If you’ve started looking for a new toaster oven, you might want to look into buying a convection toaster oven. Not only do they do everything a conventional toaster oven can do, but a convection toaster oven is great because you avoid the cold spots that non-convection appliances can give you.
By the use of a fan or another convection tool, convection toaster ovens spread the heat around the cooking cavity evenly. This makes cooking more accurate, but that does come at the expense of cooking times. They generally need a little longer to get the same results of a regular toaster oven, but you will always get an even cook.
I did some research on how convection ovens compare to non-convection models and thought I’d create a helpful guide for people who are wondering what they need to buy. Cooking a variety of dishes is important to me, but so is the evenness of cooking, time to heat up, energy efficiency, and general safety.
Table of contents
How quickly does a convection toaster oven cook?
How long do I need to preheat a convection toaster oven?
How energy efficient is a convection toaster oven?
Can I use a convection toaster oven to reheat food?
Can I use a convection toaster oven to cook toast?
Conclusion
How quickly does a convection toaster oven cook?
Convection toaster ovens cook faster than conventional ovens. This is because they have smaller cooking cavities to fill up and move the air around to make sure that there is an even spread of heat. This makes for a great alternative for people who are space conscious and need to cut down on the size of their appliances.
But they are slower than regular toaster ovens. This is again due to the convection air flows. Because the air is being wafted around the inside of the toaster oven, it means that they do not have as much bite when cooking.
However, the other side of the coin is that you will get a more even cook. If speed is the most important thing for you, then a convection toaster oven might be a little disappointing. But the quality of your food will improve, so that’s a huge bonus mark for me.
How long do I need to preheat a convection toaster oven?
Convection toaster ovens take slightly longer than regular toaster ovens to heat up. I usually leave mine for 15 minutes before I put anything into it, whereas regular toaster ovens reportedly only need 10 to 12 minutes.
This isn’t a long period at all, but this is in comparison to microwaves and other toaster ovens. If you need something that heats up fast, looking at microwave ovens or infrared toaster ovens may be better for you.
Again, this slightly slower time is because of the convection air flows. I am personally very happy to trade 3 minutes to get a better quality of overall cooking, so I don’t view this as much of a hindrance.
If you were planning to cook larger dishes, you need to remember that most traditional ovens need 20 minutes to heat up. You are saving on money and time by using a convection toaster oven while still getting the same quality you’d expect of a conventional oven.
How energy efficient is a convection toaster oven?
Very, especially when compared to regular toaster ovens or conventional ovens. The best part about a convection toaster oven is the fan (or other convection tool that helps spread the heat).
In non-convection appliances, you will find that there are cold spots. As cold spots appear in an oven, the oven has to introduce more heat to keep the cooking cavity from going cold. Over a long cooking session, this could mean that your oven is wasting energy and your money.
By using a fan, the heat is spread throughout the cooking cavity. This reduces cold spots, means that the element in the convection toaster oven doesn’t need to stay as hot as it was, and saves your wallet and the planet.
My convection oven works at 1200 watts per hour. This fits onto the lower end of the scale for toaster ovens, but is a whole kilowatt less than my conventional oven needs (with its greedy 2200 watt per hour demands). This means that I use my convection toaster oven whenever I get the chance in order to save time, money, and still get excellent food.
Can I use a convection toaster oven to reheat food?
Before we bought our convection toaster oven, my wife asked me “can I cook frozen lasagna in a toaster oven?” Yes, you can. In fact, this is one of the better uses of a convection toaster oven. Because you have the convection air flows that are moving through the toaster oven, you know that it will be evenly warmed and ready to eat.
The difference between using a microwave and a convection toaster oven is night and day. I often find that microwaved food comes out colder on the inside than on the outside and is also quite soggy. This isn’t a problem with a convection toaster oven at all as the heat brings the temperature of the entire dish up.
Compared to a regular toaster oven, it also wins. As you are heating the entire dish through, you know that you won’t find any cold spots and you can make sure you serve piping hot food to everyone. This does come at the expense of a little longer to heat the convection oven, but the time differences are generally no longer than 5 to 10 minutes.
Can I use a convection toaster oven to cook toast?
Yes, but it will probably come out on the slightly springy side. If you’re like my wife and like your toast only lightly cooked, then this might actually help you get better quality toast.
Unlike a toaster, which superheats the air around the bread, a convection toaster oven is heating up a large cooking cavity. This means that you will have to wait longer and you will get less intensely crunchy toast.
If you need to have crunchy toast in your life, I’d suggest buying a convection toaster oven with a toaster slot. A lot of very affordable designs come with toaster slots. This means that you can use the convection function for chickens or pizzas and use the toaster slot to make delicious toast.
Conclusion
Convection toaster ovens are great, especially if you want to maintain food while also cooking quickly. The use of convection air flows means that you can get the very best out of your toaster oven and not have to worry about it having to constantly reheat the cooking cavity.
The convection toaster oven has many uses, but cooking from scratch and preheating are both easy. Whether you want to reheat frozen lasagna, cook a fresh pizza, or roast a chicken, your convection toaster oven can do it all.
My convection toaster oven has been one of my best purchases and I’m so glad that I have been able to make the most of this great device. For saving space and money, the appliance is brilliant.