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If you’ve been considering adding a toaster oven to your kitchen appliances, Amazon is currently offering a discount on this adorable retro-looking Galanz 6-slice toaster oven.
Normally priced at $89.99 but currently $82.76 in blue or $81.55 in red, the toaster oven has eight settings: bake, toast, roast, broil, pizza, dehydrate, keep warm and convection. It fits six slices of toast or a 12-inch pizza. You can also use it with other items, like a mini muffin tray.
With a temperature range of between 200-450 degrees Fahrenheit, it has time settings for 15-90 minutes so you can decide how long and at what temperature to cook your food. The door is glass and it includes a light so you can easily see your food as it’s cooking.
Galanz sent me their toaster oven to test out, and I decided to use it three different ways to see how it really worked.
I first used the bake setting to make muffins. My first round of muffins did not heat evenly, as you can see in the photo below. The ones closer to the back were done first and the ones in the front cooked last. That meant that the ones in the back got slightly burned.
While I can’t say for sure that it’s not a problem with the toaster oven itself, I did not have the tray directly in the center and there was more space in the front than the back. On my second round, I made sure it was more centered. It still cooked a bit more in the back than the front, but none were burned and each one was cooked all the way through.
Next up, I used the dehydrate function on sliced strawberries. It took two 90-minute cycles to fully dehydrate most of the fruit, but I had a few issues. Again, they didn’t dehydrate evenly. I believe that is likely my mistake because I did not cut them to be just one size and the larger ones needed more time.
So, if using that feature, I would recommend trying your best to get the food pieces to a uniform size. I did not run into an issue with the ones in the back dehydrating more than the ones in the front, however.
I then used the pizza setting to cook a 12-inch pizza. Of the three things I tested in the toaster oven, I think this one turned out the best. The pizza came out perfectly and evenly cooked. I actually think my pizza turned out better in the toaster oven than in my full-sized oven and will likely be using it from now on — unless, of course, I have a larger pizza.
I found the toaster oven to be incredibly convenient, especially for the pizza, and loved the fact that it didn’t make my house warm like my full-size oven. Out of curiosity, I also paid attention to my air quality monitor to see if it changed the air as much as my gas oven and was happy to see that it did not.
While the monitor typically registers 30 or more volatile organic compounds from my oven when it’s in use, it only detected seven from the toaster oven. Most people won’t really notice a difference in their air from that small amount. But if you have asthma or are sensitive to VOCs, it’s an added benefit.
For just $90 (or less if you catch it on sale), the toaster oven is not only adorable for those that like the retro style, but a worthy investment for small kitchens, apartments or anytime you simply don’t feel like using your full-size oven. With so many different settings, it can come in pretty handy for a variety of uses.
On Amazon, this product has a 4.5 out of 5-star rating from more than 1,200 customers. They say it is a good value that’s easy to clean and use.
Of course, there are plenty of other toaster ovens on Amazon as well, like this one from Black & Decker now priced at $47.99. The toaster oven has four functions — baking, broiling, toasting and keeping food warm — and nearly 18,000 5-star reviews (plus a 4.5-star overall rating from more than 26,200 users). Reviewers say the toaster oven is easy to use and easy to clean and doesn’t take up much counter space.
For something even more versatile, there’s also this Hamilton Beach toaster oven priced at $69.99 that doubles as an air fryer. The Hamilton Beach Sure-Crisp Air Fryer Countertop Toaster Oven fits a 9-inch pizza, four slices of toast or three pounds of chicken. It also includes an air-fry basket, bake pan and air fryer rack.
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