Microwave or toaster oven can be great for individuals who would like to quickly and efficiently heat their food without having to use any pans or pots. Moreover, some individuals when comparing a toaster oven vs microwave wonder which of the two uses less electricity.
The answer might be surprising, but both kitchen gadgets use more or less the same amount of kilowatts regardless of their difference in size. They’re both more efficient than traditional, convection ovens. Therefore, we might look towards other aspects of their efficiency.
A microwave oven can be great for college and university students who spend a lot of time studying and going out in their free time. They tend to have little time for home chores including cooking and unfreezing different foodstuffs. On the other hand, a toaster oven will be more suitable for established households with children or couples that pay more attention to the quality of their breakfasts.
Toaster ovens are great for individuals preferring freshly toasted bread over reheated loafs of bread in a microwave oven. However, a microwave oven could also be used in a family setting. For large families it is very common to cook in large quantities even during normal days and not just on holidays.
In order to keep the food from going bad, we often either keep it in the fridge or even freeze it for later. Having a microwave can give you the great ability to come home from work and quickly make a meal for your family from the frozen leftovers that you will find in your fridge or freezer.
Basic Advantages of a Modern and Sleek Toaster
If you decide to purchase a toaster versus the microwave, look for a durable, stainless steel toaster. They come in different sizes, however the standard size is 1.2 cubic feet capacity. Toaster ovens of this capacity tend to come with 950-1100 wattage. Moreover, customers who have purchased such a toaster have reported that it is very easy to keep clean.
However, the flush mount kit will need to be purchased separately. In addition to its sleek design, modern toaster ovens come with an easy touchpad that you can use to smoothly use it even when your hands are wet. Users have reported choosing brands with good customer service that are helpful.
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Basic Advantages of a Microwave Oven
One of the main advantages of a microwave oven over a toaster is that you can easily control the heat and cooking time. Of course, that gives you control over how much electricity you use because you could reheat food at a much lower heat setting.
Microwave ovens quickly and efficiently heat your food using far less electricity than regular stove ovens or grills. Plus, they can be much easier to clean when compared to stoves and conventional toasters.
Microwave Oven vs Oven Toaster: Which Is Better for Your Kitchen?
Choosing what exactly will fit your kitchen will depend on several things such as how large your countertop is, and whether you have enough space to place the microwave or a toaster oven on a kitchen countertop along with your other appliances. Some models of microwaves can take up more space.
However, they are normally cheaper and easier to install even by yourself. On the other hand, there are microwaves ovens that are called over the range. These microwave ovens are usually connected to the outside by a venting pipe and will require you to call a professional electrician to come in and install it.
It is highly not recommended for you to try and attempt to connect over the microwave by yourself. Any mistakes in the electrical connection can cause fire and damage to your property and your health. Lastly we have the built-in type of microwave drawer.
These microwave ovens are specially designed by manufacturers to be connected into a wall and be surrounded by kitchen cabinets. Such models of microwave ovens will be great for individuals with small kitchens that do not have a lot of kitchen countertop space. Sadly this type of microwave drawer is also the most expensive.
Toasters, on the other hand, are generally smaller and more lightweight than any type of microwave ovens. When it comes to efficiency, they are great for browning foods such as meats. Plus, toaster ovens normally come with at least two shelves inside thus allowing you to cook two dishes simultaneously. By doing so you can save time and electricity.
Moreover, toaster ovens could even be used to bake pies and cakes. This task would prove to be difficult in the microwave oven, mainly because microwave ovens cook by heating the water in the ingredients. On the contrary, toaster ovens cook by evenly heating everything inside the cooking compartment.
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In Which Cases Should You Choose a Microwave Drawer Instead of a Toaster?
Time Saving
Some of us don’t mind eating cold leftovers from last night’s dinner yet there are some of us who would like to have a warm meal. In such cases, a microwave is a lifesaver. It can heat up a large amount of leftover food easily. A toaster oven can also do that, but it’s more suited to heat foods that are crunchy. The mechanism used in the toaster oven also means that it heats food slower than a microwave.
Ease of Cleaning
By heating the food on the stove using pans and dishes you will be left to wash them later in the utility sink faucet or in the dishwasher. However by using a microwave, you can simply use the same plate that the food is on already. Plus, in order to avoid getting the microwave dirty, you could simply place a plastic wrap on the dish and pop it in for heating. On the other hand, a toaster oven has quite a handful of heating elements and as such is tougher to clean.
