Black & Decker Crisp 'N Bake Air Fry 4 Slice Toaster Oven

A compact toaster oven with light-duty air fry aspirations

I set up the Crisp ’N Bake on a small counter where space is at a premium, and its footprint is friendly for a 4‑slice toaster oven. The stainless steel shell looks tidy enough for an apartment or dorm, and the cavity fits a 9‑inch pizza or four slices of sandwich bread without drama. This is a simple box with two knobs, a pull‑down door, and a removable crumb tray. If you’re expecting bells and whistles, you won’t find them; the value case here is compact size and a very basic control scheme.

Build and design

The housing is lightweight stainless steel with a straightforward, no-frills door and a clear window. It’s easy to wipe down but shows smudges and the metal feels thin compared to pricier ovens. Inside, there’s a single fixed rack position—no adjustable rails—which matters more than you might think. Clearance between the rack and the upper element is tight, which limits the height of cookware you can use and puts food fairly close to the heat.

It ships with an air fry basket, a broil rack, and a shallow bake pan. The accessories fit the cavity well, but they’re light gauge. The bake pan in particular can flex when hot; line it with foil if you’re roasting oily foods to keep cleanup manageable. The crumb tray slides out for quick crumb dumps, which you’ll want to do frequently.

Controls and setup

Everything is driven by two knobs: a function/temperature selector and a 30‑minute mechanical timer with a stay‑on position. The timer’s audible tick and end‑of‑cycle “ding” are reassuringly old‑school. The function knob doubles as a temperature selector for bake and toast shades, but Air Fry is a single preset. In practice, that means you can’t choose a lower air fry temperature to avoid overbrowning delicate items or a higher one to power through thicker fries.

The markings are small and the pointer on the knobs isn’t very pronounced. I had to crouch to make sure I was on the right icon, especially early on. There aren’t minute-by-minute ticks on the timer either; it’s an estimate. If precision timing matters to you, plan to keep a separate kitchen timer handy.

Toasting performance

As a toaster, it gets the job done, with caveats. Four slices of white bread on a medium shade took a little under five minutes in my tests and came out mostly even, but edges tended to brown faster than centers. The rear runs slightly hotter than the front. For bagels or thick-cut bread, expect to rotate or flip halfway if you want uniform color.

EvenToast or not, this is a compact cavity with close elements, so small placement changes matter. For daily toast, I’d call it acceptable—better than a pop-up for thicker artisan slices—but not the set‑and‑forget evenness you get from larger, pricier toaster ovens.

Baking and broiling

Bake mode runs a bit cooler than the dial suggests. Against a thermocouple, a 400°F setpoint stabilized closer to 380–385°F after a 10‑minute preheat. Cookies and frozen appetizers baked evenly when I gave the oven a few extra minutes to come up to temperature and avoided overcrowding. A 9‑inch pizza fits, but because the top element is close, cheese can blister quickly. I had better results starting at a lower temperature and finishing with a brief broil for color.

Broil has enough punch for open-faced melts and quick gratins. With the single rack height, food sits close to the element, so watch it like a hawk—30 seconds can be the difference between deeply golden and singed. Keep Warm holds food comfortably without drying out too fast, but the 30‑minute limit means you’ll likely use the stay‑on setting and keep an eye on it.

Air fry mode

Air Fry uses high‑intensity heat with a fan to move air across the basket. On this unit, it’s essentially a fixed, high temperature setting approximating 425°F. You control doneness by time and by how much food you load.

With a half-basket (roughly 8 ounces) of frozen fries, I saw light, even crisping in about 16 minutes, with a shake at the halfway mark. Going to a full basket extended time significantly and never quite matched the crunch I get from a dedicated, higher‑wattage air fryer. Chicken nuggets cooked through quickly, but I had to add extra minutes to get the texture I like. Vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts did well—tossed with minimal oil, they roasted with nice caramelization—but you’ll want to watch for smoking if there’s excess oil or if you’re cooking fatty items like wings.

Because of the tight vertical clearance, splatter and crumbs have a shorter path to the elements. Keep the crumb tray clean and consider using the shallow pan under the basket for juicy foods. That simple step cut down on smoke and kept the interior cleaner between deep cleans.

Capacity and day-to-day use

This is a small oven. It’s perfect for single portions, side dishes, and quick toast. You can do a few chicken thighs, a compact sheet of roasted vegetables, or a personal pizza. You can’t do a sheet pan dinner for four or a tall casserole. The fixed rack height pushes you toward low‑profile cookware (think quarter sheet pans and shallow skillets).

The mechanical timer’s 30‑minute cap is also limiting for longer bakes. The stay‑on position gets you around that, but you lose the auto‑shutoff safety net. I used a separate timer to avoid forgetting anything.

Heat, noise, and safety

The fan noise on Air Fry is moderate—audible, but not intrusive. The exterior, especially the sides and top, gets hot to the touch. Leave generous clearance on all sides and avoid stacking anything on top while in use. Like any compact toaster oven, it can smoke with fatty foods or pooled oil. In my testing, keeping portions modest, using the pan under the basket for juicy items, and cleaning the crumb tray regularly kept smoke to an occasional whiff rather than a room‑filling event.

Cleaning

The removable crumb tray is the hero here—use it often. The air fry basket’s mesh takes a soak and a brush to get truly clean, which is normal for this style. The interior wipes down easily while warm, though the corners and around the elements accumulate baked‑on bits if you let things go. Plan on a periodic deeper clean if you air fry frequently.

Value and who it’s for

The Crisp ’N Bake is appealing if you want a compact, inexpensive toaster oven that can also “sort of” air fry. It toasts acceptably, bakes small items competently with some temperature patience, and can air‑crisp lighter loads. The tradeoffs are clear: a single rack height, a short timer, a fixed‑temperature air fry mode, small capacity, and heat distribution that rewards attentive cooking.

If your primary goal is air frying, a dedicated air fryer with adjustable temperatures and a stronger fan will produce better, faster results. If you want a more versatile toaster oven for family cooking, look for a larger cavity with multiple rack positions and a longer timer.

The bottom line

As a space‑saving, budget toaster oven, the Crisp ’N Bake works—so long as you keep expectations reasonable and stay hands‑on. It toasts, it bakes small batches, and it can add some crunch to frozen snacks. As an air fryer replacement, it falls short, and the fixed rack height and modest power make it less forgiving than larger ovens.

Recommendation: I would not broadly recommend this model as a primary “toaster oven plus air fryer” solution. If you specifically need a compact, low-cost toaster oven for light toasting and occasional small bakes, and you’re comfortable monitoring food closely and cleaning regularly, it can fit that niche. For anyone seeking reliable air fry performance, more even heating, or family‑size flexibility, there are better choices in slightly larger, more capable ovens or dedicated air fryers.