Toaster Oven – Page 2 – Kitchensnitches

Toaster ovens are like more convenient, smaller versions of your regular convection oven. Unlike normal toasters, toaster ovens can be used for more foods than just bread - which is made possible by the oven-like design. However, you may have used your toaster oven for foods that are messier than bread only to end up with a whole lot of clean-up to do. While it sounds appealing to line the trays using parchment paper to almost cut the entire clean-up process out of the equation, many toaster oven boxes clearly state that parchment paper shouldn't be used in toaster ovens as parchment paper may pose a threat. But what about aluminum foil? Can you put aluminum foil in a toaster oven? You can put aluminum foil in a toaster oven in certain cases. Foil can conduct and even reflect heat in the toaster oven, causing it to reach temperatures above the allowed limit. This can cause the device or the counter under it to melt, or start a fire. Placing foil so that it restricts airflow or comes in contact with heating elements may also be dangerous. Some manufacturers allow the use of aluminum foil in their toaster ovens under certain conditions while others prohibit it. There are reasons why parchment paper, wax paper, foil, and other liners should be used carefully if even used at all in the toaster oven. Why is that so? I mean, aside from the fact that it may spark a fire - why are toaster ovens less compatible with, say, parchment paper than a regular oven? Can I Put Aluminum Foil in MY Toaster Oven? (Most Brands Listed) Let's take a look at the different manufacturers and their respective restrictions on usage of aluminum foil in their toaster ovens. While these guidelines can't stop you from doing anything, they clearly state the risks of doing so. I believe you won't be reimbursed for any damage if you go against the companies recommendations and an accident happens. More importantly, you do not want to cause harm to yourself or anyone living in your home. Take their recommendations seriously. When researching what the different brands have stated regarding aluminum foil in their toaster ovens, this is what I was able to come up with. It should be noted that these are not my recommendations, but rather what information I was able to find from the manufacturer's websites regarding the topic. Being responsible for everything that happens in our kitchen is more than enough responsibility for me. Haha. Breville: "Do not cover crumb tray or any other part of the oven with metal foil. This will cause overheating." Oster: In their FAQ, they answer this question with; "No, Placing foil in the unit may cause the unit to heat up over 500 degrees. For this reason we do not recommend using foil in the toaster oven" but then there's a video created by Oster on Youtube on how to use foil in the toaster oven. KitchenAid: Foil can be used but should not cover crumb tray or any other part of the oven. This will cause overheating. Black & Decker: "You can use aluminum foil on or around the food being cooked. Never use aluminum foil on the crumb tray, the floor, the walls, or along the entire rack. Doing so will cause overheating and improperly manipulates heat reflection, leading to poor results." Cuisinart: "Do not cover crumb tray or any part of the oven except the baking pan with metal foil. This will cause overheating of the oven." Hamilton Beach: "Yes, but do not allow it to come into contact with the heating elements. Do not use to cover the crumb tray." Panasonic: "Do not cover the crumb tray nor any part of the oven with aluminum foil as this will cause overheating." Instant Pot Omni: "To avoid the risk of fire or electrical shock, oversize foods, metal foil packages, and metal utensils must not be inserted into theappliance." Cosori: "To avoid overheating, do not cover a tray, basket, or rack with metal foil unless directed. If foil is used, use extreme caution and always fit the foil as securely as possible. If the foil contacts the oven’s heating elements, this can cause overheating and risk of fire" What Are The Risks of Putting Aluminum Foil in a Toaster Oven? I know we've talked about the risks of potentially starting a fire by placing aluminum foil in a toaster oven without using the slightest bit of caution - now let's take a look at why there are risks involved and how you should go about using aluminum foil in your toaster oven. Risk 1: Aluminum Foil Can Spark Aluminum foil is metal and will, therefore, spark if it comes in contact with the toaster oven's heated element. These sparks can, in turn, damage the toaster oven or start a fire. You don't want sparks in your toaster oven, believe me. It doesn't take much to start a fire and a few sparks are sufficient to cause a toaster oven to malfunction. Risk 2: Aluminum Foil Can Catch on Fire Yes, aluminum foil can actually catch on fire. Now, following the first risk I mentioned above, I present yet another reason why it's very important that your aluminum foil doesn't get anywhere close to the heating element. Direct contact with the heating element could overheat the aluminum foil, potentially leading to combustion. Risk 3: Aluminum Foil Can Melt Considering the fact that aluminum foil can spark and catch on fire, one might've guessed that it can also melt. At very high temperatures, aluminum foil will start to melt and create a thin, yet very sticky and strong layer that fuses together with whatever it has been in contact with. Trust me, this is not something you desire - you want to avoid it at all costs. When in contact with the heating element, aluminum foil will melt onto the heating element, creating a surface around it that keeps the heat source