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With so many wholesome breakfast recipes to choose from, it’s often a matter of deciding how much effort you want to put into your dish. If your kitchen includes basic appliances such as a toaster, kettle, and microwave, you might be wondering whether or not splurging on a toaster oven, either in place of or in addition to your toaster, could be worthwhile. In addition to the obvious, the absolute best uses for your toaster can include preparing grilled cheese sandwiches, warming up pastries, and even cooking bacon. In contrast, there is a huge variety of foods you should never cook in a toaster oven. While versatile in its own right, pitting a toaster oven against a toaster in a metaphorical battle of appliances will come down to several different factors that determine the overall winner. Price, efficacy, and space are all necessary to consider.
Toasters are typically cheaper than toaster ovens as they are smaller, less powerful, and have fewer capabilities. With regard to utility, toasters can do much more than you might think, but still have a limited range of heat, which is usually about four or five levels of toast doneness, versus a toaster oven for which you can set a specific temperature. Toaster ovens are the larger of the two appliances, and can be bulky and cumbersome, while toasters are typically slim and space-saving. When it comes to making breakfast, both have their merits; however, a toaster is considerably more ideal for simple and effective meal preparation.
How to use your toasting appliances to prepare breakfast
From basic breakfasts to lavish offerings, there’s a lot you can do with either a toaster or a toaster oven. If you’ve fully committed to investing in a toaster oven, then you’ll want to get the most use out of the appliance possible. Though a toaster can cook bacon and heat up your favorite brown sugar Pop-Tarts, it cannot cook eggs, and you certainly shouldn’t try to test this theory. This is one area in which the toaster oven has a full advantage. One of the best ways to hack your toaster oven is by making baked eggs. Prepare a single-serving frittata recipe or make a batch to share over brunch.
On the flip side, the toaster oven is far less ideal for warming up hash brown patties because of the risk of the grease coming into contact with exposed heating elements. For this, you should use your toaster instead. You can also prepare bagels and English muffins in your toaster, perfect for spreading with cream cheese, regular butter, or the seed and nut butter of your choosing for added protein and nutrients. Breakfast often falls by the wayside in busy daily life, so having the right appliance for your needs is of the utmost importance. When choosing between a toaster and a toaster oven, consider what breakfast foods you enjoy the most and let this inform your selection.
