If you are looking for the best toaster oven, then you should look at the features it has. Sure it is important to read toaster oven reviews, but you the first step is to make sure the appliance has all the features you are looking for. So here are some of the things features to look for in a toaster oven.
Looking for recommendations of the best toaster ovens?
Here are the best toaster ovens in order:
- 5 best toaster ovens’ comparison
- Best Breville Toaster Oven Reviews
- Best Hamilton Beach Toaster Oven Reviews
- Best Oster Toaster Oven Reviews
- Best Cuisinart Toaster Oven
- Best Black And Decker Toaster Oven Reviews
Plenty of Presets
These are important because they make cooking the food easier than ever. You can easily just select the type of food you are cooking, such as potatoes or pizza and the toaster oven will take care of the rest. If you are not familiar with cooking time or just don’t like looking at recipes this can be a great feature to use.
Easy to Use Design
Just because you have a bunch of presets does not mean the unit will be easy to use. The best toaster oven will not only provide you with plenty of options but will also be easy to use.
Loud Enough Timer
You want to make sure the timer on the toaster oven is loud enough to hear. There are some units out there where the timer is barely audible. This means if you have stepped out of the room you may not realize your food is done until the smoke detector is going off and by then your food is burnt. Even if you have a unit with an auto shut off feature, you want to make sure you know when your food is done cooking so it does not get cold.
Auto-Eject Racks
You should also look at the rack in the toaster oven. One of the best features is a rack that pops halfway out when the door is open. This is good because it means you don’t have to mess with pulling the rack out yourself which could cause burns. It can also make it easier to check on your food.
Auto Shut Off
Along with an audible timer, the best toaster oven will also have an automatic shut off feature. There are a few ways this works. One is that when the timer on the oven is done, the unit turns off. Other units use a thermometer that is part of the oven. When the food reaches the appropriate internal temperature, the unit turns off. This helps keep your food from being overcooked.
Accessories Included
It is no secret that the accessories for a toaster oven are smaller than the accessories for a traditional oven. The best toaster oven will have plenty of accessories for you in the package. This can save you time and hassle with finding accessories. It also means you will be able to cook with the toaster oven as soon as you get it.
Easy to Clean
Another thing you want to look at is going with a unit that is easy to clean. This means that the racks should be able to be removed or have a cleaning feature on it. Just as your conventional oven needs to be cleaned periodically, so will your toaster oven. Make sure it will not be too difficult to do this.
Most people that haven’t been shopping for toaster ovens recently do not realize how complex they have become and how many options there are.
Buying a toaster oven today is a little like buying some of the other electrics or appliances that you have in your home – they are smarter than ever and have a great deal of versatility built in.
So, how do you know what to look for in a modern toaster oven and which one should you get? This complete buying guide will tell you everything you need to know about toaster ovens and give you all of the information you need to make a buying decision.
5 Best Toaster Ovens
| Ranking | Product | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Breville BOV800XL |
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| 2 | Hamilton Beach 31126 |
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| 3 | Panasonic NB-G110P Flash Xpress |
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| 4 | Breville BOV450 XL |
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| 5 | Oster TSSTTVVG01 |
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Types of Toaster Ovens
There are a couple of different types of toaster oven.
In fact, the term toaster oven has come to have a very broad meaning, often incorporating both the less complex units that are usually known simply as toasters and that only toast bread, bagels of food that will fit into the slots.
But the true toaster oven is more than just an appliance to toast bread and bagels; modern toaster ovens can do a whole lot and they are a very versatile kitchen appliance.
The true toaster oven actually is a small oven that sits on your countertop (or is sometimes installed beneath cabinets) and allows you to quickly heat up a small space to toast bread, melt cheese and much more.
The design of the toaster oven and the stylishness of it is not something that is important to everyone. But for those who have a particular motif going in their kitchen – such as matching appliance colors – this is definitely going to be a consideration.
Most toaster ovens look pretty much the same. They have some form of interface and the oven door, with racks, heating elements or other cooking methods inside.
However, there are some unique toaster ovens out there and there are definitely enough options to give you a choice that will fit your unique style or match your kitchen decor.
The next thing that you are going to need to consider is what size you want your toaster to be, and what capacity you need it. These two things usually go hand-in-hand, but not always.
The capacity is important because whatever plans you have for your toaster, you’ll need enough room to handle the food that it involves.
However, size is also a consideration because if you get a toaster that won’t fit on your countertop or doesn’t look good in your kitchen, the extra capacity will be at the expense of style and decor.
