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The Easy-Bake Oven, currently a product of Hasbro, is a working toy oven that for many years used an ordinary light bulb as a heat source, but now has a true heating element. Eleven versions of the Easy-Bake Oven have been sold.^[1] By 1997, more than 16 million Easy-Bake Ovens had been sold.^[2]

The oven comes with packets of pastry mix and small round pans. (Additional mixes can be purchased separately.) After water is added to the mix in the pan, it is pushed into the oven through a slot.^[1] After cooking, the cake is pushed out through a slot in the other end.

This iconic toy was introduced in 1963 by Kenner Products, a Cincinnati, Ohio, based toy company. Often cited as a favorite childhood toy by women and men alike, Easy-Bake has even served as the inspiration for the careers of celebrity chefs such as Bobby Flay. The early models were designed to look like miniature conventional ovens. Later models were designed to look like microwave ovens. The current model looks more like a modern floor-standing oven.

Although the toy's creation has been falsely claimed by many who apparently wish to attach their names to a bit of toy history (and incorrectly attributed in an episode of FoodTV's Unwrapped to a deceased Kenner salesman whose solitary contribution was to suggest that Kenner make a pretzel oven after seeing pretzel vendors on a trip to New York City), the Easy-Bake Oven was the invention of Ronald Howes, who conceived of the design, built the first model, and sold the rights to the company. Mr. Howes also had a hand in either inventing or refining many other classic Kenner toys such as Play-Doh, Spirograph, Give-a-Show Projector, and Close-and-Play Record Player.

There are three models of the Easy-Bake Oven currently available from Hasbro. The Easy-Bake Oven and Snack Center was introduced in 1993. It was powered by a 100 watt light bulb that was sold separately from the oven. Another sleek design was made later. Both Easy-Bake Ovens could make cakes, cookies, and various desserts in minutes.

A decade later, the Real Meal Oven was released. It won the 2003 Best Toy Parenting magazine Toy of the Year Award. Unlike previous versions, this oven could bake two pans at once. The neutral colors were appropriate for both genders. The pans were bigger, and it could bake both desserts and meals. Also, this model featured a heating element and did not require a light bulb.

In 2006, a different version of the Easy-Bake was released. It featured a stove-top warmer, and like the first version by Hasbro, it had smaller pans and only could bake one pan at a time. It also had a heating element.

The oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2006.^[3]

In February 2007, Hasbro and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 985,000 Easy-Bake toy ovens after finding that kids' hands and fingers can get caught in the oven's opening, thereby posing serious risk of burns.^[4] Since the February 2007 announcement, an additional 249 reports of children getting their hands or fingers caught in the ovens, including 16 reports of second- and third-degree burns. As a result, Hasbro recalled all front-loading Easy Bake ovens sold since May 2006, even those that were repaired with the free kit distributed after the February 2007 recall. This unfortunate turn of events was the result of Hasbro's apparently ill conceived redesign of the original time tested Easy-Bake Oven. ^[5]

See: 2007 Chinese export recalls.

• In the sitcom Friends Monica Geller owned "six or seven" Easy-Bake ovens as a child.
• In the Seinfeld episode "The Merv Griffin Show", Elaine becomes excited at the chance to use an original Easy-Bake Oven belonging to Jerry's girlfriend.

1. ^ ^{a b} "The Easy-Bake Oven, Gourmet Style" (with audio link), National Public Radio Morning Edition, December 8, 2003. retrieved Nov. 11, 2006
2. ^ Timeline of Easy Bake Oven History, Hasbro.com. retrieved 14 November 2006.
3. ^ Associated Press. "Easy-Bake Oven enters Toy Hall of Fame", MSNBC.com. 9 November 2006. retrieved 11 November 2006.
4. ^ "Nearly 1 million toy ovens recalled", CNN.com. 6 February 2007. retrieved 6 February 2007.
5. ^ "Easy Bake toy ovens recalled again", AP.org. 19 July 2007. retrieved 19 July 2007.

• Hasbro's History and Frequently Asked Questions about the Easy-Bake Oven