Oh how I love my toaster oven! As most of you know, I don’t cook, so Cooking Tools doesn’t really apply to me. All of the “fun” kitchen tools are really Todd’s toys, every time I get near one of his fancy Global knives he cringes, but the toaster oven is mine! Well, not all mine because Todd has learned to love the toaster oven just as much as I do. He’s cooked everything from mini muffins to focaccia in the toaster oven. My feats have been much more basic – Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken Sausages turn such a nice golden brown without the time or heat of the full oven. Chicken strips, mahi-mahi, shrimp, taquitos – you name it, anything out of the box or wrapper is no match for me and my toaster oven.
My recommendation…
If you don’t have a proper toaster oven, I strongly recommend you add one to your Cooking Tools. It really makes cooking so much quicker, easier, and energy efficient. The toaster oven that I love is the KitchenAid Countertop Oven. I would recommend this to you whole heartedly, except for when I looked at the reviews on Amazon they were hideous. I was really surprised! Maybe we just got lucky with ours, so I will recommend it with caution since so many others had such bad luck with it. The things I love about it though are the size – you really can cook a chicken breast, or maybe two if they’re small. It toasts up things like Trader Joe’s gluten-free pancakes so nicely – it does take longer than a regular toaster though, but you don’t have to worry about the pancake getting stuck! (Learned that one the hard way- what a mess!) Love the timer on it – never have to worry that you left the toaster oven on or you can set it to cook while you are in the shower, your items will be ready when you are! It’s really sturdy and good looking too.
Alternatives…
If; however, you are skeptical since so many others on Amazon have had bad luck, you may want to try something else. I haven’t tried any of these other toaster ovens, but will base my recommendation on the size that we have found useful and the reviews of other Amazon customers. You might want to try Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler, Stainless – this has great reviews! Another one to take a closer look at is the Breville BOV650XL Compact 4-Slice Smart Oven with Element IQ. Whichever one you choose – enjoy! I challenge you to try and do most of your mid-week cooking using the toaster oven rather than your full size oven – you won’t regret it!
Happy toasting!
All Toaster Oven Recommendations:
Cuisinart TOB-195 Exact Heat Toaster Oven Broiler, Stainless
Breville BOV650XL Compact 4-Slice Smart Oven with Element IQ
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Do you have a recommendation for a great toaster oven? Let me know and I will add it to my list!
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Twitter Updates
My husband and I love our Cusinart Convection Oven Toaster Broiler. I don’t know the model number, but we bought it about 2 years ago and have even roasted a small whole chicken in it!
I have a Hamilton Beach Countertop Oven Model 31103. I absolutely love it..so much that if I can ever afford to remodel the kitchen…gas cooktop only, no oven. It is big enough to handle 2 12″ pizzas or 2 9×13 casseroles (IF the dish has no handles…like the throwaway tinfoil pans). So far in that oven I have made all sorts of things…none gluten-free tho. Brownies, cake, chicken and rice casserole, homemade bread, oven-fried potatoes, and roasted red potatoes. I discovered my gluten sensitivity from my homemade bread 🙁 The bread tasted wonderful but left me with a horrible stomachache. I was the only one in the house who had any problems with the bread. I’ve been gluten free for a little over a week now and feeling better.
Oh, that is such a bummer about the bread. So glad you are feeling better though. It sounds like you love your toaster oven as much as I do! It’s just so much easier and less cleanup than anything else. I’m curious about the things you’re cooking, it sounds like your oven fried potatoes and roasted red potatoes might be gluten free? Also since it sounds like you love pizza, we have a great pizza recipe made on a rice tortilla that you should check out that we’ve made in the toaster oven.