You have to know basically what you are looking for when you begin shopping when it comes to size.
Lowering Mechanisms & Racks
You’ll also want to look at the internal components of the toaster oven as well. For the standard toaster, this would be the lowering mechanism. For the convection toaster oven, it would be the racks that are inside as well as any pans or other extras.
The wire rack inside can be either a single or a double rack, or in the cases of some larger, commercial toaster ovens, there may even be more.
Because these ovens can cook a lot more than toast with the right accessories, this is something that you want to consider and pay attention to as you are shopping for your toaster oven.
Timer & Function Options
When it comes to the timer and functions of your toaster oven, you have a huge array of choices. The control panel on a NASA rocket might have less versatility than modern toaster ovens. They can do all kinds of stuff besides toasting bread.
You definitely want to pay attention to these options and decide beforehand what you want or need in a toaster oven.
For example, you definitely want to go with an oven that differentiates between baking and broiling (and offers both), and toasting. This will give you a ton of versatility and usefulness right there.
But there might be a number of other presets as well like reheating something, defrosting frozen food, roasting and rotisserie, or making pizza, cookies and a ton of other foods.
Heat Sensors & Automatic Shutoff
You also may want to have an automatic shutoff and advanced heat sensors built into your toaster. This is especially good if you are making straight toast.
A toaster that senses the temperature inside and does it accurately will be able to change how much time each consecutive piece of bread stays in the toaster to make it just the way you like it.
Automatic shutoff should come with every toaster oven out there because it is a serious fire hazard if it does not shut off automatically.
You can get advanced heat sensors on both the toaster oven style units and the basic toasters where the bread pops up when done.
Advanced Presets & Timers
There are a whole class of toaster ovens that offer advanced presets and timers that do so much more than the basic ones described above.
An example is the high-end toaster models that only toasts one side of a bagel, or detects when bread is frozen and adds more time to the clock.
In addition, there are high-quality toaster ovens that respond if you do not come and get your food out while it is still hot.
If the toaster detects that there is food still in the toaster and the temperature gets low enough, it will automatically reheat it and keep it warm for you.
Audible Alarms
If you are going to get a toaster oven with all of the bells and whistles, then you might as well get one that has an audible alarm. Many toasters do not come with this useful feature surprisingly, but they definitely should.
If you are in another room in the house, you might not be able to hear the toaster pop up or shut off, but you will probably hear an alarm.
Smart-home Connectivity
You also want to make sure that you allow for future connectivity with your smart-home if you are planning on installing those functions.
Smart technology allows you to control connected appliances via a smartphone app or connect them to the internet and the other appliances in your kitchen.
This might not seem like a particularly useful feature but the trust is, being able to pre-heat your toaster oven before you put your bagel in it can be very helpful in the morning when everyone is in a rush.
Cleaning & Maintenance
You also want to allow for cleaning and make sure that the toaster isn’t going to require maintenance anytime in the near future. The way that you check the first one is to look for the crumb tray and pull it out.
Test how easy it is for you to remove it and dump the crumbs without making a mess. If the tray is hard to pull out or the crumbs can easily be spilled, you might want to consider a different model.
As for the maintenance aspect, you want to check out the product you are considering and make sure that the manufacturer doesn’t list required maintenance that would make it expensive to own.
Then check reviews online and make sure that there isn’t a consistent pattern of a certain part going out and needing to be replaced.
In addition, you can check the warranty and make sure it is fair and covers you in case of a bad product.
Quality & Price
When it comes to the quality of the product and the price that you are going to pay, you need to balance the higher price with the features that you can live without until you come with a happy medium.
However, be aware that most of the time, you are probably only going to use your toaster oven for its most basic purpose – toast. There are toaster ovens out there that cost hundreds of dollars and don’t do a whole lot more than the basic unit that is less than $100.
On the other hand, it could be worth the extra money if you get a toaster that makes toast perfectly – the way you like it. There are many factors to weigh before you decide up on a toaster oven brand and model, and you’ll have to figure out what you want in a unit beforehand.
The Bottom Line
All of these factors together make up the modern toaster oven. There are bells, whistles, internet connectivity, automation and safety features as well as factors like the reputation of the brand and the reviews of the particular product to consider.
But get a toaster that does have the ability to make more than toast, because you will be surprised how useful it actually is, especially when you just want to heat something up or defrost something quickly, and you’ll save money on electricity whenever you use your little toaster oven instead of your main oven.
