From dorm rooms to traditional home settings, the toaster oven is an old standby. When you want to heat your food until it is piping hot but you don’t want to turn the temperature up in your home, this nifty kitchen tool can be immeasurably helpful. Learn which one is best for helping you to prepare your snacks, four-course meals and heat up leftovers by reading below.
Best Value: Hamilton Beach Easy Reach
Convection ovens are smaller and more compact than the conventional variety, but they are capable of heating up the same types of meals. The Hamilton Beach Easy Reach was made to fit into some pretty tight spaces, but there’s enough room inside to fit up to six slices of bread. It has a snazzy design, with a door that lifts as you open it and it can even be completely removed.
Amazon.com – unavailable currently
Amazon.com – unavailable currently
Gently warm your food at 150 degrees, or really get things cooking by turning the temperature up to a maximum 450 degrees. Since most of these convection toasters are frequently used for heating up frozen pizzas and bread, there’s a removable tray below that you can take out and rinse clean to rid it of crumbs.
You can watch as your meals get to just the right temperature through the curved glass window, or you can set the timer for as long as 30 minutes for longer cook times. There are three function knobs that can be turned to set the temperature, time and even the setting, such as broil, convection, toast or bake. If your looking for a piece of kitchen equipment that heats up fast, takes up little space and is convenient to clean up, this product may be a perfect match.
Alternative: Black & Decker TO1313SBD Toaster Oven
The Hamilton Beach Easy Reach is temporarily unavailable, but this one is a great alternative. The Black & Decker TO1313SBD Toaster Oven is a very affordable and very high rated. It has a 4 slice / 9” pizza capacity same like most of the models that we discuss here. The timer counts 30 minutes and it comes with the following four options: toast, broil, bake and keep warm. A baking pan and broil rack are included as well as a removable crumb tray. Something else worth mentioning is the Even Toast Technology which is self-explanatory of course.
Second Best: Nostalgia Retro Series
The Retro Series Convection Toaster Oven by Nostalgia looks like something you might find in an antique shop, but it is anything but outdated. This throwback to the 1950s comes in a smooth, shiny red finish and features an oval-shaped window so you can peak in on your food and monitor its progress and really feel like you’re going back in time.
The two levels inner cooking chamber can actually be heated individually, so there’s less energy wasted and more room available to heat up multiple meals.
Weighing a little less than 16 pounds, this conventional oven runs on 1500 watts of pure nostalgic power. Its built-in timer allows you to cook for as long as you want with the ‘stay on’ setting, or you can set it to run for anywhere between one and 60 minutes. Get this product if you want a retro-themed item that has all the functionality you want and needs out of a modern kitchen device.
Third Place: Black+Decker Space Maker
Contemporary, Stainless steel kitchen appliances are all the rage, and the BLACK+DECKER Space Maker is one of the most modern conventional toasters that is currently for sale on the market. Made of stainless steel trimmed in black, this product is effortlessly simple to operate.
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Instead of knobs, there are seven sleek buttons and an LCD panel that displays the temperature. At only nine inches high, you can easily slide this compact toaster anywhere onto a counter that has very limited space. Simply press the up or down button if you want to increase or decrease the temperature while your food is already cooking.
This small but surprisingly powerful appliance cooks food at between 200 and 400 degrees. There’s a single cooking rack that can be removed completely, and a handy catch tray for keeping crumbs and fallen foods from burning and creating a mess. Speaking of crumbs, if you’re a big fan of freshly made, hot, crisp toast in the morning, you will thoroughly enjoy this appliance’s unique toast settings. You can set up to seven different types of settings for toast, so try them all until you find the right one. If you don’t have much extra space in your kitchen available but you want a conventional oven that comes with a two-year warranty, you should try this product out for yourself.
Alternative:
Black and Decker 8-Slice Extra Wide Convection Countertop Toaster Oven
The Black and Decker Space Maker Toaster Oven is temporarily unavailable, but this one is a great alternative. The Black and Decker 8-Slice Extra Wide Convection Countertop Toaster Oven is a lot cheaper and can make toast just as fast as in an actual toaster.
Fourth Place: KitchenAid Digital
Sometimes you simply need a piece of kitchen equipment that you can set and forget. Available in seven different colors, the KitchenAid Digital Countertop Oven is so cute that you almost won’t believe that it is fully functional. For cooks that don’t want want to fidget with a ton of knobs to get the right combination, this toaster oven makes life so much simpler.
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Nine various cook functions are included, enabling you to touch a single button when you want to cook everything from pizza and toast to succulent roasts. Inside, you can fit up to a 12-inch pizza, making it excellent for heating up pre-made frozen meals straight from the freezer section of the grocery store.
Set the timer for up to 120 minutes, so you can safely cook your meals while you run errands or get some much-needed rest. This is a great tool for busy working professionals that want to leave their families with easy meal instructions or cook up individual portions of food for when they work late nights. To make things even easier, you get a baking pan and two cooking racks included with your purchase so you can immediately plug in your new appliance, read over the instructions and make your very first meal. Its included one-year limited warranty will cover all parts that break and need to be replaced.
Alternative: KitchenAid KCO222OB Countertop Oven
KitchenAid Digital is temporarily unavailable, but this one is a great alternative. The KitchenAid KCO222OB Countertop Oven features 12″ capacity, spacious enough room to cook 2-12″ pizzas, or cornish hens. The oven cavity also features a non-stick coating for easy cleaning..
Fifth Place: Oster XL Toaster Oven
The vast majority of standard conventional toasters you will find are big enough to fit a large pizza, but they usually aren’t able to hold more. By contrast, the Oster Extra Large Toaster Oven is oversized to cook the biggest and most bodacious meals you can think up.
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Move the two included cooking racks, up, down or remove one of them completely to give yourself ample internal cooking space for baking dinner hams, layered lasagnas, and bountiful bunt cakes. Use both racks at the same time to make the main course as well as a side dish simultaneously,
Crank the temperature up to 450 degrees and set the timer for up to an hour, and come back to a delicious, easily prepared and healthy home cooked meal. You will have to make ample space on your countertop to store and use this kitchen tool, but it just might replace some of your former favorite devices. Use it to thaw and cook foods that are frozen solid, or take a meal out of the fridge, heat it up and get ready to serve it to your family in minutes. This countertop oven weighs almost 19 pounds, and it is protected with a one year warranty. If you like to eat but you won’t want to cook for several hours every time you feel a hunger pain, this countertop appliance will absolutely make your day.
Summing It Up
All in all, conventional ovens are some of the most versatile appliances that consumers can make an investment in. The Nostalgia Retro Series Convection Toaster Oven will make a quaint addition to your kitchen, while the BLACK+DECKER Space Maker makes the most sense if you have a small kitchen.
Pick up the Oster Extra Large Toaster Oven if you host a lot of parties, or consider the Hamilton Beach Easy Reach for an appliance that virtually keeps itself clean. Last but not least is the KitchenAid Digital Countertop Oven if you want something that is stylish and durable. Whatever you choose, just make sure you put your newest kitchen appliance to good use.
