You should get a toaster oven

The model which I own
Hello friends,
Often, I get asked what's my favorite appliance in my kitchen. Now, I don't have the most illustrious kitchen setup and most people assume that I'll respond to the question with either my Vita-Mix or my girlfriend's KitchenAid Stand Mixer. However, that's not the case at all.

I love my toaster oven. I think everyone should own one. There, I said it.

Allow me to go a bit further here. A standard toaster toasts bread. It might handle a bagel, but not a thick, or topped, bagel. English muffins are sometimes too small for a standard toaster and one is forced to fish out the muffin, rather dangerously, with whatever is on hand at the time. To me, that's a lot of counter space for something with so few functions. In steps a toaster oven. 

The biggest complaint I get about toaster ovens is that they just don't toast bread very well. In a lot of cases, that's true. You generally need to step up to a better toaster oven to get a great toast on a slice of bread. But that's not what anyone should be thinking about when considering a toaster oven. A toaster oven does much more than bake bread-

A toaster oven:
  • toasts and roasts nuts. Recipe calls for toasted almonds? Cheaper to toast them yourself. 
  • reheats pizza better than a microwave and more efficiently than a conventional oven.
  • bakes things. Really.
  • roasts meat.
  • warms plates and mugs for better dining experiences.
  • defrosts frozen things more healthily than microwaves.
  • bakes potatoes.
  • makes nachos better by melting cheese but keeping chips crispy.
  • broils things far more efficiently than any standard kitchen appliance. 
  • cooks things. Think stuffing for turkey.
  • can toast an open-faced sandwich. Quizno's at home. 
Now, this list is short and the possibilities are nearly endless.

Efficiency-wise, the toaster oven takes less energy than larger appliances to admirably complete kitchen tasks. This is great on its own. So if you're into saving the environment, there ya go.

But let me get down to brass tacks. For $100, or so, you will find no other kitchen appliance so versatile in everyday, average cooking needs.

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