I do everything in my toaster oven and use my big oven about 3 times a year. Actually it should better be called a countertop oven as it is higher that a standard toaster oven, and has two levels with two roasting pans. But I've made pies, roasts, roasted vegetables and just about everything else in that little thing. It's over 20 years old and the temperature numbers have worn off the dial so I just point it at the approximate place. Although I use it every day, it has never broken down. I love that it has a countdown timer that shuts off the oven after the set time has elapsed.

I'm sure it will break down one day and I'll have to buy a new modern one but I don't think I'll love it as much as I love this old one and I'm sure a new one won't last as many years without a breakdown either. :-)

SharonCb

I bet you're right, Sharon! That is one nice toaster oven.

Mine is a lot smaller. I use it for baked potatoes, bacon, and reheating left overs, mostly. It's big enough to do a couple of pork chops in, but they splatter on the elements and make flash flames. I set my last toaster oven on fire heating up taco shells, so I'm a little paranoid about it now.

Maybe if I had a big one...

There are cookbooks dedicated to cooking/baking in a toaster oven. Check your local library and see if they have any on the subject. I have a Better Homes and Gardens Toaster Oven Cookbook. Not to mention the recipes that came with the users manual for the toaster oven. With an assortment of pans and small baking dishes you can do all kinds of baking.

- Cushion-air cookie sheet: I bake 6-8 biscuits at a time, or a small batch of cookies. I keep cookie dough balls in the freezer and can bake a small batch of cookies.

- 6-cup muffin tin - for muffins, cup cakes, or individual meat loaves in them. Just use half a recipe that makes 12-muffins to get 6 muffins. If you need to use 1/2 an egg in a recipe, just lightly beat a whole egg and spoon out approx. half the egg mixture. I also use powdered whole eggs when I need 1/2 an egg. Only make one recipe for 6-muffins at a time. Since muffins are made with chemical leavening, it needs to bake as soon as possible.

- small pizza pans - pre-bake the crusts and stack them in the freezer for quick lunches. They thaw quickly and bake in a few minutes.

- small casserole, pasta or baking dishes. Make 4 enchiladas. Use a loaf pan for small cakes. I also have an 8x6-1/2x2-inch cake pan and recipes for cake, coffee cake for that size. Twice-baked potatoes. Cabbage rolls. Baked chicken breasts...

- tart pans or 1/2-size pie pans

I also keep homemade breads in foil packets in the freezer - 2 dinner rolls, 2 servings of corn bread, 2 muffins, etc. When I've got herbed chicken tenderloins and roasted veggies baking in one pan, about 10-15 minutes before it's done, I toss the foil-wrapped bread in the toaster oven to heat it. Add some fresh fruit for dessert.

-Grainlady

Here is some things I have cooked in mine:

~ cornbread in a small cast iron skillet (from AnnT)
~ pizza on clay tiles
~ baked ribs, chicken pieces, pork chops
~ heating taco shells (no flames)
~ making nachos, I cover a pizza pan with chips, then top with cheese, jalapenos, olives, onion, bell pepper, etc. and bake in the TO
~ baked bread
~ baked biscuits
~ bake breakfast casserole in a terra cotta pie plate
~ baked beans

lots of other uses I haven't thought about!

I love my T O! I prepare many of the same things as above posters. High heat oiled and salted baked potatoes. I use my 8" everyday pan to make omelets. I stir everything the night before and Raymond can put it in the oven in the morning before he goes to work.

TIP: I bought a box of 500 Pop-up Aluminum Foil Wrap Sheets (12 x 10.75) from Sam's Club. It's very convenient to line the T O pans and saves a lot of clean up.

Cathy, please tell me about your high heat oiled and salted potatoes? Directions, oven temp, time, etc. ~ Thank you!
T.

Teresa, You have shared so much with me; yes, I'd be happy to but it's just baked potatoes with crispy skin. I microwave them for about 5 minutes. Coat with EVOO or peanut oil. Generously sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 475 about 30 minutes.

I don't really bake in mine but do use it more than my big oven for the 2 of us. Except for toast, I make that in a pop up toaster! I wish it was the size of Sharon's. Mine is a convection and that's the setting I use most often for toasting nuts and roasting veggies.

I cut potatoes into wedges, toss in EVOO and grate garlic on with the rasp grater. We no longer miss French Fries! I actually do the same thing with green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and squash slices and asparagus. The broccoli usually gets a little vinegairette and the cauliflower some shaved Parmesan. I use a piece of parchment paper rather than foil; I;m a nut about trying to use as little foil as possible. However, I do use it to heat the bread from the freezer.

