Depending on what you’re planning to cook in your toaster oven, you may find that it heats a lot faster than a conventional oven.
While conventional ovens aren’t without their benefits, such as superior room and better insulation, toaster ovens are a helpful addition to many kitchens. Toaster ovens come in handy when you’re cooking a meal for one or two people and don’t require multiple large racks.
Due to toaster ovens being smaller than regular ovens, they’re able to heat rapidly. There is also less space within the interior, meaning you can’t cook as much at once. This equates to them being the faster option, especially when compared to cooking a large meal in a regular oven. Heating times will vary from brand to brand.
For those who live on their own, a toaster oven makes for an efficient way to cook a meal. This prevents the need to heat an entire conventional oven for a tray of food. Toaster ovens provide a quicker means of heating or cooking meats, and vegetables, or toasting bread.
How Do Toaster Ovens Work?
Toaster ovens heat similarly to a conventional oven. Both appliances distribute heat with a fan, allowing for an even distribution of the heat in a way that cooks food evenly.
Without the fan, certain spots within the oven would get overly hot while others remained cool. Toaster ovens often include a removable wire rack that can be arranged on different levels, similar to a regular oven.
Some toaster ovens radiate heat from top to bottom. This is suitable for reheating food and toasting items such as bagels and sandwiches. Many newer models have upgraded interior fans, as well as multiple settings such as toasting, broiling, baking, and even warming.
This can help free up space in a standard oven by taking over the side dishes. The fans in a toaster oven don’t have to work as hard as a standard fan, as there is less volume to heat up.
Many toaster ovens have heat sources on the top and bottom. The top heating element is usually only activated when something is being broiled.
Similarly to a regular oven, there is a temperature gauge that can be set to the correct temperature. Many toaster ovens can get between 400-450 degrees, with some models reaching as high as 500!
Can a Toaster Oven Replace a Real Oven?
Toaster ovens are convenient additions to many kitchens, though they have their limitations when compared to a regular full-size oven. For home cooks that find themselves frequently cooking for a large family, a toaster oven won’t have the same capacity as a conventional oven.
While a toaster oven can bake a few cookies, you’ll have to cycle through several batches to have enough for an upcoming bake sale.
For those who live alone or with one other person and don’t find themselves whipping up large, intricate meals on the regular — a toaster oven can certainly replace a real oven. Toaster ovens are very user-friendly and even somebody relatively inexperienced in the kitchen can use the appliance.
Most toaster ovens can accommodate a 10-inch pizza or a 5-pound poultry roast. This is suitable for many and the quick heating time puts dinner on the table quickly.
Some toaster oven brands even allow you to switch off the fan, which provides a similar internal temperature heating element to a regular oven.
Having a toaster oven on hand can be helpful when unexpected guests show up on short notice. Due to a toaster oven being quick to preheat, you can potentially have a batch of cookies in and out of the oven quicker than it would take a normal oven to preheat to the correct temperature.
In this sense, the size limitation matters less than the speed at which the toaster oven can operate.
Do Toaster Ovens Use More Energy Than Regular Ovens?
Due to their smaller size, toaster ovens use less energy to heat and cook food than a regular oven. They benefit from the quick cooking speed, similar to a microwave while heating food evenly and even crisping up leftovers in a way that a microwave fails to do.
Some toaster ovens are even able to toast, broil, or defrost food.
Toaster ovens preheat in record time, as they have a significantly smaller area to warm when compared with a conventional oven. This cuts down the overall cook time and saves you energy. According to Energy Star, a toaster oven can use between 1/3 and 1/2 less energy than a regular oven.
At the end of the day, full-size ovens are not the most convenient method for cooking smaller meals and in fact, they may struggle to evenly heat a small portion of food.
Toaster Oven Vs Regular Oven Pros and Cons
While many home cooks won’t be able to replace a regular oven with a toaster oven, sometimes toaster ovens make for a more efficient way to cook a quick meal. Not to mention the energy savings that occur when a standard oven doesn’t have to be preheated for some leftover pizza.
