Ninja Prestige Smart XL Pro Cook System, 10-in-1, Stainless Steel, DT551

Why it's worth it

The Ninja Prestige Smart XL cooks on two levels at once and includes a built-in temperature probe that stops the guessing on meat. It's the pick for households of four or more, especially if you roast chicken or pork on weeknights.

The probe takes the guesswork out of meat. You slide the Pro Cook thermometer into a chicken breast or a pork loin, pick your doneness, and the oven tracks the internal temperature and tells you when it's there. No opening the door every ten minutes to poke at things. If you've ever dried out a roast by five minutes, this is the feature worth stepping up for, and none of the other ovens here have it.

It's built for feeding more than two people. Ninja rates it for two 9-by-9 trays at once, 20 cookies, nine slices of toast, a 12-pound turkey, or eight pounds of food in air fry mode. Both racks cook evenly without rotating or shaking anything halfway through. That matters when dinner is a sheet of vegetables on one level and chicken thighs on the other.

From our review of 5 countertop toaster ovens, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +The probe takes the guesswork out of meat
• +It's built for feeding more than two people
• +It gets going fast
• +The controls are easy to read and easy to explain

What to know

• –It's loud on full air fry
• –The stainless shows every fingerprint, and the probe cable is fussy