I love my toaster oven - only it actually isn't a toaster oven :) It doesn't have a "toast" setting. It is really a countertop ove, and it eve has convection. I use it for a lot of stuff BUT ... the temperature setting is very inaccurate. I have used my oven thermometer to check and it is 25-50 degrees cooler than the setting. Not a big deal if I use the thermometer, just turn it up to get the temp I want. But I have to be careful with baking to watch the temp.

Sorry for the typose, my right ring finger is in a splint and makes typing difficult!

My mother had one when she went to the nursing home and although I kept it, I had rarely used it. My wall oven had the turkey in it on Thanksgiving so baked pumpkin pies in mine. It easily held one large pie plate and worked just fine.

The only time I use the full size oven is for large baking pans that don't fit in the small oven. There is nothing that the small oven won't do that a full size oven does. I've found it is fast at warming frozen cookies. By the time the milk is poured the chocolate chips are melted-yum!

I love my TO. It's just a standard Black & decker. Since I am mostly just cooking for me, I bake fish in it, broil steak, bake a potato. Anything that fits in the TO gets cooked in the TO.

Honestly, I could live pretty well with the TO, Microwave and coffeemaker. Sad, isn't it?

I tend to use th TO much more often than the regular oven - except when the weather is very cool, which is fairly rare. I use the regular oven when I need high heat or a large area, and so I use it mainly for pizza, but also for baking bread. I could probably bake bread in the TO, but I just prefer the larger oven. All casseroles and things like enchiladas, lasagna, fish, potatoes, vegetables, etc. go into the TO. I think it takes longer for my regular oven (which is gas) to heat up, and I somehow feel that it may be less efficient, since it blows a lot of hot air back into the room. This is fine for cool days, on the rare occasions we have them.

If a pan will fit in the TO, it generally goes there, unless I need a temp above 450°.

Lars

Could you please tell me the brand of toaster ovens you've had success with? I had one, but it didn't seem to cook anything well. I'd love to have one that actually cooked a potato instead of just burning the top part (and it was set correctly).

Thanks so much.

I have a small one and don't cook meat in it because of splatters etc. but I have had a toaster oven of one type or another for at least 20 years. I use them for toast:), tator tots, roasted carrots, baked potatoes (I microwave first too), tuna melts and other "melts" and am going to try cookies soon.

Mine is a Cuisinart; previous ones where smaller, GE and more than one Black & Decker. If you think you will be using a TO often, as many of us do, I would suggest you go for a larger one - a size that can hold a round pie plate, 7"x 11" brownie pan or 10" pizza pan.

Mine is a Toshiba but now they make everything else except these ovens! :-(

Otherwise I would buy a new one of the same model again.

SharonCb

Great feedbacks everyone. I should have wait until I get some dinner before reading all the food.

SharonCB, I just lover your TO. My next want, I'll make an effort to get one as big. Maybe another brand makes them too?

Dedtired, don't feel so bad. The 4 mths. I had no kitchen due to getting it refaced, I actually had to live with just a TO & microwave. I forgot about the coffee maker and just lived on instant coffee. I cooked dinners and learned to live on TV dinners for lunch on days that I worked from home. It felt like going half-way camping.

Teresa_nc7, thanks for the dimensions advise. I'll keep that in mind for the next TO. My current Magic Chef is too small.

My gas oven is broken. I managed to cook Thanksgiving dinner in my toaster oven. I made a quiche and muffins in it for breakfast, then made a sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and wrapped the turkey (already cooked) in foil and heated it for 45 minutes. I stuck everything in the microwave to reheat just before serving. I may not bother getting my big oven fixed!

Jannie:
What kind of OT do you have? Thanks so much.

Mine is a Cuisinart Brick Oven, larger than a toaster oven. It sits on the counter.

Cotehele, I thought of you this morning when I saw the Cuisinart Brick Oven for $99!!! You had mentioned last time we discussed TOs that it doesn't indicate temperature. Could you expand on that please? I circled the oven for a good 30 minutes trying to decide if it was a necessary purchase since I have a working Cuisinart. I even called DD but she doesn't have counter space.

I realize that only I can make this decision but would welcome any feedback. I am willing to go back to Linens and Things if this is a must have at that price.