Toaster Oven Pros
Toaster ovens are much smaller than regular ovens, meaning that they take significantly less time to preheat. Due to the more focused heat, they can often cook and reheat food much quicker than a standard oven.
For many people, this is a major benefit. Instead of cooking a meal for half an hour, you may be able to have dinner on the table in under 20 minutes.
Toaster ovens often have superior broiling abilities when compared to other appliances, which can be a pro if you find yourself using this function frequently. Toaster ovens also don’t take up much space, making them suitable for smaller spaces.
Toaster Oven Cons
Toaster ovens have limited interior space, which is beneficial in terms of quick heating but it also can make it difficult to cook certain items. When you’re shopping for a toaster oven, consider the size tray that you generally use.
Some toaster ovens won’t fit an entire frozen pizza while others have been specifically designed to ensure the proper fit. Other cons of toaster ovens include
Regular Oven Pros
There’s simply no replacing a regular oven for those who cook large quantities of food for a family or those who enjoy meal prepping at the beginning of the week. You can fit multiple sheet trays in a regular oven and oftentimes, the temperature has a higher rating in a standard oven.
Regular Oven Cons
Regular ovens use more energy than a toaster oven, between 2,000 and 5,000 watts. They can also be more difficult to clean due to the larger racks. During the hot summer months, regular ovens can heat the home much more than a smaller toaster oven variety can.
When Should You Use a Toaster Oven?
Toaster ovens are a great option for roasted vegetable sides, especially if your conventional oven is crowded with the main dish. The smaller oven can clear up extra space in your regular oven, which allows for more even cooking all around.
If you’re just heating a small item, a toaster oven will heat quicker and use less energy than it would take to preheat and run an entire conventional oven.
When you’re looking to reheat leftover pizza, toast a bagel, roast fish, or whip up a vegetable side dish — these are all areas where the toaster oven excels. Toaster ovens also do well at cooking a tray of bacon or transforming a sad breakfast sandwich into a melty, crispy delicious start to the day.
If you’re trying to save some time, toaster ovens can do the majority of what a standard oven can do, just on a smaller scale. Dinner for one can easily be cooked using a toaster oven, though you should probably stick to a standard oven for a large Thanksgiving meal.
While baking a whole roll of cookie dough may sound good in theory, many people would prefer to opt for one or two cookies, which a toaster oven can easily handle. Nothing beats the smell of a freshly baked cookie at the end of the evening.
If you have unexpected guests over, a toaster oven makes a quick and easy method for serving fresh-baked desserts. The downside to this is that you may find people begin showing up more frequently, once they’ve seen how fast you can throw together some coffee and a plate of cookies or brownies for two.
Is an Air Fryer a Better Option Than a Toaster Oven?
Air fryers are generally a cheaper option when compared to a toaster oven, especially a decent brand. However, the two appliances excel at different aspects of cooking. Many kitchens feature both appliances but if you have to opt for only one, you’ll need to determine which one is most suitable for your regular cooking habits.
If you’re an avid home cook, a toaster oven provides more options, which allows you to switch up meals and methods. Those who are struggling with an already cramped kitchen may enjoy the smaller size of an air fryer, though this also means sacrificing internal capacity.
If you’re happy using a standard-sized oven most of the time but want to whip up quick meals in a countertop appliance, an air fryer is the better option. However, if you want to stop wasting energy making small meals in a large oven, a toaster oven will be the most compatible appliance for you.
At the end of the day, air fryers are growing in popularity and if you find a good deal on one, you’re almost certainly going to enjoy using it. It cooks food incredibly fast, faster than a toaster oven. If you’re trying to find an appliance to be your end-all-be-all in the kitchen, you’re more likely to find this with a toaster oven.
Those who enjoy crispy food and are looking to make healthier versions of their favorite deep-fried foods will find that the air fryer is the clear winner in this category. Both feature similar maintenance patterns, such as regular cleaning. Air fryers have more pieces to clean, though they’re smaller and easily manageable.