We Replaced Our Microwave with a Small Counter Top Toaster Oven

Photo: Nick Johnson

We Replaced the Microwave with a Toaster Oven

A Guest Post by Charles Pogue

My wife and I decided to replace the microwave with a small toaster oven.

We were concerned about the health aspects of the microwave, but we also wanted something a little more convenient for cooking some quicker dishes we eat kind of regularly, like homemade burritos.

We could use the regular oven for that, but we also wanted a way to cook that would not heat up the kitchen so much. The little oven does a terrific job doing all the things we needed it to do.

Enough tests have been conducted with microwave cooked food and its effects, that it is at least reasonable to consider replacing it. They say eating microwave cooking changes the blood, lowers the (HDL) good cholesterol, and some other things.

Black & Decker Toaster Oven

I’m no scientist, so you can’t prove any or all of those things by me, but I do know that when we cooked meat in the microwave, an old leather shoe would taste about as good; better if the shoe was an expensive one and had a little mud on the sole.

But when we use the toaster oven, everything comes out just like it does from the big oven in the kitchen range.


When we made the aforementioned burritos in the microwave, they turned out mostly soggy, but the toaster oven puts a crisp on them that is fantastic.

I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the little toaster oven saves a whole on the electric bill compared to a full size range, too.

The only draw back we have found is that most of our old pans do not fit in the smaller oven.

There are baking pan sets specifically for toaster ovens, and we will be purchasing those soon.

Toaster Oven Baking Pan Set

Our toaster oven goes up to four hundred and fifty degrees, has functions like bake, broil, and so forth, and can be set for timed or continuous cooking.

There are still things we would need to have a bigger oven for, of course.

Unfortunately, right now, we don't have a range, so the bigger oven is not an option. But for a lot of things we cook, the toaster oven is just ideal.

Do you have a microwave, or did you get rid of it, too?