from distributing heat properly - this will make your toaster oven less effective but can also be hazardous if the melted foil combusts. Remove it as quickly as possible. Secondly, you do not want to let aluminum foil get in contact with the toaster oven's interior walls. The surface of the wall is hot enough to cause the foil to melt, this can damage the toaster oven. Risk 4: Aluminum Foil Conducts Heat Greatly Heat conduction or thermal conduction is the movement of heat from one place or object to another one that has a different temperature at the time they come in contact. Metals are among the most effective substances when it comes to conducting heat - and guess which metal is one of the best? Yes, aluminum foil. This means that aluminum foil can get very hot when placed in a toaster oven. It may even get hot enough to cause the internal temperature in the toaster oven to rise above recommended limits. It's quite impressive but it's truly a possibility because of how well aluminum conducts heat. Risk 5: Aluminum Foil Conducts Electricity In addition to conducting heat, aluminum foil is also a fine conductor of electricity, so if the foil comes in contact with parts of the toaster oven, such as the heating element, it may arc or carry a current to parts of the toaster oven that shouldn't be exposed to it. How Can I Use Aluminum Foil In a Toaster Oven Safely? Alright. It's obvious that there are a couple of things to keep in mind in order to do this properly. These guidelines are meant to be followed to minimize the risk of melting, electrical shocks, and causing a fire. But they're not only created to keep ourselves from harm but also to make sure that the device itself isn't damaged. Of course, the primary concern should always be about ourselves. Here's what I've come up with when researching this topic. #1 Read The User Manual This is without a doubt the first thing you should do if you're asking yourself this question. The company behind the product will have the best answers and if their product doesn't live up to its promise, they're the ones to blame. You may come across a manual that's missing a piece of information or one that doesn't answer your question. In that case, get in contact with the manufacturer and have them answer your question directly. The manufacturer should be your first source of information. #2 Keep Aluminum Foil From Interior Walls & Heating Elements Place the aluminum foil so that it's far from the heating element and the interior walls will prevent it from melting and damaging the toaster oven - or starting a fire. Make sure there's space between the foil and the sides, and even more between the foil and the heating element. #3 Do Not Cover the Crumb or Drip Tray With Aluminum Foil Never ever cover parts of the toaster oven with foil. Your drip tray will collect grease as you cook fatty foods and it may sound appealing to cover it in aluminum foil to collect the dripping grease but that's a bad idea. We've talked about how well aluminum foil conducts heat and that it can get very hot as a result of that. Well, the dripping grease is now resting on a bed of aluminum foil that's being heated in the toaster oven and once it's hot enough it may actually cause the grease to combust. Your crumb tray shouldn't be covered in aluminum foil, either. Doing so can cause the toaster oven to overheat. #4 Don't Reuse Aluminum Foil I can't speak for you but I've done it before. As long as I declare the foil to be in good condition, I've used it more than once. However, I've come to the conclusion that it shouldn't be done in the toaster oven - and if it is, you need to make sure that there's no grease residue left on the foil. Why? If you've ever cooked foods on aluminum foil before, then you know that the aluminum will collect grease pretty quickly (depending on what you're cooking). The grease build-up isn't dangerous or harmful by itself, but it's the combination of grease and heat that could start a fire. Therefore, I advise you to keep track of your foil. Make sure there's no grease residue. #5 Get The Best Aluminum Foil Which, in this case, would be heavy-duty aluminum foil. While regular and heavy-duty foil are made out of the same material, there's something that separates them - the thickness. The difference between the two is actually something worth taking into account when cooking. Heavy-duty aluminum foil can handle both weight and heat better than its thinner counterpart. The sturdier, thicker version costs a little bit more, but I would still consider it very affordable. #6 Cut the Foil Accordingly If you decide to use aluminum foil in your toaster oven, make sure to cut it neatly so that it fits perfectly inside the oven pan. There shouldn't be any foil hanging over the edges at all. The more foil you have, the harder it is to contain in the specific areas you want to cover. That's something to keep in mind as you want to be very certain about what parts of your toaster oven are in contact with the aluminum foil. #7 Use Cooking Spray If you want to prevent food from sticking to lighter, non-stick aluminum foil, drizzle cooking spray onto the surface. It'll be much easier to remove foods from the liner. In addition to that, cookies and other baked goods will get a nice brown finish by cooking them on oil-sprayed foil in the toaster oven. What Other Alternatives Are There? It's obvious that aluminum foil isn't the first thing a manufacturer would recommend if you were to ask them what kind of liner you should use in your toaster oven. I'm making this assumption based on the somewhat restrictive instructions regarding the use of aluminum foil in the user manuals. With that in mind, I set out to find