Toaster Ovens - The best thing since sliced bread

With so many options and so many brands, selecting the right toaster oven is almost as tough as getting up in the morning.

Do you go with Black & Decker, Delonghi, Krups, Hamilton Beach, Oster, or the thirty-something other toaster oven brands?

Do you want a cabinet or counter top toaster oven? How many slices do you want the toaster to hold? Do you want to use it to simply toast or do you want a toaster that can bake, broil, grill and Rotisserie?

The best way to approach this choice is to ask yourself: "What am I going to use the toaster for?" More often than not, you'll be toasting bread or reheating left-overs. Personally, I cannot think of anything else that I use a toaster oven for other than toasting bread (save maybe baking-up shrinky dinks).

If you use that as your guiding principle, then all you next step is to narrow your selection by price and brand.

The range of prices for toaster ovens starts at sixteen bucks and goes as high as you're willing to spend. And, there are no shortage of options at the high-end. Take for  example the Cuisinart TOB-175 Counter Top Toaster Oven. It can hold 4 slices with 7 settings and sells for about $145.

Or, consider the DeLonghi XR640 Retro Toaster Oven which runs for $115. This bad-boy is capable of toasting 6 slices of bread at the same time and boasts up 1500 watts of power, which is probably enough to bake a cake!

I prefer the options at the more modest price range; they include the Hamilton Beach Toastation 22708 2-Slice Toaster Oven or the Classic Black & Decker Toast-R-Oven Classic.

Available in red or black, Hamilton Beach's Toastation is a unique & compact 2-in-1 appliance. Its top slot works like a traditional toaster but can be closed when unit is used as a toaster oven. It costs about $42 - $44.

And, my personal favorite is the no-frills, what-you-see-is-what-you-get Black & Decker Classic Toast-R-Oven. It has been a fixture in my household for as long as I can remember and has always delivered the goods! With a 4-slice capacity, this old-timer Bakes, broils, toasts, browns, and reheats. And, for about $30, you might even say its the best thing since sliced bread!

To find more toaster oven selections, visit Shopzilla.com.

Comments

[David Weinrot]

My kid really likes the Hello Kitty Toaster, which is at:

http://www.shopzilla.com/7S--Toasters_-_cat_id--13050806__keyword--hello%20kitty%20toaster