We baked, toasted, and roasted in eight toaster ovens to find the best one.
The Best Budget Option: Panasonic Flash Xpress Toaster Oven
Try not to anthropomorphize this quirky infrared-powered toaster oven with an R2-D2 vibe and cube-like proportions. At 12x13x10.25," it has a smaller footprint than the Breville but is designed for visibility—the controls, which include an oven light, are lined along the bottom and the door is situated on top, a feature that puts the food closer to eye level. A light also turns on and off during use, as if the oven is chatting with you.
The most notable feature on the Panasonic is the double infrared heating, which significantly speeds up cooking times. Our bread reached a deep tan color in only two minutes, and frozen pizza emerged crisp-edged and melty on the preset pizza setting. The cookies were nicely browned on the bottom but had to be removed earlier than the recipe specified due to the oven's accelerated abilities.
There’s only one groove for positioning the rack, which took the guesswork out of where it should go for different cooking functions. Another nice feature: the rack is connected to the door, so it pops out automatically when you check your food, eliminating the need to pull it out with your oven-mitt clad hands.
There are some persnickety things about the Panasonic that take getting used to: the temperature is in Celsius and Fahrenheit but clearly favors Celsius, as there are settings for 355ºF or 390ºF, not the more standard 350º or 375º. The timer only goes up to 25 minutes, so if you want to cook anything for longer, you’ll need to set it more than once, which was the case when roasting chicken.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
BA’s Best Beef-and-Bacon Meatloaf RecipeSeasoned stock keeps this meatloaf juicy and flavorful. A doctored ketchup delivers just the right amount of tang, spice, and sweetness. And the bacon? We think it speaks for itself. This is part of [BA's Best](http://www.bonappetit.com/best), a collection of our essential recipes.
Read more »
Top 10 best-selling 'Shark Tank' productsSome smart businesses get their start on ABC's 'Shark Tank,' and the 20 top-selling products from the show totaled $1.8 billion in retail sales, according to USA Today. One Shark in particular has stake in 10 of the top 20 companies.
Read more »
Soundcheck: The 13 Best Music Releases Of The WeekHere's a solid reason to get excited about the 'Cinderella' remake
Read more »
Soundcheck: The 13 Best Music Releases Of The WeekSTONES has the perfect music video for Libra season:
Read more »