If we were to judge by a name, the first thing a toaster oven should be able to do is make toast. And that’s 100% true. Besides the toaster, a toaster oven is your best shot in making perfectly toasted slices of bread.
In this article, I’ll go through all the possible options for making toast in a toaster oven.
Do You Preheat a Toaster Oven When Making Toast?
Yes, it’s best to preheat the toaster oven when making toast. While not necessary, it will drastically speed up the toasting process. Along with that, preheating helps toast each slice of bread evenly.
How to Make Toast in a Toaster Oven
While it’s definitely easier to make toast using a toaster, making one with a toaster oven is a no-brainer. There are three basic functions that will come into play plus the convection setting if you happen to own a convection toaster oven.
The three basic toaster oven settings are toast, bake and broil. These settings control which heating element will work and how. We’ll go through each setting respectively and I’ll teach you how to use your toaster oven for making toast.
| Toaster Oven Setting | Requires Preheating | Cooking Time |
| The Toast Setting | Yes | 5 Min |
| The Bake Setting | Yes | 3-5 Min |
| The Broil Setting | Yes | 5 Min |
| The Convection Setting | Yes | 5 Min |
The Toast Setting
The toast setting might sound like the best option for making toast in a toaster oven? And it probably is. The main aspect of this setting is that both of the heating elements are working. The top and the bottom elements both let out an equal amount of heat and keep the temperature inside the oven on the same level. This is good for evenly toasting your bread.
Center The Rack
Start off by centering the rack in the toaster oven. By placing the toaster oven rack in the middle, it will keep the bread at an even distance from the heating elements and help it toast the bread evenly.
Preheat The Toaster Oven
Preheating is optional, though it speeds up the process. Preheat the oven to a temperature between 350 and 450 degrees Fahrenheit so the bread can be toast at an even temperature for the whole duration of toasting.
Lay The Slices Onto The Rack
It is important to lay the slices side by side, so they can toast evenly. Put the slices directly onto the rack. This way both the top and the bottom heating element will toast the bread evenly, without having to flip the bread midway.
Use oven mitts when doing this in case you preheated your toaster oven previously. Nobody wants to get hurt while doing this so make sure to be careful.
Set It To Toast
Selecting the shade is up to your taste, whether you want it light, medium or dark. The knob or the buttons on the toaster oven will assist you in selecting. It is however recommended to start off with the light shade because the heating elements can sometimes heat up faster than you think and burn the bread.
Set the Timer & Let it Toast
How long you toast the bread depends on the shade you want to get. The longer you toast, the darker shade you’ll get. However, make sure you don’t toast it for longer than 5 minutes as they can burn if you leave it for longer.
Digital toaster ovens have a set timer according to the selected shade and will notify you when the toast is ready.
Carefully Remove The Bread
Before opening the toaster oven door, turn the appliance off. Opening the door, a heat wave will rush through. This should be an indicator that you need to be extremely careful when removing the toast not to burn yourself. Grab a kitchen tool that will help you carry out this action safely. The best option would be silicone kitchen tongs.
Enjoy!
When done, place the toasts on a plate, smear the spread of your choice and enjoy this crispy deliciousness!
The Bake Setting
When it comes to toaster oven settings, the bake setting is usually the most used one. This function allows you to prepare so many foods, as well as making toast. Turning up this setting, both of the heating elements light up, but the bottom one heats up significantly more than the top one.
If you decide to make toast with bake setting, there need to be some slight changes in the process compared to toast setting.
Rack Position
Either slide the toaster oven rack in the middle or slightly above the middle rack, more towards the top. However, it is recommended to let it in the middle, but because of the heat coming from the bottom, distance needs to be kept.
Set Up the Temperature
Preheating the toaster oven is always a good idea. Set the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and wait until the oven reaches the said heat.
Place the Bread
Now that the temperature is all set, place the bread carefully onto the rack. Make sure that the slices don’t overlap one another so they can bake evenly.
Set the Toaster Oven to The Bake Setting
Let’s get down to the core. Set the toaster oven to the bake setting. Now, this setting doesn’t come with shading options or a preset timer for making toast. This setting simply – bakes! So you will need to be more careful when deciding on this setting.
Set Up a Timer and Stay Put
If your toaster oven doesn’t have a timer, set up one on your phone for 3-5 minutes. It is best to stay close and watch for the bread not to get burnt but to reach the shade of your liking.
I suggest you check the progress after 3 minutes and decide If you want to let it toast for longer. At this point, you could also check If one side of the bread is darker than the other and whether you need to flip the bread.
