Toaster ovens are worthy of respect because they take up little space, may replace various kitchen appliances (including your toaster and air fryer). Some are already air fryer toaster ovens, and reduce cooking times, mainly when using the convection mode. They can cook whole chickens and roast veggies in addition to toasting bread and bagels.
Because most toaster ovens don’t require preheating, they’re ideal for the summer months when you don’t want your full-size oven to heat your entire kitchen. They’re also energy-efficient, using up to half the energy of a traditional oven.
The Best Toaster Oven For Your Kitchen
We put toaster ovens to the test in the Good Housekeeping Kitchen Appliances Lab to find which ones can make the most even golden brown toast in the least period. In the last ten years, we’ve tested roughly 60. For more detail on how we test, see the bottom of this page; in the meantime, here are our top selections for the finest toaster ovens you can buy in 2021, based on testing:
Breville BOV450XL Mini Smart Oven, Countertop Toaster Oven, Brushed Stainless Steel
Features:
- The Breville Mini Smart Oven with Element IQ System is for the cook who desires a countertop oven that bakes the perfect pizza, delicious cookies, and toasts evenly; Don’t let Mini fool you as this space-saving oven offers eight cooking functions
- Using four independent quartz elements, intelligent algorithms steer power to where and when it’s needed to create the ideal cooking environment for perfect results every time; Fast 1800 Watt preheat gets your meals on the table more quickly
- Super-versatile mini smart oven with eight cooking functions to guide you to perfection: Toast, Bagel, Bake, Broil, Pizza, Roast, Cookies, and Reheat
- The 16.1 x 14.2 x 10.4-inch interior fits four slices of toast, bagels, cookies, tuna melts, 6 cup muffin tray, and 11-inch pizzas; Complete with three rack positions, pull out crumb tray, and auto shut off
- LCD to more easily access the built-in smart functionality, choose from 8 cooking functions
- The walls on the inside of the oven feature a non-stick coating for easy cleaning
- 10 x 10-inch Enamel Baking Pan
Hamilton Beach 31413 Countertop Toaster Oven
Features:
- The Sure-Crisp air fry convection function circulates air around food as it cooks, creating crispy and delicious fries, chicken wings, steaks, fish, vegetables, and more.
- You get the convenience and deliciousness of crispy air frying along with all the classic toaster oven functions you love: toasting, baking, and broiling.
- This toaster oven with an air fryer has plenty of room for everything from 6 slices of toast to a 12″ pizza, five lb. chicken, or a 9″ x 11″ baking pan and has three rack positions for flexibility.
- The air fryer oven comes with all the accessories you need to air fry, bake, broil, and toast, plus a slide-out crumb tray.
- Quality heating elements provide precise, accurate temperatures from 200° to 450°F and even cooking without hot spots.
- Air fry feature may require more cooking time than standalone air fryers
Ninja SP101 Digital Air Fry Countertop Oven
Features:
- Precision-controlled temperature, heat source, and airflow for ultimate versatility and optimum cooking performance.
- The ultimate meal-making machine with 8-in-1 functionality: Air Fry, Air Roast, Air Broil, Bake, Bagel, Toast, Dehydrate, and Keep Warm all in one powerful, 1800-watt appliance.
- Eat all of your air-fried favorites guilt-free with up to 75% less fat when using the Air Fry function vs. traditional deep frying. Tested against hand-cut, bottomless fried French Fries.
- Cooks up to 60% faster than a traditional oven on Air Roast; 60-second preheat; full meals in as little as 20 minutes.
- 45% larger usable pan cooking area vs. the flat surface area of the Cuisinart toa-60 and toa-65 pan. Fits a 13″ Pizza, up to 9 slices of toast, or six chicken breasts (6–8 oz. each).
- Takes up 50% less space when you flip it up and away to store against your kitchen backsplash.
- Toast and bagels did the way you like with a toast darkness selector to get it just right.
