Marilynn Dawson Products, Reviews

What Have You Baked in Your Toaster?

In the first blog post here, I wrote about several things you can do with your toaster.  Our toaster oven died on my birthday this year after serving us well for many years!  It became a very good cost saver, allowing me to do many things with it that normally require the much larger 220V oven.

One of those cost/energy-saving tasks in the first article’s list, was that of baking.  Single-meal size baking tasks, or tasks to feed a small family, fit very well into our toaster oven.  From baking the last few scones that just wouldn’t fill a complete tray in the larger oven, to baking pies, small cakes, and small batches of baked pasta, this little oven became a staple in the kitchen!

A toaster oven typically only pulls 110V in North America, versus the 220V of the larger oven. 

While not all toaster ovens are built with the same depth and height available, they all have room for a small tray and can accept single-serving pasta dishes, some sizes of corning ware, and more.  The toaster oven that died could not accept a 9″ pie plate, but could accept a full-height long corning ware casserole dish!  Our newer toaster oven can accept a 9″ pie plate, but can’t accept a full-height casserole dish.  So you’ll have to experiment with what oven dishes your toaster oven can take.  Once you find them, use them in your toaster oven instead of your larger oven to save money on your electrical bill.

Marilynn Dawson Products

Ode to a Toaster Oven

Today, on my 45th birthday, a toaster that came to live in our home from the Salvation Army Thrift store years ago, finally kicked the bucket!  It isn’t much to look at, but this little toaster oven was a real trooper.  We used it for far more than just making toast!

Did you know you can use toaster ovens to:

  • Make toast
  • Cook meat
  • Warm up pasta in pasta dishes just like the microwave but without wrecking the nutritional content of your food in the process
  • Bake fresh pasta dishes such as baked spaghetti
  • Bake Scalloped Potatoes
  • Bake scones or biscuits if you’re only doing a single batch
  • etc.

These handy little ovens are far more useful than most people give them credit for.  In our home, cooking the evening meal often involved cooking the meat in this toaster oven’s much smaller space rather than heat up the entire oven below the stove.

Not only did we get marinated steaks, breaded pork, sausages, meatballs, and other dishes cooked on time, but for far less electrical cost as well. When you’re on a tight budget, saving money on electricity is something that should be looked at with a critical eye.  Our little kitchen helper proved quite helpful in this regard.

It is important to realize that this toaster was used when we got it, meaning it is far older than the years it spent in our home.  We will be seeing if it’s possible to resuscitate it’s wiring system, but if not, we will be forced to say good bye to an awesome little kitchen helper!