Toaster Ovens - What Are They and Why Should You Use One?
Toaster ovens are a great way to cook food quickly and easily. Whether you’re heating up leftovers, baking cookies, or making a casserole with all that sweet melted cheese, toaster ovens are the perfect kitchen appliance for the job. But what is a toaster oven? And why should you use one? Let’s explore the answers to these questions in more detail.
What Is a Toaster Oven?
A toaster oven is an electric kitchen appliance that combines the functions of both an oven and a toaster. It is typically smaller than a conventional oven, but offers many of the same features such as broiling and baking.
The main differences between a regular oven and a toaster oven is that the latter is smaller, uses less energy, cooks food faster, and can even toast a few slices of bread like its namesake suggests!
A Note About Convection
Toasters are typically convection-based in the range of $100 to $250. The convection setting on a toaster oven has the same fan that circulates and pushes hot air through food, while speeding up the cooking process. In most toaster ovens the fan normally sits beneath a heating element, pushing heat around the foods. On most convection toaster ovens, the hot air circulated by the fan does not always heat as evenly as a larger oven.
Why Use a Toaster Oven?
Toaster ovens offer many advantages over regular ovens. Since they are much smaller than regular ovens, they take up less counter space in your kitchen.
Additionally, because they use less energy than regular-sized ovens, they will help reduce your energy costs over time.
Furthermore, since most toasters offer multiple functions—such as baking cookies, roasting meats like chicken or pork chops, and even making frozen pizza—they are an incredibly versatile appliance for small meals, snacks or reheating leftovers.
What Are the Differences Between a Countertop Oven and a Toaster Oven?
The biggest differentiation of a countertop oven is its size and function. Countertop cooking ovens are generally bigger than toaster ovens and are used for cooking, roasting, and baking a variety of recipes in the kitchen. Toaster ovens generally have smaller settings and take limited counter space. Nonetheless, the boundary between toaster oven versus countertop oven was blurred throughout the decades.
Currently most toaster ovens have bigger sizes available. Several manufacturers also refer to their products as oven-top microwaves or even ovens as counter-soup ovens. Keep this in mind as you explore the major differences in traditional kitchenware that exist within toaster ovens.
What Makes A Toaster Oven Better?
Toast has come leaps and bounds since the early days of just plain white bread popping out of a simple two-slot machine! Nowadays there are so many options when it comes to choosing what type of bread you want for breakfast or lunch; from gluten free breads to sourdough loaves – it can be hard to choose just one!
With a toaster oven you have more control over how you want your toasted bread done; whether it’s extra crispy or lightly browned – you can make sure that your breakfast toast shade settings allows for the best tasting toast every time!
Should I Buy a Toaster Oven or a Toaster?
It all depends on your money and availability of space. Some toaster ovens are like a little smart oven and are incredibly versatile appliances, however unless the work space is very small and you only need toasted bread, many toaster ovens can work well.
Besides Four Slices of Toast, What Can I Cook in My Convection Toaster Oven?
The convection toaster oven works very effectively. Toasting bread is expected. Baking cookies, brownies and summer cakes without increasing the temperature in the house as the large-sized oven would. With the preset cooking functions, you get superb roasted vegetables of any type, frozen foods cooked, slow cooked chicken breasts. Reduced cook time and less energy usage than a traditional wall oven. With a compact toaster oven, you get practically everything you'll fit inside the 8x8 baking dish cooked to perfection.
Why Toaster Ovens are a Great Way to Reduce Energy Consumption
A toaster oven can provide you an effective solution when analyzing how to lower your energy costs. In some cases, it makes much sense to use a small toaster oven instead of heating up your whole full size oven—it'll take longer than the usual oven to cook up leftover food, defrosting frozen waffles or bread.
Some toaster ovens also offer dual cook zone technology so when cooking food, you can do a little more with less cooking time overall. Toaster ovens use about one-third to a half less energy to cook smaller meals than traditional ovens.
Should You Consider an Air Fryer Toaster Oven or Pod Air Fryer Instead?
It's not much different between the toaster ovens using convection and the ovens that use air fryers. Oven air fryers have larger convection fans which allow it to cook faster and give food those crispy edges. An air fryer typically calls for a little oil poured into a trough area and the hot air spreads and circulates the heated oil and air around all the food.
This article is addressing convection toaster ovens not air fryer toaster ovens specifically. See Best Air Fryers for more information.
The Criteria: What To Look for in a Great Toaster Oven
A toaster oven should be capable of satisfying the essentials we expect from any oven. True temperature and heat uniformly is a realistic alternative to a large oven to heat and reheat smaller portions. Other settings that are on a traditional oven such as heat exchange and broiling will be a plus, but they won't be required. It is a simple toaster oven. It shouldn't be necessary for anyone to use their manual to make toast or bake cookies.
What Else Should a Toaster Oven Have?
Handy extras should be considered:
- Removable crumb tray seems a must,
- Adjustable rack positions and typical
- Preset cooking functions are all high on the list
Take a Look at Some of the Best Toaster Ovens
We have looked at some of the smallest toaster ovens to the more expensive toaster ovens. The best rated and most popular models with the features you want.
