Based on the cooking function you can choose your kitchen appliance to be a traditional oven, standard oven, infrared toaster oven, air fryer toaster oven, mini oven, and an oven thermometer to measure the exact internal temperature of your toaster oven. Then, with six toaster ovens ready to go in our test kitchen, I set out to put them to the test to try to find the best of the lot. Of these six, we came away with a clear favorite, and we're also including a couple of others because they remain well worth the splurge.
We've tested all of those aforementioned upgrade picks here at CNET Appliances, but the only one any of us has ever bought for ourselves is the FlashXpress.
It's a fun, quirky countertop cooker that uses an infrared heating element for tasks like toasting bread and baking frozen pizza with speedy precision, and it has an easily removable crumb tray.
It might not be big enough for everybody or for baking for everybody , but that also means that it won't take up any more counter space than it needs on your countertop.
Even now, six years after we first reviewed it, it's still easy to recommend it as the best toaster oven for toasting or baking food, or even a countertop toaster oven upgrade. Read our full Panasonic FlashXpress review. But the Breville Smart Oven Pro cooks just about everything about as well as you could possibly expect from a countertop convection oven. On top of that, the mini smart oven is sturdy, attractive, and has an easily removable crumb tray, and it's packed with extra cooking setting modes that you might actually find useful, including convection cooking.
This Breville mini smart oven is a great compact toaster oven pick if you don't have a smart oven, don't have room for a full size oven or if you need a small toaster oven for cooking food just about every day. Read our full Breville Smart Oven review. I hate that the door on this convection toaster oven opens down more than 90 degrees. The glass can crash directly against the corner of your countertop if it isn't pushed all the way back against your backsplash. Still, if you can forgive that design flaw, then you'll love the way this convection toaster oven cooks, whether you're toasting, baking or broiling.
This countertop oven was a top finisher in each one of our cooking tests. That sort of reliable, predictable cooking and baking is exactly what you want from your toaster oven. Editor's note, Jan. More from Chowhound: 10 toaster oven hacks you need to try right now. You've got absolutely no shortage of toaster ovens to choose from. If you're willing to spend a little more, you should expect to get some form of convection heat and cooking, as well as perhaps a wider oven cavity, a few additional cooking preset options, digital controls, a non-stick coating on the bake pan or a nicer-looking design.
The Bialetti and Toshiba models I tested come in black stainless steel, matching a modern large appliance trend, and the Toshiba model features a built-in rotisserie rack, too.
The Nostalgia model offers a unique, red-bodied build, while lower-cost options from Hamilton Beach and Oster serve as simpler budget picks. Testing toaster ovens requires an awful lot of cooking, so I donned my trusty tan apron and got to work. Specifically, I set out to cook a wide variety of common toaster oven fodder. With the exception of the toasting tests, where I looked at each toaster oven's individual settings for light, medium and dark toast, I used standardized temperature and cook times, and followed the recommendations on the box for whatever I was cooking wherever possible.
More from Chowhound: How to clean your toaster oven. Bread made up the bulk of my test fodder -- after all, of all the foods most of us probably make most often with these things it's toast. Most low-end toaster ovens use a built-in kitchen timer to set the broiling, toasting and cooking time.
Typically, those timers include a couple of preset options for toasting -- medium toast, dark toast and in some cases, a setting for light, barely toasted bread, too. Fancier models with an LCD display will usually let you dial into a specific doneness level when you're toasting. You'll typically get about six or seven settings to choose from with those, each with preprogrammed toasting times. That's more precise than turning a timer knob, and worth it if you're a stickler for the perfect shade of golden brown.
For my purposes, I toasted two slices of thin, white sandwich bread in each toaster oven at its version of each of the three common settings: light, medium and dark. After each test, I photographed the results and made sure to let the toaster oven cool back down to room temperature before testing again.
