Toaster ovens

[Fat Guy]

It has two types of elements, which the manufacturer refers to as "near infra red" and "far infra red." The claim is that one type of element is good at browning the surface of food while the other is good at heating the interior. Whether it's true or not, one of the elements radiates both infrared and visible light, so it acts as a very bright, white oven light.

[fauxtarga]

Can these new convection toasters pull the same tricks most ovens can, just in a smaller form factor? Will these guys do roasted vegetables nicely, and can it finish off a piece of fish/meat that I start on the stove? I'm looking at the Cuisinart as a good way to avoid having to use the entire oven for small quantities of food.

[Hiroyuki]

Can these new convection toasters pull the same tricks most ovens can, just in a smaller form factor? Will these guys do roasted vegetables nicely, and can it finish off a piece of fish/meat that I start on the stove? I'm looking at the Cuisinart as a good way to avoid having to use the entire oven for small quantities of food.

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This thread http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=59012 may shed some light on your question.

[Anna N]

Can these new convection toasters pull the same tricks most ovens can, just in a smaller form factor? Will these guys do roasted vegetables nicely, and can it finish off a piece of fish/meat that I start on the stove? I'm looking at the Cuisinart as a good way to avoid having to use the entire oven for small quantities of food.

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That is precisely what I use mine for. There are just two of us most of the time so it's just a mini version of my oven. I roast veggies, finish off fish and meat started on the stove top, bake casseroles, etc. The only thing is finding suitably sized dishes for the smaller oven.

[fauxtarga]

Well that cinches it, Amazon/Froogle here I come. Thanks!

[persiancook]

Well that cinches it, Amazon/Froogle here I come. Thanks!

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I am looking for a new toaster oven. My new kitchen has stainless steel appliances, so the scorched white one I currently have looks sorely out of place.

The DeLonghi retro is too retro for my kitchen. The Cuisinart recommended here is VERY tempting, but I would rather spend less. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good toaster oven that comes in a stainless steel finish? I use it mainly for heating flatbread, but would be more than happy to use it in place of my oven for small tasks.

I would also like to know if the stainless steel finish scorches.

[howard88]

Most of us use those toaster ovens for reheating or cooking various things.

I have one that I think is a little out there but so outrageously satisfying.

So I am wondering what other ideas for the use of this horizontal toaster

appliance can be put to some outrageous gluttony.

When I see the ends of domestic muenster cheese at the supermarket, I mean

the orangey, thick ends, I am thinking toaster oven.

Cover the pan with foil and set those controls on 450 or broil and place the cheese

in the oven.

A few minutes later this is what you have. A partly crusty melange of hot, soft,

oily, chewey, gooey and salty heaven. Just eat it and your good until morning.

I mean its quick, its inexpensive, your not using the big oven, no bread, no meat,

but it is so good.

Anyone care to share your culinary secrets?

[Marlene]

I've done both boneless prime rib and pork roasts in my convection toaster oven. I also do baked brie in puff pastry in it often. Roasted garlic comes to mind as a perfect use for toaster ovens without having to heat up your big oven and your entire kitchen.

[scubadoo97]

I use mine for the usual things like baked potatoes or even oven fries if there are not too many to fit on the little tray. Roasted garlic I always do in the toster oven. When making a frittata the other day I placed the pan in the toaster oven even though I couldn't close the door to frim up the top before flipping. I could have left it in the oven and not flipped it but I was impatient.

[MissAmy]

My sister used to get these individual-sized cookie dough balls, and we would often make two or so at a time in the toaster oven. Worked great, I must say.

Toaster ovens are fabulous. I really don't understand why anyone would have one of those standing toasters when toaster ovens work better and have many more uses.

[lperry]

Roasted tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc. I've got an old Toastmaster that pre-dates safety features. Love it!

[purplewiz]

When I was in college, I was pretty much limited to my hot pot and a toaster oven for my culinary adventures. Best things I made in the toaster oven were brownies or bread - got a box of one of those bread mixes, kneaded it on my little plastic table (cleaned it well first!) and baked off rolls for later consumption. I had to do them in batches, but it worked well.

When I was a young kid, we used to use the toaster oven for melting margarine containers down into flat disks, which amused us no end. But I don't think that's quite the kind of thing you're looking for !

Marcia.

[*Deborah*]

Tournedos.

[Country]

Homemade corn tortilla chips with some homemade refried pintos, topped with Herdez salsa and good cheese (three year old Cabot cheddar works.)

Preheat to 400-450, then turn down to 300 when putting the tray in. That way beans get heated before top element melts cheese too fast.

[Cleo]

I always made baked potatoes in the regular oven until about a month ago. There were a bunch of things in the regular oven and I didn't have room for the potatoes, so I stuck them in the toaster oven.

I am now a convert. They came out so much better -- skins were so crispy and just the overall texture was signifcantly improved.

I usually make a few extra and then over the next day or 2, slice them up, coat with a little olive oil (or Pam), salt & pepper and reheat the slices in the toaster oven. A good alternative to french fries for my 2 year old.

[jayt90]

Roasted tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc.  I've got an old Toastmaster that pre-dates safety features.  Love it!

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The old small, 1500 watt models are great, as they provide a lot of intense heat and can even be used as a small salamander/broiler. Great for fish, chicken, or finishing a gratin. Mine has no safety features, so it must be watched while grilling.

