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Toaster ovens can cook and toast food. They can toast bagels, reheat leftover pizza, cook chicken, bake cookies, and more. To help you select the model that’s right for you, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best toaster ovens on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.
Top 5 Toaster Ovens
- Best Cooking Methods: Oster Toaster Oven
- Best Temperature Control: Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven
- Best Rack: Breville BOV650X Smart Oven Countertop Toaster Oven
- Best Capacity: BLACK+DECKER Countertop Convection Toaster Oven
- Best Toaster And Air Fryer Combo: Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer
Best Cooking Methods: Oster Toaster Oven
This toaster oven is simple to use with its digital control panel that can convection bake, broil, toast, bake, warm, and defrost with the touch of a button. This appliance also has temperature settings that range from 150 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, making it easy to heat any type of food.
Key Features
- 19.72 by 16.29 by 11.33 inches
- 1,300 watts
- Convection bake, broil, toast, bake, warm, and defrost cooking methods
- Pizza preset function
- Timer
- Temperature control
- One-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Those who liked this product said that it was easy to clean, had good heat distribution, and had a simple interface. However, those who didn’t like this product said that the crumb tray was inadequate and that the broiler function didn’t work properly.
Best Temperature Control: Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven
This toaster oven measures only 13 by 12 by 10.75 inches, making it the perfect appliance for small countertops. However, don’t let its small size fool you into thinking that it lacks in quality. This toaster oven has six preset functions, five shade levels, and eight temperature settings for precise cooking.
Key Features
- 12 by 12 by 10.75 inches
- 1,300 watts
- Toast, waffle, roll, pizza, quick reheat, and hash brown preset functions
- Timer
- Shade and temperature control
- One-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Happy customers said that this toaster oven offered solid temperature control, toasted food quickly, and had a unique design. Those who left negative reviews said that its metal body was thin and dentable.
Best Rack: Breville BOV650X Smart Oven Countertop Toaster Oven
This toaster oven has five cooking methods and three food-specific preset functions that are controlled via a knob and an element IQ system that evenly distributes heat among four quartz elements. The oven also comes with a rack that can be placed in one of three positions. The positions are labeled to tell you which cooking methods and preset functions work best where.
Key Features
- 16.7 by 15.6 by 10.2 inches
- 1,800 watts
- Toast, bake, broil, roast, and reheat cooking methods
- Bagel, pizza, and cookies present functions
- Timer
- Temperature/darkness control
- One-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Many customers pointed to this toaster oven’s versatility and longevity as reasons why they enjoyed their purchase. Those who left negative reviews said that this toaster oven frequently displayed error codes, rendering it unusable.
Best Capacity: BLACK+DECKER Countertop Convection Toaster Oven
The convection-baking function of this toaster oven circulates hot air around your food to ensure that it’s cooked quickly and evenly. This toaster oven also comes equipped with a dual-position rack for maximum versatility. Additionally, it has a large 23-inch footprint, allowing you to cook whole chickens, pizzas, and other food items in it.
Key Features
- 22.8 by 13.4 by 15.5 inches
- Convection bake, bake, broil, and toast cooking methods
- Cookies, pizza, frozen snacks, potato, and bagel preset functions
- Timer
- Temperature/toast control
- Two-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Satisfied reviewers said that this toaster oven was energy-efficient, preheated quickly, and cooked a wide variety of food items. Dissatisfied reviewers said that it was a fire hazard because it was difficult to clean crumbs out of.
Best Toaster And Air Fryer Combo: Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer
Air fryers use air and a touch of oil instead of a big pot of oil to cook your food. This toaster oven comes with an air fryer built into it. With this toaster oven and air fryer combo, customers have a plethora of cooking options without multiple machines taking up counter or cabinet space.
Key Features
- 17 by 15.75 by 21.73 inches
- Air fry and dual cook cooking methods
- Other cooking options on the screen
- Three-year warranty
What Customers Are Saying
Those who left positive reviews for this toaster oven said that it maintained the flavor and texture of their food and that it was easy to use. However, others said that it produced smoke and had a loud fan.
Buyer’s Guide
Toaster ovens vary in terms of size, cooking functions, temperature range, and more. Keep reading to learn more about these factors before selecting the right model for you.
Size
Before you buy a toaster oven, consider how much space you have in your kitchen for one. Smaller kitchen counters may require compact toaster ovens. However, smaller ovens may not be able to cook as many items at once or have as many functions as other models.
Functionality
Some toaster ovens come with food-specific cooking functions, such as pizza, bagel, and bread, and cooking methods, such as toast, air fry, and reheat. Some of these features may be more important than others depending on what you plan to primarily use your toaster oven for. For customers who don’t plan to use a toaster oven for much more than toasting breakfast items and heating frozen foods, many of these features may be unnecessary, especially considering their extra cost.
Temperature Range
Some toaster ovens don’t have high enough heat settings to cook certain foods, which means you may not be able to use one as a replacement for a traditional oven. Other toaster ovens don’t have low temperature settings, which makes cooking methods, such as slow cooking and braising, less effective.
Ease of Cleaning
It’s important to keep your toaster oven clean, as excess crumbs could burn and start a fire. Many toaster ovens have removable trays, making cleaning a simple task. Some premium models may even have self-cleaning functions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can be cooked in a toaster oven?
Anything that can be cooked in a traditional oven can also be made in a toaster oven unless the toaster oven isn’t large enough or doesn’t get hot enough. Toaster ovens can also reheat leftovers and toast bread products.
Can aluminum foil go in a toaster oven?
Aluminum foil can be used in most toaster ovens. However, it needs to be carefully positioned to prevent fire hazards. Foil that touches the heating elements could catch on fire or melt.
Does using a toaster oven instead of a traditional oven save electricity?
Toaster ovens use around 1,300 watts of electricity, while traditional ovens use an average of 2,500-5,000 watts depending on the mode. This means that switching to a toaster oven could significantly reduce the amount of electricity you use in your kitchen. Microwaves use even less electricity—around 900 watts—but they don’t typically have as many cooking functions as toaster ovens.
Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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