The main thing I was looking for was a nice, even color at medium settings, as well as the ability to easily adjust up or down from there. The models with digital displays -- Bialetti and Toshiba -- were the easiest to use, since you dial into your preferred level of doneness on a six- or seven-point scale rather than guesstimating with a timer knob.
Four out of 7 was a touch too dark for my tastes with Bialetti, but it'd be easy enough to leave it set at 3 it was also the only toaster oven that visibly toasted the bread at the lightest toast setting.
I also appreciated that it was the only toaster oven of the bunch to feature an "A Little Extra" button for those times when your toast needs another minute. Meanwhile, the Toshiba's toast was a little too light at 4 out of 6, and too light at the darkest setting, too.
The other four toaster ovens I tested all use timer knobs with little markers for different settings. I'm not a fan of the approach, especially with a model like the Hamilton Beach D, which puts tiny markers for medium and dark toast directly adjacent to one another on the dial. Though a full 3 minutes of toasting time separates them, you'll have to stoop down, squint and turn the knob very carefully if you want to hit anything in between the two with any sort of consistency.
The best of the manual control bunch? That'd be the Oster TSSTTVCG05, which consistently delivered satisfying golden brown toast at medium settings in less time than Bialetti, and which also features the best setting for folks who like toast dark, but not charcoal black.
Speaking of the darkest setting, I didn't begrudge the toaster ovens that burnt the hell out of my bread, because that darkest setting is often needed to toast from frozen.
To put that to the test, I toasted several batches of frozen Eggo waffles in each toaster at the darkest setting. That'll force you to search for a sweet spot between medium and dark on the dedicated doneness dial when you're toasting frozen food. Meanwhile, the weakest toasters of the bunch -- Hamilton Beach and Toshiba -- weren't able to get the Eggos quite crisp enough. They might have benefited from Bialetti's "A Little Extra" button.
I also baked a bunch of frozen pizzas -- personal-sized pepperoni pies from DiGiorno, to be specific. The box recommends baking a frozen pizza at F for 17 minutes, so that's what I did with each toaster oven. The results were all over place, but not terribly surprising. The Hamilton Beach toaster oven was a little wimpy in the toast tests, and it followed suit here, too, with an underbaked pizza that needed another couple of minutes in the oven.
Meanwhile, the toaster oven with the most power -- the Bialetti -- gave us burnt pizza that cooked a lot faster than you'd expect. Toshiba burnt the pizza, too. Customers who have jobs that prevent them from having much time to cook praise the oven for its simplicity and versatility, as well as how quickly it cooks food. Some recipes are available directly from the oven, while others are on the Brava app.
It has an internal camera paired with recognition software so it can tell the difference between an English muffin and a burger bun and count the number of tortillas you pop in, and it adjusts its time and temperature for the perfect toasting. Customers newer to cooking will also appreciate that the oven has programs for cooking a wide variety of foods, a recipe app that makes cooking a breeze, and easy-to-understand manual controls. Our tester found the video recipes impressive and cooked perfect air-fried chicken parmesan with the app controlling the oven temperature at every stage and prompting her to turn the chicken, add the sauce and cheese, and take it out.
This has settings for bake, roast, broil, toast, dehydrate, air fry, slow cook, reheat, and keep warm, so it does a whole lot more than toast. We tested a Generation 2 June Oven, but the Generation 3 is now available and it addresses one of the only concerns of our reviewer. The updated June Oven has guard rails added to the top heating elements, helping to protect them from accidental breakage.
It can toast up to four slices of bread at a time and has space for a 9-inch pizza. This has functions for baking, broiling, toasting, and keeping food warm. Customers are happy with how uncomplicated the oven is to use, and those with cramped kitchens praise its compact build.
The removable crumb tray makes it easy to clean. It comes with a baking pan, broiling rack, and toasting rack. As with full-size ovens, countertop ovens can also have varying degrees of accuracy when it comes to temperatures.