Toaster Oven Vs Toaster
A perfect breakfast is necessary for a perfect day! Toaster oven and toaster; though typically sound similar to one another, a lot makes one different from the other and accordingly varies users’ usage of the product.
What do they have in common?
With breakfast being one of the most important meals of the day, it’s no wonder there are a wide variety of ready-made breakfast options like bagels, English muffins, waffles, pancakes, and pastries. These tasty treats are in addition to age old, classic toast.
Warm crunch bread is a breakfast staple, and achieving the wholesome goodness has been easier over the years with simple kitchen appliances like the toaster and toaster oven.
While the toaster and toaster oven are each light, easily portable appliances that plug in and operate off electricity, they are much different in their capacities.
Toaster Oven Vs Toaster: What’s Different?
- The toaster is an upright appliance with between 2 and four slots for bread, pastries, muffins, and bagels.
- The slot size can vary in thickness to accommodate thicker items, like bagels; and the cook time can be selected for various settings such as frozen waffle, bagel, and muffin.
- The heating elements are along the inside and outside of the slots to provide an even toasting. Toasters work by using an infrared heating system that removes moisture from the outside of the bread and charring it to give it a warm and soft inside with a crispy exterior.
- The coils on the inside of a toaster are closer to the food, thus allowing for a quicker cook time, using less energy.The spring-loaded timer is a signature feature of the toaster, which also serves as a safety feature so forgotten items aren’t left to burn to a crisp and ignite the appliance.
- When the selected feature has completed the toasting cycle, the appliance shuts off and the bread, or pastry, pops up.
- Toasters are significantly smaller than toaster ovens, and easier to clean than toaster ovens. In addition, toasters are generally cheaper than toaster ovens, lighter, and easier to move.
- However, the abilities of the toaster begin and end with toasting breakfast items, making it far less functional than a toaster oven.
- The toaster oven, another modern-day kitchen convenience is much like a convection oven, only smaller. Toaster ovens are weighed more than most toasters and can be moved to and removed from the countertop to free up space much more easily.
- The toaster oven has interior coiled heating elements on the top and bottom of the appliance that heat up and provide heat to cook and or reheat food.
- This heating method provides for a more balanced and even heating other kitchen appliances. Much like a convection oven, a toaster oven requires time to preheat to be most effective, thus requires more energy than a regular toaster.
- The various settings of a toaster oven make it the preferred appliance for most people. The settings include grilling, baking, toasting, warming, and broiling; the broiling feature is especially admired for browning the top of food.
- A toaster oven also enables food to be crispy, such as bacon. The toaster oven has a timer feature to prevent overcooking or burning of food, but also has a feature to allow continuous cooking, thus requiring one to turn it off.
- When it comes to using a toaster oven to toast breakfast items like a toaster, it can take up to two times longer and has the potential to withdraw too much moisture, leaving the food dry and crispy throughout.
- The
- cannot be adjusted, but the racks inside a toaster oven can be adjusted to fit larger, thicker items.
- Another positive feature of a toaster oven is that it is self-cleaning. When preparing food, should something spill onto the heating elements, it will simply clean itself the next time it is turned on.
- However, a safety concern of the toaster oven is crumbs that catch on fire, and forgotten food that burns. A major drawback to the toaster oven is the limited capacity.
- Because a toaster oven is typically larger than the regular toasters, it is more ideal for large meals or for reheating many items, like leftover pizza.
Toaster oven vs Convection oven
Convection and Toaster ovens offer households with a wide range of benefits and utilities, however unless the user knows the pros and cons of each, it may not be easy to completely extract what it has to offer.
We shall now evaluate the two to assess the similarities and differences.
Similarities between Convection Oven and Toaster Oven
- Purpose: The purpose of both a convection oven and a toaster oven is to apply heat to cook food and reheat food.
- Settings: Both the convection oven and toaster oven have multiple cook settings that include warming, baking, broiling, and grilling. Both the convection oven and toaster oven have multiple heat settings to ensure proper cooking and food temperatures.
- Warranties: Both the convection oven and the toaster oven come with manufacturer warranties to cover product defects and malfunctions.
Differences – Convection Oven Vs Toaster Oven
While the convection oven and toaster oven do have important similarities, it is the differences between the two appliances that can really be the determining factor. The differences include:
- Size- The difference in size between the convection oven and toaster oven are quite substantial.
- The convection oven is much larger, more like the size of a traditional oven, and often sits on the floor or built into the wall, but can be a countertop version as well.
- The toaster oven is a compact appliance that is typically set on countertops, but is also easily stored away and moved out when needed.
