Need help with Toaster Oven
 

We just purchased this toaster oven because DH loves left over pizza but when we warm it in the microwave it gets soft & soggy. He likes it crisp & crunchy. He doesn't like to heat up the big oven for just one or two slices of pizza. So, we purchased this toaster oven to help with our situation.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Panasonic...ilver/22939550
Now I'm at a dilemma as to what else to use the toaster/oven for other than the pizza & maybe toast every now & then (we have a regular toaster). There were very limited instructions & no recipes at all that came with the machine.
Do any of you have one of these & if so, what all do you use it for? Other than the obvious, what can you NOT put in it? I had thought I would make my morning cinnamon toast in it but instructions say not to put butter on toast before using the oven. Why is that? Will it go up in flame if I butter my toast, then put my cinnamon & sugar on?
Any help will be appreciated.

If it has a Broil function, use it to make grilled cheese sandwiches.

Someone must have gotten burned by dripping butter thus the reason not to. LOL I have one not as fancy. I bake cornbread, small casseroles, make buttered toast, heat frozen foods, everything an oven will do. For non soggy reheated foods you can't beat an air fryer.

Are you aware that if you just have small amounts that toaster ovens save on your electric bill because they don't need 240 like their big brother. I live alone and primarily use the toaster oven because it heats quicker than my regular oven. And it shows on the electric bill. Basically is you can cook it in a reg oven it can be toaster ovened too. Size is the big difference.

I live alone and use it for making muffins in a 6-muffin tin. Also anything in an 8" x 8" pan will bake in there, for less electricity than your normal oven. I cook fish sticks or popcorn shrimp (frozen) in it too.

It doesn't have a broil function.

Oh gosh, if DH learns about air fryers that will be our next "gadget". I'm not telling him that they crisp up! https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wink.png

that looks nice. i'm thinking of something like that myself. I use the oven for very little and it takes a long time to heat up. thanks for the information.

We do not have that model, but exclusively use a toaster oven (for now) up at our cabin. The big oven stopped working years ago, so anything that needs baking goes in the toaster oven. I've cooked meat loaf, turkey roasts, chicken nuggets, fish sticks and french fries, muffins, apple turnovers, cookies, and tons of other things. I've never had any trouble with anything burning or overheating. On the plus side, I'm looking forward to being able to cook a large turkey in the new oven that was delivered to our garage up there two weeks ago!

This one has what's called double infrared heating (far & near heating) that requires no pre-heating. I think I would have liked one with a broiling function but DH picked this one out & it's basically for him anyway. I like the pre-programmed features & also the light, medium & dark crust control.

I haven’t turned on my regular oven for several years. In fact, it stores my larger pans, etc. I use my toaster/convection oven for baking everything, there are lots and lots of tips on Pinterest about what to do and not to do. Personally I would butter my toast after toasting and then sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar - I’ve always done it that way anyway. The only thung I goofed up was the temperature - I found out that I need to turn down the regular temp about 25 degrees or so. It’s so much easier to add a little more time if not quite done than to have something over-cooked. I love those cinnamon rolls in a can but I used the temp in the can and they were really, really well done in the bottom - I ate them>anyway!!!!!!

You should have received a booklet in care, etc.- nit sure why you didn’t, but you might try googling the brand asking for a manual. But I think Pinterest will give you all the info you need and want. These better toaster ovens are great. The convection is great, too but not sure if you have that in yours,

Sandy in Mooresville, NC

I did get a small booklet that tells how to operate the T/O but it was minimal to say the least. Mine does not have the convection oven feature. It seems to be very limited as to what it can do. That being said, so far we like it but not sure how much we will use it.

I use my toaster oven much more than my regular oven. I can fit a 9" x 12" pan in mine.

I like to roast vegetables in it almost every night. I spray the bottom and sides of the pan with an oil spray. I dump a package of frozen vegetables in the pan and spray them with olive oil. I put the pan in the preheated 400-degree toaster oven for about 35 minutes (depending on the vegetable). I'll turn the vegetables over when there is 15 more minutes to cook. Roasted vegetables have a delicious caramelized exterior while the inside is cooked through. When finished, I salt the vegetables and serve.

p.s. You can give your toaster away. The toaster oven makes great toast.

I make baked potatoes. I also bake cakes in 9 inch pan. Great for baking a couple of cookies from Papa Murphy's Pizza dough.

As there are only 2 of us, I also heat frozen dinners, chicken, etc. Great in the summer instead of heating big oven.

Like several who have responded I am a singleton too and do a lot of my "baking" in the toaster oven. If you have the bake/broil and toast options you can do fish, garlic bread, oven french fries, baked potatoes (white and sweet) scalloped potatoes, lasagna, good old basic toast .... well almost anything you can do in an oven. I use it more than my microwave. Enjoy the adventure of your new kitchen "toy".


