About
Toaster Ovens

     We found ourselves in the midst of the worst blizzard in years.  We were stranded in our cozy farm house in mid-Michigan.  Since we live far from the county seat on a dirt road, we didn’t expect to see a snow plow for 2-3 days.  While we were waiting, we turned to our economical and dependable toaster oven for easily prepared comfort food.

     One of our favorite easy fix treats to munch on as we watched the snow reach one foot, is cheesy hot biscuits. These are so simple to make even my husband can prepare them.  You start with refrigerated ready-made biscuit dough. Dip each biscuit into melted butter and then into grated cheese.  Put them on a greased pan and bake them in your toaster oven until nicely browned.

      We sure do love our handy dandy toaster oven.  If you don’t have one yet, visit our website at KitchenEconomies.com for a good selection of top of the line toaster ovens.

When it comes to toaster ovens, there’s not a whole lot of variation in style, but there are vast differences in quality amongst the different brands.  Most manufacturers of appliances now have a toaster oven, but the more reliable kitchen brands tend to be the best deal.  For whatever reason, toaster ovens that aren’t well made seem to burn out their electrical circuit, and become useless.  Some toaster ovens are also prone to damage from power surges; even just simple surges when the lights go out for a few seconds.  The best toaster oven brands include Rival, Hamilton Beach, and KitchenAid.  These brands are known for producing quality appliances that last a long time.  With whatever brand, it’s also a good idea to check for a warranty on the appliance.  Even a year warranty isn’t bad, and will probably be enough time to tell whether the toaster oven will last.

There is one variation in toaster ovens themselves, and that is convection versus non convection ovens.  Convection toaster ovens are like standard ovens that can cook food all over on all sides at the same time.  Standard toaster ovens only toast the top of the food and sometimes the bottom. 

It’s amazing how toasting a sandwich can make it taste much better than it would have tasted untoasted.  Whether it’s because the cheese melts into the other condiments or just the extra crunch of the bread, toasting a sandwich always makes it better.  The best method to toast a sandwich is to use a toaster oven.  While less common in the past, toaster ovens have become an essential cooking appliance on the countertops of millions of people around the world.  Toaster ovens, depending on their size, can also be used to cook pizza, chicken, and even cookies.  For aspiring cooks, a toaster oven provides an alternative to using the oven, which is great when it’s necessary to cook two different dishes at different temperatures.

Toaster ovens are also much easier to clean than a standard oven, and because of their versatility, many cooks prefer to use their toaster ovens over their conventional ovens for meals.  For all their benefits, toaster ovens do have one drawback, and that is it’s more important to be careful when taking hot plates out because of the narrower surface.  It’s possible to burn the top of your hand when taking food out of the toaster oven. 

      The Deadliest Catch brothers were recently on the Bonnie Hunt Show.  They told about the dangers of fishing for king crab in the freezing sea.  As part of their presentation, they showed how to make a crab melt sandwich in their on-board toaster oven. This is another example of the versatility of the ubiquitous toaster oven.  Get a toaster oven for your boat! Here is the recipe for one of their favorite shipboard crab fests:  English muffins, 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese, 1 cup king crab meat, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, sliced swiss cheese, sliced american cheese and 1medium tomato sliced.  Toast English muffins. Mix the crab meat, garlic salt and shredded parmesan cheese.  Assemble the sandwich in the following order: English muffin, sliced tomato, crab meat mixture, and sliced cheeses.  Put under the toaster oven broiler and cook until cheese melts.  Yum!!!!

     The Benedict Family is getting maple syrup products ready to sell at the annual Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival.  The local syrup producers all have sales stands at the festival, selling maple syrup, sugars, candies, creams and other maple products. The Benedict Family sets up their stand in front of their R.V.  Lunch and dinners can be prepared using the DeLonghi toaster oven.  One of my favorite meals is maple flavored spare ribs. Here is the recipe:

3 lbs. spare ribs, 1 cup maple syrup, 2 T chili sauce, 1 T vinegar, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1 small onion, minced, 1 tsp worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp dry mustard:  Cut spare ribs into serving size pieces. Combine ingredients and brush sauce all over ribs.  Place ribs in single layer in baking pan and bake in the toaster oven at 375 degrees for 1 and 1/2 hours. Brush ribs often with sauce and turn ribs frequently so all portions are covered with maple flavored sauce.

       The Ides of March were upon us. Another maple syrup season is gone.  This years production was good.  Like all farm  operations the level of success is based on alot of hard work and luck.  We just used our handy dandy  countertop toaster oven to make some delicious maple flavored baked beans.  This quick and easy treat is put together as follows:

l large can Bush’s baked beans, 1/2 cup maple syrup. Mix together.  Bake in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

     Tis the season to make maple syrup.  Thawing days and freezing nights are the ideal conditions for sap production.  This usually takes place in central Michigan sometime during the last two weeks in February through the first two weeks in March.  It requires approximately 45 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.  I’m looking forward to a Benedict Family maple syrup ice cream sundae, along with some maple syrup cookies baked in our toaster oven. Here is the recipe for making maple syrup cookies:  1 cup shortening, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup maple syrup, 1 tsp. vanilla, 4 cups sifted flour, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Cream shortening and sugar.  Add egg, syrup and vanilla. Then mix with remaining ingredients.  Shape into 1″ balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake in your countertop toaster oven about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Apartment living can be cramped, especially when you live with roommates or in a studio. But city living is worth it. Where else do you get access to museums, theaters, great restaurants, and shopping all within walking distance? When it comes to living in the city or living in the country, many people choose to live in the city, even when their living situations are less than ideal. Inner city apartments are often tiny, with barely-there kitchens and it takes creativity to decorate and furnish them.

When working with a really small space, like a bare-bones kitchen, you must first decide where to put all your appliances. You probably don’t have room for much on your countertops. Space-saving countertop ovens are a great addition to tiny kitchen that have no range. They also take up little space, so that they can easily fit in the space you’ve designated.

When kids go off to college it’s a sad day for parents. They have spent 18-years raising their kids and it will be hard to get used to them being gone. Parents are usually so concerned about their child leaving home that they will do everything in their power to ensure they are well prepared to succeed at school. In many cases, kids have never learned how to cook, either because their families ate out all the time, or because their moms always cooked for them. Either way, it’s often up to parents to make sure their kids are getting the nutrition they need at school.George Foreman toaster ovens are great going away gifts for kids headed to college. These handy, little ovens are perfect for cooking up all the snacks college freshmen may want in their dorm rooms. In addition to toasted cheese sandwiches, mini pizzas and hot pockets these little ovens also make small batches of cookies.

Small kitchens really need creative ideas in space saving.  With so many countertop pieces of kitchen equipment, you think twice about buying the right equipment.  But with space saver toaster ovens, you can save space for other stuff.

The toaster oven can neatly be mounted under your cabinet.  There are mounting hoods that you can buy that will fit most brands and models of toaster ovens.  This will transform toaster ovens into space saver toaster ovens.  The mounting hood can also fit most cabinet styles.  There are special vents that deflect the heat away from the cabinet so you don’t damage your cabinet.  It really is convenient way to add space to your small kitchen.