There was a time when the toaster oven was the talk of every kitchen because it was the thing you needed most to warm up left over dishes, prepare snacks and appetizers, and other small things along with toasting the bread and rolls. The kitchen was not considered totally convenient if it did not have a toaster oven.
Today, the toaster oven still has a place in the kitchen but the place it now holds is a little higher than before. It is no longer used to just warm up left overs, make toast and prepare snacks. Today's small oven can cook, bake, grill and broil among other things. Some of the toaster ovens are also equipped with rotisserie abilities. However, it does not stop there.
You now have a choice of an oven with or without convection technology. Just exactly what is convection cooking? In the convection toaster, there are either coils or bulbs that create heat and in the convection oven the heated air is circulated throughout the toaster oven with the use of a fan. If you cook with a convection oven, you are sure to have your food cooked quicker and retain the juices because the heat is uniformly distributed through the toaster oven. In the non convection, the heat is distributed from one and that is from a coil located beneath the racks which keeps it from becoming burned.
The convection toaster has cornered the market for toaster ovens. There is more advertising for the convection oven than there is for the non-convection oven. When comparing the convection toaster to the non-convection toaster, there is a decided difference in its operation and end result. The convection oven, because it has the fan that moves the hot air around, is better for quick cooking and browning. The non-convection toaster browns the food but you have to watch it a turn it to get it browned evenly.
The convection and non-convection toasters cook, broil, grill, etc. but the end results are different and the process is different with both ovens. As for the price, you will find that the convection oven runs a bit higher in price than the non-convection oven.
In order to make a decision as to which of the ovens you would prefer, you would have to do your research to see which of the two types of ovens would fit into your cooking style. If all you want to do is reheat leftovers, make toast and small snacks, heat a pizza, etc., you may not want to use a convection toaster oven. On the other hand, if you want to use the small oven in place of your traditional oven, then you may want the convenience of a convection oven equipped with all of the features needed to cook a large meal.
