When my husband and I moved in to our first apartment, there were two thing the previous owner left behind: a baking sheet and a toaster. Last year when I made some bacon-wrapped scallops the bacon grease finally killed that old baking sheet. These past few weeks Mercury went retrograde which turns anything related to communications and anything electrical upside down. As a result, it totally attacked my life, including my toaster.
My old reliable toaster has finally given up the ghost, along with my camera. I am not usually sentimental over stuff but these two losses suck!
I asked people on my Facebook Group for advice on buying a toaster and there ended up being a great suggestion, why don’t I buy a toaster oven instead? Well, that sparked a long and fascinating dialogue and love/hate discussion on toaster ovens.
Now that it is a little safer to be near electronics, I really need to replace Mercury’s last and final (I hope) victim in my home. I would love to get your advice! Toasters are not inexpensive, so for close to the same price I could get a toaster oven. That way I could also cook and bake in the summer which I can’t do right now.
What do you think? Toaster ovens: love ’em or hate ’em? Feel free to be absolutely and brutally honest.
We’ve gone through a number of toasters including a beautiful wide slice Cuisinart (and a subsequent warrantee replacement of same). I loved the wide slice as we were buying a lot of artisan breads. That said, notice the past tense of affection.
With two kids, I found I was heating the oven for little things (pizza, chicken strips) and hated the waste of energy. We invested in a toaster oven and have never look back.
We regularly do chicken strips and stuffed chicken breasts at the same time and,depending on the size of the bread for toasting, we can fit four slices in. It’s also been great for reheating pizza, spring rolls from the asian market, etc.
My only issue is the bread usually toasts a bit unevenly but as that happens in a regular toaster too, how can I truly complain?
oh! plus a proper crumb catcher. Sweet. No more piles of escaped toaster crumbs for us.
Ours is a B&D Canadian Tire special that I think we paid $40 on sale.
I have been using a toster oven for years; it is the best thing ever invented when there are just 2of us now. The only time I use my oven is to bake bread.
After my cheap B&D died, I researched to see if there was something of better quality that would also make good toasts.
I found and ordered this a few months ago.
I agree it is expensive, but the quality is superior and I’m sure this will last forever.
It is the best investment I could make. I am thinking of posting about it, I have made roast chicken, cakes, cookies, etc etc.
I have gone through quite a few toaster ovens in the past 20 yers
http://www.tweedandhickory.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/breville-smart-oven.html
I forgot to say it is a Breville Smart Oven
Rita
We only have a toaster oven. It is old and scary looking, my last roommate left it behind, but it still works.
I vote for toaster oven because it is much more useful. I rarely have an issue toasting bread in it and we use it to heat up frozen snacks, cold pizza, melt cheese on things, the list goes on and on. I’ve even finished dinner in there since its just two of us.
Is Mercury a person/thing or is it the stuff in my thermometer?? I’m confused, man, totally confused. Don’t ask me about toasters!
Wow, a lot of toaster oven lovers! Fascinating. Sandy. Mercury going retrograde is an astrological event that turns anything to do with electronics and communication upside down on its head. If I didn’t believe in astrology, I sure do now because I have had so many things go wrong it’s insane!
I’ve got both. I only use the toaster for toast, easier than the toaster oven. The toaster oven I have is a B&D convection from Costco. Reasonably priced. Can cook a 12″ pizza. The top gets REALLY hot so you cannot have anythin resting on it but I think that is the same with all toaster ovens. I use it to bake sweet potatoes and smaller things.
Good luck with your decision!
I’ve had a toaster oven on and off over the years. On one side they take up valuable counter space, but I think that is far outweighed by the pros. It’s much smaller than your oven, making it energy-wise, and if you’re looking to just melt some cheese or warm up last nights pizza, it’s quite handy as it heats up much faster than an oven. The one thing I never did was make toast in it.
We have both. We got our toaster oven going on 2 years ago, and briefly considered getting rid of our toaster (to free up the counter space) but I prefer the toaster for making toast. I do love the toaster oven though – no need to heat up the big oven for something small. I baked scones in the toaster oven a few weeks ago, when the weather was still really warm, and it was nice not to heat up the house.
I wanted to add to something I said on FB yesterday. Since you cook so much you NEED a toaster oven. Too useful to be without. If you miss a toaster (never happen) you can buy one later for $20 (but you won’t) 🙂 xoO
I don’t have a toaster oven, don’t have the counter space for it, and I always use the oven since I always warm and bake in large quantities anyway. But I can totally see how convenient it would be for the two of you, it would be great for making mini pizzas and warming/broiling/crisping stuff without having to turn on the big oven.
I do love my toaster though, it just has a certain aroma when toasting and nothing beats the texture you get with it. Ours is an Aroma Prestige, four slice, wide slot toaster that we bought at Home Deopot many years ago. It has removable crumb trays at the bottom to help keep it clean. I have to say it is quite a large toaster too.
Like Olivia mentioned, you can always pick up a cheapy toaster and splurge on the toaster oven if you think it would be useful for other tasks besides just toasting bread.
BTW, great pic of your old toaster! Looks like it had a good life and served you well.