First, the toaster oven installation directions should specify the required distances to the side and above for combustable materials. Having a vent hood above is certainly safer than having a cabinet above, which is the usual condition when the oven is placed on a counter. I would recommend against having any doors. Beyond the hazards described above, they probably could be argued to not conform to the typical use of a toaster oven. You are doing an entire kitchen, so a building permit, electrical permit, and plumbing permit are going to be required most places. It is for your own sake that the inspections are performed. The inspector will want to know that the installation is compliant with the manufacturer's instructions for both the toaster oven and the hood, so keep the instructions handy. BTW, I think a modest hood is a good idea. It should be deep enough to extend from the wall to a point beyond the toaster door when open if you want to catch most of the effluent that excapes when the door is opened. It may have to be some minimum height above the oven; check directions before buying. Town and municipality rules typically require permits for everything one does to a residence that relates to electrical, fire, or plumbing. This is usually ignored by homeowners for tiny jobs, such as changing a light switch, even though some may need oversight. Some localities may allow the homeowner to pull the permits for his own house. The inspectors will still expect conformance with all codes. kas

I have the same setup for over 5 years and I am happy with it. Background: I moved from a house that only has a range and an otr microwave. Hated that otr microwave as it didn't sucks anything and the filter was a pain to clean. Kitchen was so so small and could not have more than one person in the cooking area and very limited counter space. When I bought the current house I want the new kitchen to have clean counter top at most if not all time (no small appliances on counter). I have enough wall cabinet space to accommodate a speed oven, convection oven, and a cooktop. We use the mw function of the speed oven daily, I also use it for most day to day baking needs as we are a small family of 3 and it hit up much faster than the big convection oven. MW function was the only request my DH has in the kitchen, so that was a must for us. I have a small toaster oven that we put away in cabinet when we don't use it (we use it at most once a wk, sometime maybe once a month). I did want to get a combi steam but I don't have enough space to add to what I already have. So I gave up that to grant DH's wish. If I have the space, I would have want to add that to my current setup as nice to have but what I have definitely meets my need. HTH.

Murraysmom, I feel the same way about the book. I didn't expect the recipes to be quite so elaborate, but the book has lots of good information. Plus it's beautiful! My DIL made the Cheeseburger Slider Pockets last night. She's a vegetarian, but she said my son and grandson said they were great. She substituted ground turkey because that's what she had. I may try the sweet potato fries tonight. PS: I did try the sweet potato fries, and they were great! I gave up on the mandoline (that's my usual response to it), and cut them by hand. Tried to make them a uniform 1/4" but I'm sure the size varied a bit. Gave them only a slight spray of oil, which didn't get all the pieces, but that was okay. I cooked them a little longer in the second stage (400º) than the 10 minutes stated in the recipe. Really enjoyed them. I'll make the rest tomorrow.

Does it fry? No. Does it cook small amounts of food, convection style? Yes. We like ours and since we are recent empty nesters, I love it for roasted veg, thin cuts of meat which are easy to overcook conventionally. Great for warming up leftovers that could get soggy in the microwave. It cooks faster than our toaster oven and makes the best baked potatoes/sweet potatoes ever. I keep it in the pantry just off our kitchen and of late have been using it several times a week. Today, I did roasted beets which I will reheat when I do baby potatoes and green beans for dinner. My 20 something daughters use theirs several times a week. For the investment it's a great little appliance provided you have the space for it. Since we don't eat a lot of toast and we have a toaster for when we want to, I am thinking of getting rid of my toaster oven, now that we have the air fryer. ETA - when we were a family of four, it wouldn't have been as sufficient as it is for us now.