To remedy this, Khoo recommends investing in a small oven thermometer so that you can monitor your cooking and see if there are any hotspots and adjust accordingly. This might mean turning a cake tin or baking tray around to ensure even cooking. Like other ovens, this one features a variety of presets including cookies, pizza, frozen snacks, and potatoes.
The functions include bake, broil, toast, and bagel , and the convection fan can be turned on or off. The oven can fit a inch pizza thanks to a rounded bump-out on the back of the oven, and there are two positions for the rack.
The minute timer shuts the oven off automatically and announces itself with a single bell to let you know the time is up. The crumb tray removes easily from the outside for easy cleaning and to keep crumbs from getting stuck in the door. Breville is known for quality appliances, like this compact smart oven that takes up less space on the counter than the brand's heftier countertop ovens. When it comes to toasting, it can handle four slices of bread at once. This oven has cooking presets for eight different cooking functions: toast, bagel, bake, roast, broil, pizza , cookies, and reheat.
The inside walls of the oven have a nonstick coating, so cleaning is easy, even after food has dripped or spattered during cooking.
Several reviewers rave about how simple the oven is to use, especially in comparison with their regular oven. Some do note, however, that it could take a bit of time for the toaster oven to preheat to the set temperature. Plus, it comes with an internal light so you can check on your food as it cooks.
It's compact, easy to use, and quite spacious for a small oven. Toaster ovens with smaller capacities take up less room overall, making them great options for small spaces, like dorm rooms. If you just want to make more toast than a traditional 2-slice toaster can handle, capacity won't matter too much.
Ovens with more capacity eat up more counter space but allow you to cook larger amounts. If you like to bake brownies, muffins, and cakes or heat up a lot of frozen pizza and snacks, you'll want to make sure the toaster oven can fit standard baking pans and has the depth to accommodate larger pizzas. If you enjoy baking things that rise significantly think cakes or souffles , Khoo notes that you should ensure you'll have enough clearance from top to bottom.
Measure your counter space before buying so you can compare the toaster oven's dimensions to your available space and know exactly how much room you can give to a new countertop oven. You'll also want to make sure the location you've chosen is close to an outlet and that the cord length can reach it.
Consider what sort of controls and automation features you like. Toaster ovens may be controlled with buttons, knobs, dials, or touchscreens.
Pay attention to what kind of notification the toaster oven gives you when the cooking time is up and if the oven has automatic shut off. Also check to see if you can turn on the oven light without opening the oven door to check on food without losing heat.
While the simplest toaster ovens can toast, bake, and broil with ease, others have cooking features that rival your full-size oven plus other kitchen appliances. If you want to broil a steak, make a rotisserie chicken, air fry chicken wings, or dehydrate jerky, there are toaster ovens that can do all of that and then some. You'll also find more toaster ovens with the ability to convection bake. You'll also find ovens loaded with cooking presets for items like bagels, frozen pizza, cookies, proofing bread dough, and slow cooking.
These settings help take the guesswork out of choosing cooking time and temperature, but they're only useful if you'll actually use them. Most toaster ovens include a baking pan and a removable crumb tray to help keep the interior of the oven clean.
Not all toaster ovens include accessories beyond those basics, but it's nice a feature when you know you'll also be receiving baking trays, pans, and racks that all perfectly fit the toaster's interior.
Some ovens include more unique accessories like rotisserie spits, pizza stones, and broiler trays. A toaster oven should be used in an area where it has plenty of clearance since the outside can get hot to the touch and give off a good bit of heat. When you're ready to cook, you'll either begin by preheating the oven or placing your food directly inside.
Not all toaster ovens require preheating so be sure to check your instruction manual. Whether you preheat the oven or not depends on what you're cooking. The toaster oven should be preheated to the desired cooking temperature for traditional baked dishes like cake, cookies, and meat. Doing so allows the food to begin cooking as soon as it's placed in the oven. Placing uncooked food in a cold toaster oven will take longer to cook since the oven has to warm up.