Ready & Set
After no longer than 5 minutes, you are toast is ready and you can now turn off the toaster oven. Due to the heat, do not use fingers to take out the hot bread but use a kitchen tool. I always recommend using silicone kitchen tongs.
Done!
When done, you can melt some butter on the toaster or smear some type of spread on it. Either way – spread or no spread, it’ll be delicious!
The Broil Setting
The specialty of this setting is that it doesn’t set both heating elements in motion, but instead only the top one. Nonetheless, it can be used when making toast. The broil setting requires a little bit more action than just sitting and waiting for the toast to be done.
Use the Top Rack Position
It’s best to use the top rack position as it is closest to the only heat source- the top heating element. You don’t need to worry about getting the toast burnt because you will set the temperature and it will not generate more heat than the one that you set.
Preheat Oven
The broil setting usually comes with preset temperatures for this function. However, if it can be adjustable on your toaster oven, preheat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lay the Bread
Have in mind that the rack is hot at this point so be careful when placing the bread onto the rack. Lay the slices next to each other so they can be broiled evenly.
Set to Broil
Adjust the knob to broil or select this setting digitally. The broil setting comes with adjustable temperatures and intensities. Since you’ve preheated the oven you won’t need to change that when setting the broiler function.
However, you can play with intensity. You decide accordingly to the shade you want to achieve, whether you want the Low, Medium or High intensity.
Toast & Flip
Now it’s action time! Even though the heat circulates inside the toaster oven, the up-facing side of the bread will most likely get more dark. To avoid one side getting significantly darker, it’s best if you flip the toast halfway through the process. After about 1 or 2 minutes grab your kitchen tongs and flip the bread so the other side of the bread can get the same shade.
Broil the other side the same amount of time you did the first side to get the same shade. Keep track of the time via timer.
Take Out the Toast Carefully
Turn off the toaster oven and take out the bread. To remove the toast use the same kitchen tool you used for flipping it. The safest option would be kitchen tongs, it will keep enough distance from the heated area and you won’t injure yourself.
Enjoy Your Toast
Grab a plate for your toast and enjoy it the way you like it. Bon Appétit!
Toasting Bread With a Convection Toaster Oven
Toasting bread with a convection toaster oven gets you quicker results compared to a regular toaster oven. In terms of components, next to top and bottom heating elements, a convection has a fan as well. The fan makes the hot air inside the oven circulating and the food cooks quicker.
Because of the hot airflow inside the oven, when using convection toaster ovens, it’s best to lower the temperature by 20-25 degrees than the recipe suggests.
Just like regular toaster ovens, convection toaster ovens also have multiple settings and functions. Toasting bread is just one of them. And here is how you make toast with a convection toaster oven.
Top Rack Position
The air moves upwards in convection toaster ovens so it’s best to slide the toaster oven rack onto the top position. But If you decide to stick with the middle position, you wouldn’t go wrong either.
Preheat the Oven
Convection toaster ovens need less heat and less time to cook. Start by preheating the oven to 300-350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the Slices Onto the Rack
Place the slices carefully onto the rack. I recommend you pull out the rack with oven mitts and then put the bread on top of the rack. Make sure to lay the slices side by side, don’t let them overlap each other so they can toast evenly.
Select the Setting
For making toast the broiler setting would be the fastest option. However, 2-3 minutes shouldn’t make much of a difference so I recommend you select the toast setting on your convection toaster oven.
Sit Back & Wait
Set the timer for about 4-5 minutes before closing the oven door. Better stay close to make sure your toast is not burning. If you see the desired shade before the timer goes off, you can just turn off the toaster oven earlier.
Safely Remove the Toast
Remember, always turn off the toaster oven before opening the door and removing the food. Use a kitchen tool that keeps a safe distance between your fingers and the hot toast. The best kitchen tool for this would be kitchen tongs.
Voilá!
Now that your toast is ready it’s time to enjoy it! Place the slices on a plate and enjoy your freshly made toast!
Can You Make Toast With a Halogen Toaster Oven?
Yes, you can make toast with a halogen toaster oven. Halogen toaster ovens use halogen lights which function as heating elements. They have similar settings and functions to regular toaster ovens, including the toast setting, but can do the job quicker. Making toast with halogen toaster ovens does not require preheating as it heats up quickly.
Toasting Bread Made Easy!
I still prefer using a toaster for toasting bread but if you don’t happen to have one, a toaster oven is the right solution. It doesn’t give you the excitement of a toaster when the slices pop up, but in terms of toasting – it does a pretty decent job.
