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Best toaster oven?

Discussion in 'Drink, Smoke, and Fine Dining' started by David_S, Aug 5, 2013.

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  1. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    #1 David_S, Aug 5, 2013
    Ughhhh - the shaded pole fan motor for the convection fan in my toaster oven just died. Yes, I could tear it out & fix it, but that would be hours of bother for a toaster oven that was under $200 to begin with.

    I'm looking for a goodly sized toaster (say, one you can fit a large frozen pizza in, a decent sized chicken, or a medium to small leg of lamb.) Has to have convection, rotisserie, good even heating, and get up to 450F minimum (higher would be great!)

    Would prefer something in the 2 to $300 range, though less is certainly fine, and if justified by durability and function, a bit higher would be OK too.

    Any thoughts?

    p.s.: Current one is/was a Wolfgang Puck jobbie. Was OK while it lasted, but not the best I've tried. The Puck unit will replace the POS I use in the shop to heat up my lunches.
     
  2. I.T. Guy

    I.T. Guy F1 World Champ

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    #2 I.T. Guy, Aug 5, 2013
    Get a good oven and use it :D
    Frees up counter space.
     
  3. David_S

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    #3 David_S, Aug 5, 2013
    LOL! Have a decent/mediocre oven, but it doesn't offer convection or rotisserie. At least the stupid thing will crank up to 575F, something I have yet to see in any toaster oven I've looked at recently.
     
  4. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    #4 David_S, Aug 12, 2013
    I guess nobody else does SERIOUS cooking in a toaster oven?
     
  5. 328tobe

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    #5 328tobe, Aug 12, 2013
  6. David_S

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    #6 David_S, Aug 13, 2013
    Have considered that one. MIGHT give it a go, as I could always rotisserie on the grill when needed.

    Thanks for the input! :)
     
  7. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

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    #7 Nurburgringer, Aug 13, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I see this particular version is NLA, but my wife and I have used ours probably 100s of times in the past 5 years and it's still going strong:
    Hamilton Beach 31197 Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie: Kitchen & Dining: Amazon.com

    The convection works excellent for crisping tater tots/frozen fries or rosemary and olive oil red potatoes, gets up to 500F for pizza, fits our 9" cast iron pan for corn pone casserole, etc. Used the rotisserie once with a chicken and jamaican jerk seasoning and it came out great, but now that every grocery store has roasted chickens for 5 or 6 bucks it's not worth it to make yourself (fancy spices aside).

    The only bummer with this model is that pizza stones that fit perfectly are hard to find. Most are 13" round or 10x14" rectangles, and the oven's interior is almost exactly 12x12. I tried unglazed tiles but after a few uses they all cracked.

    We probably use it 10 times for every one time we heated up the big oven. That one's also convection, just unnecessarily large unless we were cooking for a party or holiday, in which case the toaster oven still came in handy as supplemental oven space.

    Checked the main temp knob against an oven thermometer several times it's pretty damned close, within 25F or so which is fine for me.

    edit: this looks like the updated model with slightly different looks:
    Amazon.com: Hamilton Beach Countertop Oven with Convection and Rotisserie: Home & Kitchen

    Maybe not fancy looking, but if it's got the same guts as the one we have it's a workhorse for a great price.

    can see ours on the left here, when we were roasting said chicken:
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  8. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    #8 David_S, Aug 14, 2013
    The Hamilton Beach looks like it is probably the one I used for almost a decade when I lived back in Illinois. Awesome find!

    The ability to reach 500F versus the more typical 450F REALLY makes a difference for some things. As you said - no fancy looking, but a workhorse.

    Thanks!
     
  9. atomicskiracer

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    #9 atomicskiracer, Aug 14, 2013
  10. David_S

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    #10 David_S, Aug 14, 2013
    Score! Ordered. Happy cooking, and hope your new home turns out to be a wonderful place to live! :)
     
  11. David_S

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    #11 David_S, Sep 12, 2013
    First REAL use last night. Stuck a boneless leg of lamb on the rotisserie, set it on 500 F, and let it rip for about an hour with the door slightly propped open with a wad of aluminum foil.

    This gave the outside an awesome sear. Followed up with a couple hours on convection at 175 (with the door obviously now fully shut.) Ended up with some of the most tender, juicy, and blood rare lamb I've had in ages! i.e.: quarter inch slices are fork tender. :)
     

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