[leviathan]

Does anybody have a Black&Decker Toast R-Oven model TRO870? I just won a free new one, but I don't know if I should keep it since I already have a fairly new Toaster Oven from Rival or just give it away as a gift. I'm not interested in toasting ability, but in how well it acts as a oven. The Black&Decker seems to be bigger, which is a plus over the Rival.

[Marlene]

Well that cinches it, Amazon/Froogle here I come. Thanks!

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I would also like to know if the stainless steel finish scorches.

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At least on the Cuisinart, the stainless steel finish does not scorch.

Does anybody have a Black&Decker Toast R-Oven model TRO870? I just won a free new one, but I don't know if I should keep it since I already have a fairly new Toaster Oven from Rival or just give it away as a gift. I'm not interested in toasting ability, but in how well it acts as a oven. The Black&Decker seems to be bigger, which is a plus over the Rival.

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I gave this one to my sister in law for Christmas and she loves it. It does have a nice size capacity.

[Shel_B]

I'm going to be moving to an apartment in a few months, and I'd like to get a toaster oven. Having used them at a friend's house, I know I can defintely get some good use from it.

I never owned one, so what features should I look for? What size works best for you? And what brand or model has been satisfactory, or not? Ideally, I'd like to be able to bake a few potatoes, broil some chicken breasts or thighs or fish, have enough room for at least an 8x8 Pyrex dish, two or three slices of pizza ...

Ideally I'd like to keep the cost to a max of about $100.00 or so.

Thanks!

... Shel

Edited March 2, 2013 by Shel_B (log)

[gfweb]

More expensive than your range, but the Breville Smart Oven is the most used appliance we have. Just a bit bigger than a toaster oven, it can handle a 1/4 sheet pan and a decent-sized baking dish. Toasts fine, broils great,heats fast. Just a great unit.

[rotuts]

I got the smaller of the Brevilles:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=17155709

with 20 % ubiquitous coupon about 140.

more than you'd like to pay, but i like it a lot. I got the smaller one as it fits in a space on my counter. in retrospect I probably

would like the larger one more.

but 1 $ = 1 $

there is a thread somewhere here on that.

Edited March 2, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[GlorifiedRice]

I got a GE Spacemaker under cabinet Toaster Oven, my mom didnt believe in Toaster Ovens.

Now that I have one I LOVE IT

[lindag]

Breville Smart Oven! Takes up a good bit of real estate and is somewhat pricey at $250 but SO-O-O-O-O worth it.

I rarely use my range oven anymore except for really big dishes. I'd never thought I could get so much use out of a small appliance like this but it really is versatile, it does most everything extremely well.

[Jaymes]

I have always been a big fan of toaster ovens. A really big fan. Wouldn't be without one. My former husband and I used to go 'round and 'round about it because he said it took too long to make toast and the toast was never as evenly toasted as in a real toaster. And although I agree with that, that just wasn't a huge hardship in my view. The toaster ovens do make toast, and it's not so much a step down from an actual toaster that it's worthy of bitching and moaning about it. Or even, in my view, worthy of moving a toaster around on the countertop and keeping it clean, etc. I sure didn't like having both appliances taking up space on my countertop, so one had to go. No contest - the toaster. That was only a one-function appliance (and you couldn't even make butterscotch toast or cinnamon toast or honey toast or toast a slice of pound cake, or heat up iced rolls or anything else at all in it, certainly nothing drippy, or too fat, and if you tried, it got stuck and you wound up with smoke in the kitchen and the smoke alarm going off and you had to unplug the thing and go after it with a knife, making a big mess and how on earth is that worth it) taking up limited space, so byebye. I did keep his precious toaster under the counter for a while, but he had to actually bend over and retrieve it when he wanted to use it, which he was the only one that ever did. So he didn't do that more than a couple of times. After I realized that months had passed since he used it, and we were all using the toaster oven, I got rid of it and he never said a word more about it.

But those toaster ovens! So quick and easy to use to heat up things, bake smaller items, melt cheese over things, brown things, crisp up things, whatever.

And, especially if you live in a hot-weather climate, as I have fairly often during my life, a toaster oven has a huge advantage in that you don't have to heat up that big oven, which heats up your kitchen, when it's 110 degrees outside. Not to mention that it costs a lot more money to heat up that big oven if all you want to bake is six cookies, or four biscuits, or re-heat and re-crisp some fried chicken from last night's dinner.

For about the last five years, I've been living with my daughter, her husband, and their four kids, and doing all the babysitting and most of the cooking. They didn't have a toaster oven when I moved in so, of course, I immediately bought one. Now, my daughter says, they can't live without it. I'm going to be moving into a small apartment over the next few weeks and had planned to take it with me. But Daughter has been begging me to leave it. It's an Oster and I bought it at Sam's for $40 and it's certainly not perfect but we like it fine. I know that living by myself with a small kitchen, I'll use that toaster oven many times every day, so I was extremely reluctant to leave it.

But, after reading this thread, I am going to leave it.

And take myself and my nifty 20% off coupon over to BB&B and get that large Breville Smart Oven.

I'll bet I don't turn on the big oven for months.

Hey, I can use it for storage!

Edited March 3, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[Alex]

I got the smaller of the Brevilles:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=17155709

with 20 % ubiquitous coupon about 140.

more than you'd like to pay, but i like it a lot. I got the smaller one as it fits in a space on my counter. in retrospect I probably

would like the larger one more.

but 1 $ = 1 $

there is a thread somewhere here on that.

Yes, that one, without a doubt. You'll never regret spending the extra $40.