the most suitable substitute for aluminum foil for the toaster oven. I was looking for something that had similar or superior qualities - meaning? Well here's what I wanted it to have: Affordable priceNon-stick propertiesIt should be easy to cleanIt should be easy to storeIf disposable (is it reusable?)If not disposable (how long does it last?)It shouldn't be harmful to use in a toaster oven Using these merits as guidelines, I found what I believe to be a few very safe and secure ways of cooking in a toaster oven. Silpat Silicone Baking Mat It's a convenient silicone baking mat made from silicone with fiberglass mesh - giving the Silpat great non-stick properties when cooking most, if not all, foods. Not only will your food be intact when finished cooking, rather than being served as "whatever could be scraped off" but you will also have a much easier time cleaning the Silpat because of its non-stick properties. The mat isn't much larger than a piece of A4 paper but slightly thicker. It's convenient and easy to store. According to what I've read, these mats can be used approximately 2500-3000 times (in temperatures between -40 to 434 degrees Fahrenheit) before they start to degrade. This means that the silicone mat is far cheaper per use than aluminum foil ever will be. Silicone baking mats come in different sizes, shapes, and by different manufacturers. Here's the one I've been using ever since I stumbled upon its existence. It's available on Amazon. It's available in different sizes too - measure your toaster oven's pan to find out which size is appropriate for you. Stone Bakeware Bakeware can be crafted using silicone, tinned steel, stainless steel, glass, and stone. The type of material used to create the bakeware will have an impact on how the bakeware should be used - cooking time and temperature may have to be adjusted accordingly. I have always vouched for stone bakeware. They're durable, eco-friendly, and very easy to maintain in good condition. Unless you torture your bakeware on a regular basis, it will most likely last your entire lifetime, if not longer than that. When looking for bakeware for your toaster oven, measure the toaster oven as you want to keep at least half an inch between the pan and the toaster oven's interior walls. The majority of my stoneware is from Le Creuset, a french company that has been making high-quality products since 1925. They're also available on Amazon - here's a link to the one I'm using for my toaster oven. However, my toaster oven is quite big and can hold larger stoneware such as the one I linked above, which measures 12.5 by 8.25 inches. Not all toaster ovens can house stoneware of that size. If that's the case for your toaster oven, you may want to look into something along these lines. Still made by the same manufacturer but just a slightly smaller model, measuring 11 by 9 inches. The Minimalistic Approach: Oil Last and definitely least is a more minimalistic approach. It involves the pan that comes with the toaster oven and a small amount of oil. Yes, the traditional way of doing it is to simply add a small bit of oil and covering the pan with it so that it doesn't stick. It's definitely not as sexy and convenient, but it's still an option and that's what I've promised to include in this section. It doesn't substitute aluminum foil per se, but it is an alternative way of doing it - and one that works quite well too. Toaster Ovens Aren't Like Microwaves Another question that I stumble upon frequently is one regarding microwaves. Why can I put aluminum foil in the toaster oven but not in the microwave? The short answer is that these two appliances operate very differently and will, therefore, also react very differently to metals of any kind. Looking at a toaster oven and a microwave oven, I think one can easily jump to the conclusion that the toaster oven is a simpler device and in many ways, it is. The toaster oven looks like a small-scale regular oven. In fact, the toaster oven and larger regular ovens operate by the same principles. With that said, there's still a fascinating amount of engineering required to recreate the toaster oven and its effective way of managing heat. The toaster oven is small in size and will, therefore, heat up pretty quickly - but not as quickly as a microwave. Managing these fluctuating heat levels is imperative to keep the temperatures within acceptable limits. This is managed by the way air flows through the toaster oven. If temperatures were to reach levels above what the manufacturers have considered being safe - your toaster oven could be damaged, rendered useless, or start a fire. We've gone through this earlier in the article - consider the fact that aluminum foil may interfere with the toaster oven's ability to properly distribute air - and that's one of the reasons why it could be dangerous to put aluminum foil in your toaster oven. But it doesn't have to be if you're cautious. Microwaves, on the other hand, use magnetic waves to heat food - they're very quick to heat up and are seldom used for more than 10 minutes in one session - but often as little as 2 minutes as the primary use for a microwave is to reheat food. These magnetic waves in the microwave oven are blocked by aluminum foil and can't reflect as they were meant to. This prevents the microwave from functioning as it's supposed to. Furthermore, a single piece of aluminum foil could cause an electrical arc inside the microwave. The gravity of the electrical arc can differ anywhere from making small noises, damaging the microwave oven to starting a fire and burning down the house. That's why aluminum definitely shouldn't be used in a microwave while the same doesn't apply to a toaster oven.