Food

Good Purchase: Low Wattage Toaster For Quick Meal Prepping

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We already know that a toaster oven is over 50% more energy-efficient than traditional ovens. But did you know that toaster ovens are not made equally, which means you can still improve your power-saving goal by buying and using a low wattage toaster oven?

Low wattage toaster ovens refer to toaster ovens operating below 1225 watts, which is the average usage of toaster ovens as reported by Energy Star.

This post features some of the most popular brands and models within this range and explains to you some considerations to make when you’re shopping for a low-watt toaster oven.

What You Can Expect from a Low-Wattage Toaster Oven

The power consumption of a toaster oven is low, mainly because of how it is designed. When you compare a conventional oven with a toaster oven with similar functions, the toaster oven would still require ⅓ less amount of time to heat up and end up consuming less amount of electricity.

Because of this, toaster ovens in general are:

  • Ideal for RV use, since they can be carried anywhere
  • Perfect for people who want to expand their cooking skills, but have no budget for a conventional or traditional oven yet.
  • Preferred by people who own both a toaster oven and regular oven, since the toaster oven is easier to heat up, clean, and maintain

However, this is where you should set your expectations. When you choose a low-wattage toaster oven (instead of models with over 1225 watts), there are functions that would be lost. In most cases, low-watt toaster ovens are smaller in size and operate with only two to four functions.

Common Features of a Low-Wattage Toaster Oven

A high-watt toaster oven works almost like a regular oven. It could bake, broil, toast, and come with other extra features to make meal prepping quick and easy.

These features would vary by brand and model and may (or may not) have functions like steaming, dehydrating, air-frying, dual cooking, slow-cooking, roasting, reheating, proofing, warming, crisping (for bagels), pizza, baking cookies, and so on.

Modern toaster ovens may also include an LCD screen (where you’d set all settings), interior light (similar to a traditional oven), multiple racks, and other elements. Some even have fancy French doors.

However, it is rare to find these functions and elements on low-wattage toaster ovens. Instead, expect the following features:

  • Ability to broil, toast and bake. Broil uses only the top heating element, while baking uses only the bottom heating. Toasting uses both top and bottom heating.
  • De-frosting option. Not all low-watt models have this, but it is possible to consume low power even if the toaster is able to defrost frozen food.
  • Single-rack, single-layer design. The bigger space a toaster oven has, the higher its power consumption. As such, if your goal is to find a toaster oven that requires the least amount of energy, then you have to compromise on the size.
  • Removable crumb tray. The go-to accessory included in all toaster ovens. Some brands will also include a baking pan, broiling rack, pizza stone, or other accessories as well.
  • Temperature control. Fortunately, even the lowest watt toaster ovens have some kind of temperature control for accurate cooking.

Low-watt toaster ovens are almost always small in size. As a countertop appliance, this can be a good thing if you have a limited kitchen counter or if you’re planning to equip your RV kitchen with an energy-efficient toaster.

Examples of Low-Wattage Toaster Ovens in the Market in 2021

Now that you know what to expect with a low-watt toaster oven, here are several examples you can check:

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