Toaster oven vs. microwave
Are you thinking of investing in a powerful new toaster oven that promises to bake cookies, broil, heat pizza and roast as well as toast?
If so, you may be wondering if you have room for both, or whether you use the microwave often enough to justify it taking up all that counter space.
Here’s what to think about when considering replacing your microwave with a toaster oven.
Why should I get a toaster oven?
Modern toaster ovens are powerful appliances that can typically do a lot more than toast bread. With convection baking, toasting and broiling settings, a toaster oven can take the place of your conventional oven in a pinch.
Convection baking in your toaster oven
Many toaster ovens have a built-in fan for convection baking, which not only enhances browning on meats and baked goods but bakes up to 30% faster.
The gold standard for countertop convection ovens is the 1800-watt Breville BOV800XL Smart Oven. While it has a larger footprint than most toaster ovens, the Breville can handle everything from morning toast to a whole roast chicken or a bundt cake.
It’s known for its exceptionally even heating and lack of hot spots, so you can expect every cookie on a tray to bake and brown evenly. The interior rack can handle baking dishes up to roughly 11 x 7 inches with handles, though they’re not quite wide enough to fit a 9 x 13-inch Pyrex-style baking dish.
Broiling and toasting in a toaster oven
Toaster ovens were designed for toasting bread and are perfect for bagels and pizza. Many even come with a dedicated pizza pan.
The broil setting can be used for everything from getting a crunchy edge on leftover lasagna to quickly baking apples and pears.
Should you get rid of your microwave?
Before we compare the features of toaster ovens and microwaves, it’s worth considering your current microwave setup and how you use it.
Do you have a built-in microwave?
This might go without saying, but if your kitchen design includes a built-in microwave mounted on the wall or cabinetry, it’s easiest to leave it there. A toaster oven usually can’t go into the same space for safety reasons.
How do you currently use your microwave?
Think about your routines and how often you use the microwave. It might be more often than you think.
Reheating beverages like coffee or tea multiple times a day
Reheating leftovers like soup or stew regularly
Thawing smaller portions (such as homemade baby food) without dirtying another dish
Toaster ovens vs. microwave ovens
Cooking speed
Hands down, the microwave is faster at heating up food. Baked potatoes normally take over an hour in a conventional oven (25% to 30% less in a convection oven). With a microwave, they can be done in as little as eight to 10 minutes.
Even though today’s toaster ovens preheat very quickly, they can’t compete on speed because they cook the food from the outside in (via a heating element) as opposed to cooking the food from the inside out (via radiation affecting the water molecules in the food).
If speed is your top priority, hang on to your microwave.
Cooking performance
Both appliances reheat foods well and perform a variety of cooking tasks, so here we’ll focus on the tasks that each appliance does well that the other does not.
Microwaves are best for:
Heating food with a high water or fat content (such as soup or beverages)
Popping popcorn in a microwaveable bag
Melting butter or chocolate for baking recipes
Sanitizing a kitchen or makeup sponge
Baking potatoes
Toaster ovens are great for:
Toasting bread
Baking and browning foods
Cooking meat such as roast chicken or bacon
Baking cakes, cookies, pies and pastries (if large enough)
Baking or reheating pizza (especially good with a perforated pan)
Think about what your other appliances do as well.
If the only thing holding you back from ditching your microwave is reheating soup for lunch, decide if you’d be willing to do that on the stovetop from now on in order to free up your counter.
Footprint
Size is an important factor depending on the size of your kitchen and how much countertop space you’re willing to give up long-term for an appliance. If you’re limited on counter space, you may want to look into mounting an appliance.
Microwaves are the larger of the two appliances, typically a standard size of 24 inches wide by 19 inches deep. Toaster ovens can range from 16 x 8 inches to over 20 x 10 inches.
Price
Countertop microwaves range from $50-$200, with the sweet spot of recommended models at around $100. Small toaster ovens start at around $20, but larger countertop convection ovens with robust features range into the hundreds of dollars. A bargain like this 1100-watt Mueller oven will still allow you to toast, bake and broil.
Safety
In the past, toaster ovens had a bad safety reputation for starting kitchen fires. Manufacturers responded by adding safety features like a timer with automatic shut-off. While this feature is designed to prevent kitchen fires, it’s also handy for preventing overcooked or burned food for the forgetful cook.
Concerns about radiation exposure from using the microwave have largely been eliminated, but there’s still a danger of burns from superheated liquid or accidents from heating metal objects.
It should be noted that the outside of toaster ovens are usually hot to the touch, while microwaves are not.
Ease of cleaning
Microwaves are generally easier to clean because you can steam the entire inside of the oven, then wipe it down. (Tip: use a cut lemon half in a small dish of water to deodorize the microwave as you clean).
Toaster ovens have removable pans and crumb trays that are easy to clean but a glass door and heating elements that take more effort.
Keep a dedicated silicone baking mat in your toaster oven’s rimmed baking tray to make cleanup easier.
Can’t decide between a toaster and microwave oven?
Utilize the best of both
If you decide you want to get a toaster oven but aren’t ready to part with your microwave, you can use this hack that plays to the strengths of both: heat food through in the microwave, then brown in the toaster oven.
For example, if you want a crispy skin on your baked potato but don’t want to wait, preheat your toaster oven while baking the potato in the microwave. Once fork-tender, transfer to the toaster oven to dry the outer skin.
Experiment with one appliance for a while
Just because you invest in a toaster oven doesn’t mean you need to get rid of your microwave permanently.
Try living without the microwave for a week and see if you miss it. If not, it might be time to downsize.
Rachel Boller is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
