The Best Toaster Ovens
Oster 6-Slice Toaster Oven
The Oster 6-slice capacity toaster brings the heat and the space to accommodate whatever you’re cooking up. This solid toaster oven puts other smaller units to shame with its ability to handle a 12-inch pizza and cook things at up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Seven preset cook options takes the guesswork out of cooking and allows you to quickly and easily prepare a variety of foods. Heck, you can even fit and cook a roast in the Oster if you wanted to.
The unit comes with an interior light to check the status of your food while cooking and has a nice and bright LED display that shows the time and temp. The Oster 6-Slice provides you with a large cooking area and plenty of versatility. The icing on top is the unit’s convenient crumb tray and cooking rack which are both dishwasher safe.
Pros
- Crumb tray and cooking rack are dishwasher safe
- Interior light to check food
- Large size
Cons
- Firm pressure needed for buttons
Key Features
- Removable crumb tray and rack
- Digital controls with 7 preset cook functions
- Interior light
- LED display
Specifications
- Brand: Oster
- Dimensions: 16.3 x 19.7 x 11.3 inches
- Weight: 20.3 pounds
- Capacity: 6 slices of bread
Calphalon TSCLTRDG1 Quartz Heat Countertop Toaster Oven
The TSCLTRDG1 toaster from Calphalon may take up a bit more of your counter space, but it does so at the trade off of its unique quartz heating element. If you’re unfamiliar with this feature, quartz elements deliver 40% more heat than conventional toasters and preheats much faster.
When it comes to versatility, the Calphalon rests towards the top of the list with its 11 preset cooking functions which include bake, pizza, broil, toast, bagel, roast, defrost, warm, reheat, cookies, and dehydrate. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a need this unit can’t fill.
In addition, this oven boasts plenty of room (enough for a 12-inch pizza) as well a high contrast LED display, and an included baking pan, pizza pan, dehydrator rack, and wire rack.
Pros
- Cooks thoroughly and evenly
- LCD display is easy to read
- Will dehydrate food
Cons
- Poorly insulated back panel
- No rack “stop” to catch when removing food
Key Features
- Quartz heating element
- Stainless steel finish
- 11 preset cooking functions
- LCD display
- Includes a baking pan, pizza pan, dehydrator rack, and wire rack
Specifications
- Brand: Calphalon
- Dimensions: 18.7 x 15.8 x 11.6 inches
- Weight: 23.7 pounds
- Capacity: 6 slices of bread
Hamilton Beach 6-Slice Countertop Toaster Oven
Hamilton Beach’s toaster oven is a simple and no nonsense product. Simple, easy to clean, and sharp-looking thanks to its stainless steel finish. Like others on the list it can accommodate 6 slices of bread or a 12-inch pizza and has a removable crumb tray.
Performance on this unit is very similar to others, but we liked a few of its unique design features like its hour-long timer with automatic shut off and roll-top style door that makes handling hot food safer and easier.
Though the Hamilton Beach only has three preset functions (bake, broil, and toast) you can still cook a variety of foods in these very capable oven.
Pros
- Roll-top door allows for more space in front of the oven
- Crumb tray removes for easy cleaning
- “Stay on” option allows you to cook for longer time periods
Cons
- Heating elements are uncovered
Key Features
- Roll-top door
- Two rack positions
- Three cooking options including bake, broil, and toast
- Automatic shutoff
- Contoured knobs
Specifications
- Brand: Hamilton Beach
- Dimensions: 15.2 x 18.7 x 9.4 inches
- Weight: 11.4 pounds
- Capacity: 6 slices of bread
BLACK+DECKER TO3250XSB 8-Slice Extra Wide Convection Countertop Toaster Oven
Black+Decker’s Extra Wide Toaster Oven is all about options. Its extra wide design allows you to cook up to 8 slices of bread instead of the usual 6, and will fit 9×13 inch pans with handles. We especially like this toaster’s spacious design because that means you can use most of the pans you already have. Bigger is certainly better!
The generous dimensions aside, this toaster’s convection system gives you greater heat than others. The powerful convection fan circulates warm air throughout the oven for faster, more even baking. Other convection functions include: baking, broiling, toasting, and warming functions.
However, the temperatures in this oven will be lower than other units despite producing the same results. This is due to the Black+Decker’s advanced and super efficient heating element. In essence, this oven does more with less. Temperature dials have been calibrated accordingly to produce the best results.
Top it off with three cooking racks, and this Black+Decker toaster oven is a formidable contender for your kitchen.
Pros
- Wide design allows for more to cook at once
- 9″ x 13″ oven pans will fit
- Adjustable rack height
- Great for keeping food warm
Cons
- Knobs can be difficult to turn with wet or greasy hands due to the smooth surface
Key Features
- Includes functions for toast, bake, broil, and keep warm
- Includes bake pan, toasting rack, and broil rack
- Extra-wide to fit 9″x13″ pans
- Removable crumb tray
Specifications
- Brand: BLACK+DECKER
- Dimensions: 14.5 x 22 x 11.5 inches
- Weight: 17.5 pounds
- Capacity: 8 slices of bread
Hamilton Beach Toastation Oven
It’s a bird, it’s a plane! Nah, it actually just a toaster/oven hybrid that’s perfect for your bagels.
Finally, a true toaster/oven combo. This Toastation from Hamilton Beach easily has the most unique design on this list. The ultimate 2-in1-appliance this innovative product will let you cook a pizza and toast bagels with the same appliance! You can do more with less space.
The Toastation toasts 24% faster, reheats 28% faster and uses 73% less energy than a traditional toaster oven. We especially like the compactness and versatility of this unit. If you are looking for a great toaster that can also cook or warm small batches of fries, pizza, or chicken nuggets, the Toastation will work great in your kitchen.
Pros
- Capacity: 2 slices of bread
- Small footprint on counter
- Toaster and oven are compartmentalized
Cons
- No timer function
- Narrow vertical clearance in oven compartment
Key Features
- 2-in-1 compact appliance
- Function select lever and turn knob dial for temperature and toast darkness
- Slot toaster with oven compartment
Specifications
- Brand: Hamilton Beach
- Dimension: 8.9 x 16.4 x 8.1 inches
- Weight: 8.25 pounds
- Capacity: 2 slices of bread
Toaster Oven Buying Guide
When selecting a toaster oven, make sure to consider how you plan to use it to ensure you get the features that will be most useful for you without paying for features that you won’t use. Most toaster ovens share pretty much the same basic functions, but differ in terms of size, power, and built-in functionality.
Size
Think through the size of your kitchen and the amount of available counter space you have. Toaster ovens get very hot by the nature of what they are built to do, so most users leave them out at all times since they would need to cool down prior to being stored which takes time and it is just easier to leave them out. Smaller toaster ovens are cheaper and have fewer features, but fit well on a small counter. Smaller ovens also have less vertical clearance which can make toasting taller foods and sandwiches trying, and could even cause your food to burn or to catch fire. Larger ovens will allow more options for cooking more foods, but at the cost of counter space.
Power
Consider what you will be cooking and choose a machine that will provide the necessary power. Toasting bread and warming leftovers doesn’t need a super-powered heating element, but baking meals will need a bit more power to get the job done.
Functionality
Toaster ovens function in one of two basic ways. The first is a temperature and heat setting manually set by the user that will turn the oven off after the timer has expired. Other units will often have preset functions for “bake” or “toast” or “broil” and then allow you to change the temperature setting. These ovens will automatically stop once the programmed number of minutes for that preset has expired. Some users prefer the flexibility of the former, and others desire the automation and ease of the latter. Look through the options and determine what works best for you.