I am laughing. I mentioned the word toaster in my message above and guess what is now in my pop-up adds. Boy are these folks quick. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/eek.png

I use mine for baking cookies from frozen dough, frozen pizza, frozen hash browns, frozen french fries. I make muffins, and brownies. I bought a small pan for baking the brownies, I make them from a box and make two batches and freeze one for later. I bought a 6 muffin pan and it's amazing what you use it for. I also make open face tuna melts in it. toast the bread first, take it out and pile on the tuna, tomatoes, cheese and put it back in. I make toast in it with no butter, when it's almost done I butter the toast and put cinnamon and sugar on it and put it back in. Think about all the things you use your oven for, get creative and try some things in the toaster oven, you'll be surprised how much you can do with it.

"as they can ignite and cause a fire: paper, plastic, cardboard, taco shells, tostada shells, tortilla chips, buttered bread or bread with jam. Raw fish or meat should always be wrapped in foil."
I was disappointed that I couldn't put taco shells in a toaster oven. I know sometimes when I heat some things in the microwave that it will "pop" and if that "pop" were to hit a heating element, it would ignite.

It looks like there are a lot of toaster oven recipes at http://tastyquery.com/recipes-for/fe...s-toaster-oven but it looks like you have to join to save recipes. It looks like some of them are complete, some are for convection.

Another - https://eatmovemake.com/pepper-steak-pot-pie/ I got it by putting "Panasonic FlashXpress" recipes -pinterestinto a google search.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
Not affiliated with off-site link(s)

Our toaster oven is constantly in use. I use it of almost anything that will go in an oven--in smaller portions.

But if you want a nice crisp crust on left over pizza, microwave it for about 1/2 the time needed to get it hot. Then put it in a frying pan over low heat, cover and leave for about 5 minutes. The toppings get hot, the crust gets crisped up, and the lid keeps everything from drying out.

yes I looked at that oven online and thought i'd found the manual. not!! just goes on saying the few things already mentioned on the sale page and the rest is repeated in other languages. find a young person to help you. they seem to be able to figure out things for themselves and that is the age group everyone sells to these days. fix it yourself is their motto. shame but true.
Oh my son is going shopping for one today, cheaper. he is such a cheapskate. but i like electronics to be good electronics. oh well. at least i will have a toaster oven. time will tell if i love it. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/hug.gif

The one I have is the Oster,.. It has a bake, broil, toast, warm, and turbo settings. It's small but has a curved back that holds bigger pans then it looks. The temp stays constant and everything bakes evenly. Stainless. I bought it to fit my counter and look nice too, just to oven bake chicken nuggets for the grands and was surprised at how well it does bake food. It's easy to clean too another big factor for me. I paid $30 for it a few years ago and now they are about $45.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oster-Des...7&gclsrc=3p.ds

Ohhhh, i like that one too. Just gave info to my son. It has to cook pizza's. I think this one does. family size it says.

Mine says it cooks a 12" pizza but I found out you need to rotate the pizza while it is cooking. Or else the part in the back is undercooked. Mine also has "convection" but I am not sure what that does and I haven't used it.

ha. my regular oven has that and I"ve never used it.

Convection makes baking go quicker and better. My toaster/convection oven always uses it unless I click it off - which I dint because I never think about doing it🤭🤭🤭😮😮. Mine ( Breville) will do a 12” pizza. It wasn’t cheap but I’m very happy with it, especially compared with the regular toaster oven I had previously which didn’t cook well at all - very uneven. It was and still is a Krup.

Sandy in Mooresville, NC

You're so right about pizza! I put some in the microwave and - soft and soggy ugh!!

Air flow
 

My mother in law went through 3 toaster ovens in a very short time period. She used all the time. I had to find out why her toaster ovens kept burning out. Here is what I found. She used bakeware that was to big. Meaning it fit in her toaster oven but it didn't allow for airflow. Your bakeware should not touch the oven walls. When we replaced her bakeware with toaster oven size bakeware it fixed the problem.

OH my, well at least it was figured out! I got the Oster one and my son fixed egg rolls and a small pizza just fine. today i did some Texas Toast in it. quick and easy. better than the microwave. it's just hard to get the small tray out with a potholder, for me anyway.

I have a Hamilton Beach toaster oven. About 10 or more years old, works wonderfully. I heat up pizza, cook frenchfries, hamburger, pork, chicken patties in it. I cook frozen fish in it, just about everything I can think of. It came with a shallow baking pan, that I line with non stick tin foil. Nothing has ever caught fire in it. It bakes, broils and toast. I can broil/toast, bake/toast at the same time. I think I paid nomore than 30.00 or 40.00 for it.

I use my gas oven when cooking larger amount, cookies etc. Very cheap to use.

For reheating pizza I use my frypan on low heat. Cover and heat gently till the cheese gets nice and melty again. Low heat so the crust doesn't burn.
I have only a small kitchen and limited counter space and don't have room for an air fryer or toaster oven etc. And crowded counter tops give me the hebbie jeevies.