- EvenToast Technology - The toaster oven interior is specially designed for even toasting of up to 4 slices of bread at a time.
- 9” Pizza, 4 Slices of Bread - The compact toaster oven fits nicely on the countertop, while the curved interior makes room for 9” pizzas and 4 slices of bread.
- Four Functions - The stainless steel toaster oven’s cooking functions include: baking, broiling, toasting, and keeping food warm.
- 30-Minute Timer - The timer includes precise toast settings and stay-on functionality.
- Removable Crumb Tray - Keep the toaster oven clean with the convenient removable crumb tray.
- Dimensions: 16.4 x 11.3 x 9.4 Inches
- Premium Quality Components
- Imported
- Top Rated Quality!
- Even Toast Technology - The toaster oven interior is specially designed for even toasting of up to 4 slices of bread at a time and the sleek compact design fits nicely on your counter-top, while the curved interior makes room for a 9” pizza or 4 slices of bread.
- Small Package With Big Oven Heat - Wide temperature range of 150 to 450 degrees F lets you cook with the convenience of an oven and the natural convection circulates air for faster, even cooking
- Multi Functional - Our toaster oven comes with many features and cooking functions some of which include: baking, broiling, toasting, and keeping food warm.
- Built In Timer – The 30 min timer includes precise toast settings
- 【3 IN ONE VERSATILE COOKING FUCTIONS】Bake, Broil and a Toast all in a mini compact toaster oven to fit your daily cooking needs.
- 【SPACE SAVER WITH 2 RACK CAPACITY】 The Compact and versatile design of COMFEE' countertop toaster oven can fit nicely in any small spaces when counter space is limited with comfort stretch and articulated knees. 2 Rack Levels make toaster ovens countertop holds 2 to 4 slices of bread, 9'' pizza, enough for a family.
- 【EASY-TO-USE BUILT IN TIMER】The 30-Minute-Timer includes precise toast shade preference and stay-on feature for longer baking tasks. This compact toaster oven has simple controls that are straightforward and easy to use.
- 【WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE & INTUITIVE OPERATION DIALS】150°F to 450°F lets you cook with the convenience of different type of foods. Two easy to use dials can not only let you set your preferred cooking time, but also make you easy to control temperature and cooking modes.
- 【3 USEFUL ACCESSORIES & EASY TO CLEAN】Small toaster ovens countertop comes with 3 accessories: Non-stick Baking Rack, Baking Pan and detachable Crumb Tray, allows for effortless cleaning.
- 6 slice convection toaster oven for faster, more even cooking. This Oster Large Digital Countertop Oven can fit up a pan with the measure of 2 inches height, 10.5 inches width and 12.5 inches length
- Convection technology and a wide temperature range of 150 to 450 degrees F let you cook with the convenience of an oven
- Digital controls with 7 cooking settings and an interior light for easy viewing
- Large interior can accommodate one 12 inch pizza, casseroles, cookies, and even a roast; with 24 inch cord
- Includes Durable baking pan and removable crumb tray for easy cleanup. Watts: 1300w
- The Breville Smart Oven Pro with Element iQ System is a high performance countertop oven; Reduce your cooking time by up to 30% using the convection setting and choose from 10 cooking functions as an interior oven light guides you to perfection
- Element iQ System: Using 5 independent quartz elements, smart algorithms steer power to where and when it's needed to create the ideal cooking environment for perfect results every time; Fast 1800 Watt preheat gets your meals on the table more quickly
- Convection Powered: The Smart Oven Pro's convection setting reduces cooking time by up to 30%; An inbuilt fan circulates the hot air within the oven which speeds the cooking process by stripping away the cold air that surrounds your food
- 10 Cooking Functions: versatile countertop oven with 10 cooking functions to guide you to perfection: Toast, Bagel, Bake, Roast, Broil, Pizza, Cookies, Reheat, Warm and Slow cook
- Smart Oven with Slow Cook Function: Take your time to tenderize and develop complex flavors using the slow cook function, designed for long cook times at low temperatures; Slow Cook for up to 10 hours before the setting automatically turns to keep warm
- Large Capacity: Large 18.5 x 15.7 x 11.1 inch interior with enough room for 6 slices of bread, 13 inch pizza, roast chicken and a 9 cup muffin tray and even for slow cooking with a 4.4 qt Dutch oven
- Interior Oven Light: Integrated oven light automatically turns on at the end of the cooking cycle to help you see inside; Auto shut off and independently controlled button; Replaceable componentry like your regular large oven
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Ready to Get That Toaster Oven?
To sum it up, if you’re looking for an efficient way to cook small meals quickly without sacrificing on quality then look no further than the humble yet versatile toaster oven!
The best toaster oven is the one that does all those little cooking tasks just the way you like it.
Additionally, it not only takes up much less space than an ordinary-sized traditional model but it also allows you greater control over how your food is cooked so that you can get delicious results every time.
So go ahead and step into the world of toast – with all its wonderful variations – with the help of this handy kitchen appliance today!
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