- Heating method- The way the two appliances provide heat is also quite different. The toaster oven has interior coiled heating elements on the top and bottom of the appliance that heat up and provide heat to cook and or reheat food.
- Because the coils are placed in fixed locations, heat is not dispersed evenly. The convection oven, on the other hand, uses fans to move heated air within the appliance to cook the food, allowing for a more even cooking and efficient cooking method.
- Cost- Because of the differences in size and heating methods, the cost of the convection oven and toaster oven is quite significant.
- Because the toaster oven is compact and portable, it is much less than the convection oven; likewise, because the convection oven is so much larger, offers a more efficient cooking method, and a more permanently placed appliance, it cost a great deal more than the toaster oven.
- Operating requirements- The source requirements for convection oven and toaster oven can vary as well.
- Because the toaster oven is a portable, countertop appliance, it plugs in and uses electricity to operate. The convection oven can either plug in and use electricity or connect to natural gas lines and operate that way.
- Capacity- Because of the vast size difference between a convection oven and a toaster oven, the cooking capacity and abilities also vary greatly.
- While a convection oven has approximately the same cooking capacity and allowance as a traditional oven, it can sufficiently cook anything that can be prepared in a traditional oven; however, when it comes to preparing foods that need to maintain some moisture, a convection oven is not the best choice because of the fan propelling heated air within the unit.
- The toaster oven, because of its small size is incapable preparing large items (think turkey and full size cakes). Rather, the toaster oven is more ideal for reheating or cooking something for a single meal (think bagel, leftover pizza, and French fries).
Related:
Countertop Microwave Buying Guide
Convection Oven Buying Guide
Toaster Oven Vs Microwave Oven
The microwave oven and the toaster oven are small, convenient modern day kitchen appliances that provide alternative methods for cooking and reheating meals.
With the busy schedules between work and family, microwave ovens and toaster ovens provide a healthier alternative to the fast food options.
The amount of time it takes to wait in line for a food laden with fat and calories can equally be spent reheating leftovers from a previous nutritious meal.
While the microwave oven and toaster oven both offer a helping hand in the kitchen, deciding which one to purchase or use can be a struggle.
In such case, one must weigh the pros and cons.
The microwave oven is an appliance that can set on the countertop, or be installed within the cabinets, or above the stovetop range. In comparison to a convection oven, a microwave uses less energy and takes a significantly less amount of time to heat or cook food.
The larger the microwave oven, the larger the capacity and size meal that can be cooked.
The microwave oven cooks by using radio wave that circulate and stimulate the water particles in the food, ultimately causing friction, which in turn creates heat.
The microwave has several preset options for cooking various foods from popcorn, to baked potatoes, to fish, to defrosting frozen foods.
The conveniences of the microwave oven may make it seem to be a miracle appliance, but it does have its drawbacks. For instance, food prepared in the microwave cannot be browned and food cooked in the microwave has a tendency to turn out sodden.
On the other hand, the rapid cooking method has also been known to extract moisture from food, making it tough and dry. The fast heating method has also been proven to rob food of nutritional components, thus making food less nutritious.
In short, the microwave oven can make food less appealing.
In addition to the inability to brown, and make food crisp, foods heated in plastic containers run the risk of transferring poisonous, cancer causing toxin into the food.
Further, metal containers are not microwave safe and can cause fires, thus leaving glass dishes to be the safest containers.
Cleaning microwaves can be a cumbersome task due to the difficulty of reaching into the back of the appliance and cleaning the top of the unit. Cooking in microwave ovens poses another safety hazard, burns.
Because the food is cooked by causing friction among water particles, liquid vapor burns are a potentially dangerous risk.
The toaster oven, another modern day kitchen convenience is much like a convection oven, only smaller. Toaster ovens are weigh less than most microwave ovens and can be moved to and removed from the countertop to free up space much more easily.
The toaster oven has interior coiled heating elements on the top and bottom of the appliance that heat up and provide heat to cook and or reheat food.
This heating method provides for a more balanced and even heating that does a microwave oven. Much like a convection oven, a toaster oven requires time to preheat to be most effective, thus requires more energy than a microwave oven.
The various settings of a toaster oven make it the preferred appliance for most people. The settings include grilling, baking, toasting, warming, and broiling; the broiling feature is especially admired for browning the top of food.
A toaster oven also enables food to be crispy, such as bacon.
Another positive feature of a toaster oven is that it is self-cleaning. When preparing food, should something spill onto the heating elements, it will simply clean itself the next time it is turned on.
