How to Make Toasts in a Toaster Oven – A Beginner’s Guide

I can tell you first hand that making toasties for a lot of people using a regular toaster is no fun. It takes a lot of time and most regular toaster model just aren’t powerful enough to handle back to back operations for a long time.

Instead, employ one of the best spacious toaster ovens and speed up the process significantly. Better yet, in addition to a spacious interior compared to regular toasters, toaster ovens also retail with a convection fan that will blow hot air inside the unit to speed up the process and ensure even results.

With that in mind, here is a detailed guide on how you can prepare the most delicious toasties using your spacious toaster oven.

If you’re using an older version of toaster ovens that requires some time to preheat before cooking your meal, then turn it on and wait for it to preheat as you prepare your bread slices. If you’re using the best modern toaster oven, on the other hand, then there is a chance it does not require time to preheat, which means you can skip to the second step right away.

If evenly toasted bread slices are important to you, then I highly recommend that you turn on the convection setting before putting your slices in the toaster oven. And if your toaster oven’s baking pan or sheet is out of reach, you can place the slices directly on the rack.

Also, move the rack or pan to the highest possible position inside the toaster oven so the slices will be close to the heating elements. This will quicken up the procedure and deliver perfectly toasted slices in less than two minutes.

If you’re not acquainted with the different settings of toaster ovens, check out this guide.

Anyway, the broiler setting will only turn the top heating elements of the toaster oven, which is the quickest way to prepare your toasts if you placed the slices on the highest rack position. The only downside to this is that your slices can also burn quickly. So, after adjusting the temperature and time, keep a close eye on your slices through your toaster’s glass door to make sure they don’t burn.

That said, if you have the best high-end toaster oven, then it will automatically shut down after the timer runs down, which in turn eliminates the need to watch the toasting progress. But never open the glass door while the toaster oven is still in operation. Not only does this pose a safety hazard, but it also allows all the air inside the appliance to escape, which takes you back to the first step.

If you follow the steps as specified in this guide, then your slices’ side facing up will get toasted but the side facing down will remain soft. So, when you spot that the top side has been browned to your liking, open that toaster oven, flip the slices to the other side, and repeat the process.

Again, remember that the broiling setting can quickly burn your slices, so you need to remove them from the oven at the moment you notice they’ve started looking crisp and brown.

There you have it: my perfect guide on how to toast in a toaster oven.

But as you probably already know, you’re still not taking advantage of your appliance’s potential to the fullest.

Since a toaster oven has the word “toast” in its name, you will be forgiven for thinking that simply browning bread is its main purpose in your household. But if you’re just using the appliance to make toasties, then you’ve been giving up and missing out on some prime kitchen experiences.

The best toaster ovens are, in fact, the little versions of traditional ovens but with some benefits over the later. Here is a detailed guide on toaster ovens vs conventional ovens.

Thanks to the toaster oven’s diminutive size, they use less energy, heat up faster, and can be used on hot summer days without heating up your entire house. The smaller size also makes them the ideal go-to appliance for preparing smaller batches of treats and snack-sized portions of your favorite recipe.

With that in mind, here are several ideas you can avail to fully take advantage of the toaster oven sitting on your kitchen counter.

• Cook casseroles

Depending on your toaster oven’s size and its pan size, you can quickly bake delicious crowd-pleasing recipes.

• Make grilled cheese sandwiches or tuna melts
• Roast vegetables such as garlic green beans, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and anything else you would usually roast using your traditional oven.
• Whip out delicious batches of biscuits using your favorite recipe
• Prepare someday out snacks

My favorite dish includes chicken wings and snack-sized portions of drumsticks. You can never go wrong with one of those. That said, before preparing any of them, ensure you have a well laid out recipe on your side. If you don’t have one, a quick Google search will give you astounding results. But feel free to tweak the recipes from Google and make them your own.

• Roast small pieces of meat
• Roast bacon

According to my favorite recipe, just lay those strips on your toaster oven’s rack, set the temperature to 400°F, and start cooking. Switch off the oven when your bacon has reached your desired crispiness.

• Reheat leftovers

Toaster ovens were created for this task, particularly if you’re a fan of warming up baked or fried foods like fried chicken, hush puppies, pizza, biscuit, or any other food that would otherwise get soggy if warmed up in a toaster oven.

• Cook potatoes

You don’t need to fire up your full-sized conventional oven to bake two or three potatoes. As an alternative, turn on your toaster oven, adjust the temperature to 400°F, rub your already scrubbed potatoes with some oil, and bake them for 50 to 55 minutes until they’re tender and crisp.

Hopefully this thorough guide has given you a great idea of how to toast in a toaster oven and also take full advantage of the appliance in your kitchen. With that in mind, if you’re willing to invest in one of these masterpieces, here is a guide on the best reliable toaster ovens to get you off on the right start.