Does it make sense to buy a small convection oven if your oven has convection?

Sometimes for small item, people don't want to use bigger one from stove, convenient.

We use our toaster oven for baking small items. Saves from having to fire up the regular oven.

No it does not make sense to buy one if you have convection feature on your stove. They dont even cook the same.

But, it will depend on your convection stove, is there a fan that blows the air around? Or is there an element behind the fan that blows the heat from that element around? I have true convection (element behind fan) and it works great, no pre heating required, food cooks really fast. No real reason to buy a small counter top that doesnt work as good.

I can turn my stove to 350, throw in a slice of left over pizza, 10minutes and its hot and crispy. I'm not the least bit worried how much it cost to run my stove for the 10 mins to heat up one item.

From what you guys are saying I guess the only point of view that makes sense is to save on money hopping that it takes less to cook small items in the small convection oven.

but it also clutters up the counter...

Some people might want them to use in the summer time, you could use the small convection oven outdoor instead of turning on the big oven for an hour and having all the heat indoors.

Also, I'd avoid buying it from factory direct. Who knows what the unit will be like you get, it could die in a few months then you're back to buying another unit and now at the same price as the one from CT. If your not in a hurry, just watch CT for sales, they likely go for 40% off

That is exactly the biggest challenge that I have with this :-)

schade wrote: ↑ Some people might want them to use in the summer time, you could use the small convection oven outdoor instead of turning on the big oven for an hour and having all the heat indoors.

Also, I'd avoid buying it from factory direct. Who knows what the unit will be like you get, it could die in a few months then you're back to buying another unit and now at the same price as the one from CT. If your not in a hurry, just watch CT for sales, they likely go for 40% off

That is a very good point, my kitchen does go very hot in the summer ... hmmm I am now inclined to buy one.

My suggestion is to get a used one at a local Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity type place, try it for a month before you plop down more than $50 for one. I thought I would love having one of these and my reasoning was the same as yours. Turns out I was wrong and had shelled out like $150 for a fancy one that never got used. Uneven cooking, too small to be practical for many items, space constraints, etc.

I've seen them as cheap as $25 on Kijiji and at local thrift stores.

Redmask wrote: ↑ My suggestion is to get a used one at a local Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity type place, try it for a month before you plop down more than $50 for one. I thought I would love having one of these and my reasoning was the same as yours. Turns out I was wrong and had shelled out like $150 for a fancy one that never got used. Uneven cooking, too small to be practical for many items, space constraints, etc.

I've seen them as cheap as $25 on Kijiji and at local thrift stores.

It can go in the basement kitchen which does not have a convection oven :-) but the Factory Direct ones are exactly that, very cheap and good for trying what you just said

How much baking are you going to do in it? I dont think the fan is used in toasting. With a fan, the oven is less prone to hot spotting. I had an old 4 slice black and decker, and the left side of the oven would always cook faster than the right side.

I had the same questions as you, so I went with the this option:

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/p ... aster+oven

get 20% off with a email signup. Brings it down to $56.

We have a convection toaster oven and use it 95% of the time over the big oven (which also has convection).

It depends: can you afford the counter space? How often do you bake? How many people are you baking for?

is it safe to place it in a open kitchen cabinet

It heats up faster and heats up your home less in the summer. That alone is enough for me.
I didn't get the low end model, so can't comment on that, but I love my Breville. I haven't used a full sized oven in 6 years.

Obviously doesn't work for >4 servings of most foods, though. Perfect for 1-2. Break out the big oven if there's a crowd.

CuriousC wrote: ↑ is it safe to place it in a open kitchen cabinet

The owners manual will be the place that will give you the required clearances.

aqnd wrote: ↑ It heats up faster and heats up your home less in the summer. That alone is enough for me.
I didn't get the low end model, so can't comment on that, but I love my Breville. I haven't used a full sized oven in 6 years.

Obviously doesn't work for >4 servings of most foods, though. Perfect for 1-2. Break out the big oven if there's a crowd.

what model did you buy?
This one is on sale now http://www.thebay.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... v450xk--24

I have not looked but suspect it is more efficient to heat up a much smaller element and much smaller oven. This means it consumes less power. Enough to warrant the price is up to you.

Personally we found it takes up a lot of counter space, but works well when you have to cook multiple things at different temperatures.

CuriousC wrote: ↑ what model did you buy?
This one is on sale now http://www.thebay.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... v450xk--24

They've updated the models slightly over the years, but I have what now looks to be "smart oven pro"
http://www.thebay.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... 845bss--24
Mine is BOV800XL, bought for $169 in 2011.

no it does not make sense. That being said, we did buy a philips air fryer...and this makes a ton of sense for our household.

I can cook 12 chicken strips for the kids and have it on the table before the oven is even preheated. We can cook a package of sausages and contain all the splatter/oil. Same with bacon or back bacon.