Preheating is optional for toasting a few slices of bread or warming a plate of leftovers, but be aware that these too may take a little longer without preheating. You'll then place your food on the toaster oven baking rack or tray and set the cooking time according to a recipe, choose a level of brownness for toasting, or select a cooking preset if your toaster oven has them.
Most toaster ovens can be used with a small piece of aluminum foil, but it depends on which toaster oven you have. To be absolutely certain it's safe to use foil, check your toaster oven's manual. Foil should not touch the heating element, interior walls, or the crumb tray since it poses a fire risk. Lining the baking tray or tenting a dish with a small piece of aluminum foil without any overhang is usually okay for most toaster ovens.
Most foods that can be cooked in a standard oven can also be made in a toaster oven since it bakes, broils, roasts, and toasts.
Some popular items include:. The stainless steel housing stayed cool during use and all accessories were dishwasher safe. It's sleek and space-efficient, yet can fit nine slices of bread at one time although they only recommend six.
We particularly like its very straightforward interface with two basic dials plus a start and a cancel button an underrated feature for the control it gives you to stop or reselect the cooking cycle.
The display is easy to read as well. This toaster oven is one of a kind from a technological standpoint. Place a piece of food inside, and a camera will detect what it is and recommend how to cook it.
Then, you can either press the Start Cooking button, or override it and cook your food a different way. The touchpad is practically addicting: It responds as fast as an iPhone and offers a very clean and easy user experience. We were able to fit 12 slices of bread on one of the shelves, and it toasted relatively evenly and baked a very nice cake.
It also baked a delicious pizza with evenly melted cheese and a lightly crisp bottom. We know counter space is not easy to come by. This air fryer toaster oven from Ninja flips up for storage and stands flush against your backsplash so you don't have to choose between a new appliance and prep space.
The bottom surface also releases so you can clean it easily. In our tests, the control panel was intuitive to use and easy to read. Bread toasted well and cake baked very evenly. We particularly liked the air crisp function that made crispy, yet moist wings. The air fry rack is large and offers ample cooking room, an especially good feature for air fryers that promotes air circulation for the crispiest results.
Though we have not tested this oven in our Labs, it is highly rated on Amazon. It's compact it will fit a 9-inch pizza and features preset cooking times for toast, reheating waffles and rolls and cooking frozen foods like pizza and hash browns.
We like that the rack is attached to the door so it automatically pulls forward as you open the oven. Reviewers noted that the pan is difficult to clean and rusts easily. We suggest covering it with a fitted layer of foil before placing food on it. For our most recent test of more than 20 toaster ovens, we toasted more than slices of bread. We check for evenly cooked baked goods as well as the ability to broil steak and to melt cheese on open-faced sandwiches.
For toaster ovens with air fryer functions, we test how quickly and evenly they crisp up chicken wings and frozen French fries. We also evaluate the toaster ovens based on their design quality, user manuals, control panels, ease of use, number of rack positions, interior visibility, audible alert and cleanability. If space is an issue, there are many compact ovens on the market, like the Hamilton Beach Sure-Crisp , that can still fit six slices of bread at one time, or a inch frozen pizza.
Digital toaster ovens with stainless steel housing are typically sleeker and more modern looking than their mechanical counterparts. The added rack position allows for even more cooking versatility and usable space, especially for air frying or dehydrating.
As a general rule of thumb, the uppermost positions are used for broiling, while the middle are used for toasting bread and baking, and the bottom is used for cooking large roasts or pizzas. Most toaster ovens now come with a removable crumb tray that is dishwasher safe too. Being able to toss them in the dishwasher is also very important: Dishwasher-safe parts help with toaster oven maintenance by preventing smoking from caked on gunk and keeping things looking new and shiny. We found this feature to be very useful, and were also pleased with toaster ovens that had large, glass doors for the easiest viewing.
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