bagels, baking, roasting, broiling, pizza, cookies, warm, wings, and dehydrating. The purchase also includes an air fry basket, durable nonstick baking pan, wire rack, and a removable crumb tray. The oven uses quartz heat technology, which delivers 40 percent more even heat in comparison to a traditional oven for superior cooking and crisping results. 

In practice, that meant our veggies and potatoes turned out crispy, the bread was toasted perhaps even better than the oven (as my mom nearly always burns the bread), the appetizers were still on-time, and we avoided another full-on meltdown in the wake of how tough the holiday had been already. After, the device was easy to clean, and we could even keep a plate warm for a relative who always ran late.

At the risk of saying “I told you so,” the 11 functions of this countertop oven literally saved our holiday dinner. In accordance with my mother’s preferences, it takes up minimal space when considering its power, and performs each of its cooking modes precisely. It’s also easy to use, stylish in appearance, and is currently 20 percent off. 

While I hope none of you experience the same Christmas dinner disaster, the Calphalon Performance Countertop French Door Oven would be there to save you if you did. Shop the device now while it’s on sale.

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