Features:
- A Compact, Easy-to-Use Oven Toaster: Toast, bake, brown, and reheat to perfection, no preheat required—two infrared oven heating elements are positioned at the front and back for maximum efficiency
- Six 1-Touch Controls: Six preset cooking functions for the foods you love, plus reheat, defrost, and more, so that makes it just right couldn’t be simpler
- For So Much More than Just Toast: A compact toaster oven that makes meals, snacks, and sides ideally using manual temperature control and a timer
- Safety Features: Toaster ovens baking rack is connected to the oven door to smoothly pull the rack toward you as the door is opened; auto shut-off helps prevent overcooking and burning
- Compact, Attractive Design that Fits Anywhere: The FlashXpress toaster’s unique design and small footprint is perfect for any kitchen décor or countertop
Cuisinart TOB-260N1 Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven
Features:
- With 1800 watts of power, you can dual cook, sandwich speed convection, pizza, bake, broil, toast, waffle, bagel, leftover, keep warm, including several other options
- Fits 13-inch pizza, 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan, and nine slices of bread. .95-cubic feet inside oven toaster
- This digital convection toaster oven has a large blue blocklist display with a door sensor to activate the oven and a non-stick interior for easy cleanup. The Exact Heat sensor maintains precise oven temperature – Always Even toast shade control and a convenient auto-slide rack for convenience.
- This beautiful brushed stainless steel unit comes with a 13-inch pizza stone, two cooking racks, a 9-inch x 13-inch enamel baking pan, and a broiling pan. Also includes interior light, clock, and 2-hour timer with a front pull-out crumb tray and recipe book.
- Refer to the user manual for troubleshooting steps and questions surrounding warranty policies – this product is BPA-free.
Here are some essential points that should be remembered while choosing a toaster oven:
- Consider your available space as well as your intended purpose for the oven. If space isn’t an issue, risk: A small turkey can fit in ovens like the Breville Smart Oven Air and the June Oven. If space is a concern, there are numerous little ovens on the market, such as the Hamilton Beach Sure-Crisp, that can hold six slices of bread or a 13-inch frozen pizza at once.
- Aesthetics are crucial because your toaster oven will likely live on your counter. In comparison to its mechanical predecessors, digital toaster ovens with stainless steel casings are often sleeker and more modern appearing.
- Most toaster ovens have two rack positions, although the biggest ones have three. The additional rack position increases the cooking variety and usable space, especially useful for air frying and dehydrating. Broiling is done in the uppermost positions while toasting bread and baking is done in the center, and huge roasts or pizzas are cooked in the bottom positions.
- At least one rack and a baking/broiling pan are standard with most toaster ovens (note: a heavier baking pan means minor warping over time). Most toaster ovens now include a removable crumb pan that can be washed in the dishwasher. It’s also crucial to put them in the dishwasher: Dishwasher-safe parts aid toaster oven maintenance by preventing caked-on muck from smoking and keeping things looking new and shining.
Many toaster ovens contain an air frying basket/rack, pizza stones, or rotisseries spits, and an interior light that allows you to view inside without opening the door. We found this feature quite helpful, and toaster ovens with large glass doors for easy viewing were also a hit.
How We Tested The Best Toaster Ovens?
We examined a variety of popular models to see how effectively they toast, air fry, bake, and broil and how convenient they are to operate to find the finest toaster ovens. We cooked frozen and homemade French fries, Brussels sprouts, chicken wings, and Panko-breaded chicken breasts to see how well air frying performed. We also cooked hamburgers on the broil setting, evaluating the browning and juiciness of each patty. We roasted whole chickens in ovens large enough to hold them, checking for evenness and crispiness of the skin after cooking.
We also prepared a 12-inch frozen pizza and baked yellow cakes from a mix and chocolate chip cookies from chilled dough. The made-from-scratch French fries and Brussels sprouts received a spoonful of oil, but no additional ingredients were added. Everything was cooked on the manufacturer’s recommended setting until it was tender, thoroughly baked, or reached a safe internal temperature. Browning, crisping, and how evenly each meal cooked were all examined and how moist and tender it was on the inside.
To determine how easy each toaster oven was to operate, we looked at how easy it was to adjust the controls, slide the pieces in and out, and, of course, clean up. We looked to see if the handbook adequately explained how to operate the product, which is especially crucial given how many diverse features toaster ovens have. We took surface temperatures on eight areas that the user is likely to touch during cooking to see if it could be a hazard. We measured the sound level of each toaster oven while it was running to see how much it would interfere with kitchen conversation.