Heating
A common disadvantage of toaster ovens is that it tends to get very hot, both inside and outside. You need to have oven mitts on to handle the food. Accidentally touching the chassis of the toaster oven might cause a burn. On the other hand, a microwave oven doesn’t heat on the outside, and only heats the food in it. You just need to be careful about not touching the food carelessly.
Tackling Cooking Tasks
A toaster oven, is, as the name suggests, used primarily for toasting bread. While you can heat and brown a small bit of food, including leftovers in it. It’s not going to be able to tackle bigger quantities of food or complex cooking tasks. On the other hand, a microwave oven usually comes equipped to handle more of these tasks.
However, there’s one field where the microwave fails miserably, and that is heating bread. While a toaster oven is the MVP in heating bread, a microwave oven does horribly, and turns the bread into a hard, rubbery mess. You can try to dampen the bread before microwaving, but then it just ends up being soggy and mushy.
Now, let’s come to my favorite food- potatoes! Cooking potatoes in the toaster oven yields buttery, melt-in-the mouth potatoes, for some reason. I certainly don’t know why! It does take slightly longer but I can forgive that since the taste is to die for. On the other hand, a microwave oven does an okay job cooking potatoes.
The taste is satisfactory, but not mind-blowing. Finally, let’s talk about fried food with a crispy touch, like bacon, pizza, or fried chicken. Before getting myself a toaster oven, I either had to gobble down an entire pizza to make sure there wasn’t any leftover, or eat cold pizza later. Because microwave ovens just can’t heat pizza.
A toaster oven though, can do it and do it with gusto. Leftovers like bacon, pizza slices, or that lone drumstick of chicken goes in and then comes out perfectly crispy. I’m yet to find a hack that’ll enable a microwave oven to do that. So if you’re fond of these amazing tasting fast food items, it would benefit you to get a toaster oven.
Practicality
A lot of us buy meat in large quantities for several reasons. First of all, most of us do not have the time to go to the supermarket every day after work and before we cook dinner. Hence, it is so much easier to go to a large supermarket once a week especially on your day off. That’s the best time to purchase all the necessary foodstuff for the coming week.
However, in order to keep the meat fresh, you must freeze it as it is or cut and pack the meat into small portions and then freeze it. This way you can get the meat out of your freezer, place it in the microwave for defrosting. And then get right to cooking a delicious dinner for your whole family.
But without a microwave, imagine how you would need to wait for hours for the meat to defrost on its own. Furthermore, a lot of times we quickly need to melt something without much hassle. For example, imagine you are baking a cake and you need your butter melted. Or maybe you are having your friends over to enjoy a new movie.
Instead of spending the money on store-bought popcorn you could simply place a packet in your microwave. 5-minutes later get a delicious bowl of popcorn right out of your microwave and straight into your table. These tasks of thawing and popping corn can, technically, be done in the toaster oven as well. However, thawing would take much longer.
Purchasing a Microwave Oven or a Toaster
Before you decide on what you are going to purchase; toaster oven vs microwave, you will need to set a budget. Set a comfortable budget so your family will be fine with it as well. Then, as you start looking for a product, be sure to resist any temptation of purchasing a microwave oven or a toaster oven above your budget.
In order for you to choose just the right model of toaster or microwave drawer. Make sure to look for required cooking modes as well as options. For example, if you often defrost your meats then you will need to go for a microwave drawer with a powerful defrosting option. Also, look for a microwave drawer with a turntable that is made from glass.
The great advantage of turntables is that you will not have to stop the microwave drawer in order to mix and turn your dishes thus ensuring that your meal is prepared evenly. On the other hand, if you’re fond of toasted, browned food, make sure to pick a toaster oven with a good capacity. Keep in mind that it’ll have to fit on your countertop.
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Toaster Oven VS Microwave: Coming to a Conclusion
Regardless of what appliance you will choose, you can be sure that preparing meals and reheating leftovers will be quick and easy. Toaster ovens will be great for reheating food. As banal as that might sound, it’s actually a very necessary feature for some people. On the other hand, microwave ovens can be used for a variety of cooking tasks.
For example, you could defrost meat or fish in order to speed up the cooking process or you could even cook simple dishes. Some latest microwave ovens come with convection thus you could even grill a whole chicken in it. Sadly, microwave ovens cannot toast or brown your food.
Therefore if you like having crunchy toasts for breakfast with cheese or jam, you will need to purchase a toaster oven. Lastly, remember that when comparing a toaster oven vs microwave, you will need to keep note of your primary needs as well as the amount of space you can dedicate to this appliance.
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