Advanced technology has introduced several kitchen appliances that offer versatility and ease of operation. Among others, the oven is one appliance worth mentioning that has become a standard tool for modern kitchens. There are now different types of ovens and prospective buyers get confused to choose between convection, microwave,and toaster ovens while selecting one. Therefore, knowing about convection oven vs microwave will help you to pick the ultimate kitchen gear.
What is Convection Oven?
With an installed fan and exhausting system, convection oven circulates hot air within the appliance to cook food. In fact, the broiler creates a perfect cooking condition inside. General convection ovens are either gas or electric powered. But electric-one is more reliable and efficient. With a circulation of air, it can offer wonderful heating all around the food leaving no cold spot.
What is Microwave Oven?
At one time, ovens refer to microwave ovens only and it is still one of the most popular and used kitchen appliances. Here, the water molecules inside the food get heated with electromagnetic waves produced by the built-in magnetron. With faster heating capacity, you can have the meal prepared within a few minutes. The powerful wave leaves no cold spot and ensures uniform heating.
What is Toaster Oven?
Featuring a broiler as the convection ovens do, they offer cooking facility in a similar way; just ona smaller scale. Although it is not as popular as the microwaves do, they are taking their places in kitchens. Creating an extremely warm cooking environment in a confined space, toast oven can deliver perfect small batch cooking. But they can or can’t deliver proper heat distribution of heat like the convections.
But are toaster oven worth the investment? Give it a read.
Basic Differentiating Points
When you want to decide to purchase any of these three, you have to focus on the basic points regarding its functionality and performance. Each of the aforementioned ovens has a specific and certain application which will give the perfect output. With a quick primer on convection oven vs microwave, you will get the differences in a more convenient way.
- Food Browning: Having no broiling function, microwaves can’t brown any food. This is why it gives no browning effect for any type of food. But you can attain food browning using convection and toaster ovens as they feature browning broiler. Although the time limit for convection and toaster are likely to differ, you can get an even and uniform browning for sure.
- Cooking Capacity: The capacity largely varies according to models, types, and of course, sizes. In general, microwave and convection ovens share reasonable similarity when it comes to capacity. But with the toaster ovens, you are likely to get less space for cooking your meals. When you want to go for light cooking or food heating, you can rely on toaster oven capacity.
- Countertop Suitability: Regarding countertop convenience, a toaster oven is much lighter than the other two. Depending on size, capacity, and model; convection and microwave ovens have variable weights. But user-friendly features, compact design, and lightweight construction. Therefore, you will experience better convenience using toaster ovens for your kitchen.
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- Energy Efficiency: Microwaves are likely to get an edge when it comes to energy efficiency. In fact, a microwave oven requires a power of 700-1300 Watts on average. This can be taken as one-third of the energy requirement for a conventional oven. Meanwhile, a convection oven uses more or less the same amount of energy depending on its heating capacity. But a toaster requires considerably high energy of 1200-1800 Watts on average which is half of the energy requirement of traditional ovens.
- Cooking Time: Heating time for the microwave is considerably faster than convection or toaster oven. Although it largely depends on the food type and amount, you will get your prepared meal in less time with microwaves. Toaster ones will take a bit longer, but convection ones are the slowest here regarding space to heat. Apart from quick heating, you can attain better hardening of foods with microwaves than convection ones. But for some baked products, you can get a better result using the toaster oven. Want to learn the best ways to reheat your food quickly for a party with this toaster oven? Visit here.
- Heavy Meals: With larger capacity and size, you should get your larger meal ready without any trouble using a microwave. It may not hold good if you overload regardless of the oven type. Although convection ovens may have slightly larger or lower capacity, you will get the best cooking with a microwave if you go for heavy meals on a regular basis. There are some conveniently sized toaster ovens available these days that can cook a chicken and medium-sized pizza alongside with common foods.
- Crispy Cooking: When it comes to crispy cooking, you will get definite advantages with the toaster oven. In fact, these ovens are designed to deliver incredibly great crispy cooking. Featuring broiler for the assembly, you can attain perfect crispy taste from meat to bread without a doubt. Without having a broiler, this advantage lacks in microwave oven regardless of your food ingredient.
- Bread Heating: Baked foods like bread gets heated in a more convenient and better way in toaster ovens than a microwave. Not to mention, it retains the taste and softness of the bread all along. You can heat the bread in the microwave but you have to take sufficient care so the bread doesn’t get toughened.
These are the most important considerations you should attend while comparing the ovens. There are some other things you need to consider regarding your choice and applications. In fact, you need to weigh all these points with care along with your cooking requirement, frequency, time, and ingredients. But, this Black and Decker toaster oven got me hooked with its auto shut off feature. Absent-minded people like me will find this helpful. Because now they don’t have to worry about whether they have turned off the toaster oven after use or not.
Also Read: Safety features you should be aware
Verdict
Although the choice may vary, you will get the best result with proper usage and maintenance for sure. Knowing key differences from our convection oven vs microwave will attain the most economical and convenient choice for your kitchen. Appropriate weighing of the advantages and disadvantages will easily help you to choose the right one.
In case if you have any question feel free to visit the FAQ section.
