How do you make your camping life merrier? Well, for starters you need to make sure that you have all the essential gadget tucked up and ready.
Of course, the importance of cooking appliances and utensils cannot be understated. Whether it is a small coffee machine for your morning coffee, or a comfortable toaster oven for your meals. Having tools and gadgets is the only way you can make your camping experiences viable.
In this article, we will have a look at some of the best toaster ovens for camping. While they are NOT a necessity, if you do have the provision for electricity, these appliances can make your cooking tasks simple and in turn make your overall camping experience joyful.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from the product affiliate links.
Also Read: Best Budget Toaster Ovens
Top 3 Toaster Ovens for Camping
4.9/5
[Best Overall]
We highly recommend this option because it offers a very small footprint, compact form factor as well as one of the lowest energy rating found on toaster ovens at 1100 Watts.
It offers simple manual controls with bake, broil and toast settings. The interior has enough capacity to hold 4 slices of bread.
4.8/5
[Best for the Money]
This is one of the smallest toaster ovens that you can find and therefore, we highly recommend this for your camping adventures.
You will notice that it has a rather peculiar shape. Not only does it look appealing, the roll top door offers better accessibility and reach for your food as well.
4.7/5
[Best Mini Smart Option]
This mini smart oven can literally be a multicooker for you instead of a mere toaster oven. It comes with many digital presets for common cooking needs including for reheating as well as for pizza.
It uses sensors and PID temperature controller to independently control the 4 quartz heating elements.
List of Best Toaster Ovens for Camping in 2023
- Mueller Toaster Oven – Budget Low Powered
- Hamilton Beach 31344D – Affordable and Compact
- Breville BOV450XL – Mini Smart Oven
- Hamilton Beach 31156 – 2-in-1 Toaster Oven
- Black+Decker TO3290XG – Digital Toaster Oven
1. Mueller Toaster Oven – Budget Low Powered
We highly recommend this option because it offers a very small footprint, compact form factor as well as one of the lowest energy rating found on toaster ovens at 1100 Watts.
While a lower energy rating does mean that it will take longer or cook, reheat or toast, it also means that you will need a smaller source of electricity.
This would especially appeal to those who have a small electrical generator for their camping adventures.
Other than that, it offers simple manual controls with bake, broil and toast settings. The interior has enough capacity to hold 4 slices of bread.
All in all, if you value low power ratings, then this is the best toaster oven for camping.
2. Hamilton Beach 31344D – Affordable and Compact
This is one of the smallest toaster ovens that you can find and therefore, we highly recommend this for your camping adventures.
You will notice that it has a rather peculiar shape. Not only does it look appealing, the roll top door offers better accessibility and reach for your food as well.
As far as the simplicity goes, this is the easiest manual oven to use. It does not come with many settings. Therefore, for a quick toast, this is quite useful.
In the end, if you love simplicity and compact form factor, then this is the best toaster oven for camping.
3. Breville BOV450XL – Mini Smart Oven
While the two toaster ovens above were affordable manual options, this is on the other side of spectrum. This is not just a digital oven, but a smart oven.
It should be mentioned that it is also the most expensive in this list.
The reason why we have selected this option here is because it can literally be a multicooker for you instead of a mere toaster oven. It comes with many digital presets for common cooking needs including for reheating as well as for pizza.
One important point that separates this from the other digital toaster ovens is that this comes with a Smart Element IQ technology. With this, the oven uses sensors and PID temperature controller to independently control the 4 quartz heating elements.
This ensures high quality and consistent cooking. Unfortunately, all that technology comes with a higher price tag as well.
It should also be noted that this consumes a high 1800 watts of power. Therefore, you will need a larger energy source / generator for this. The good news is that a high power ensures that you can reheat and cook your meals faster.
As far as the size is concerned, this is a mini smart oven so it should be able to comfortably sit in your camp.
All in all, if you plan to cook meals and if you need a device that can help you automate your cooking processes, then we highly recommend this as the best toaster oven for camping.
4. Hamilton Beach 31156 – 2-in-1 Toaster Oven
This toaster oven deserves a spot here. It basically combines the function of a toaster oven with a slot toaster and thus in turn basically makes your camping life simpler.
Whether you want to cook simple meals in the interior chamber for dinner or if you want to a toaster for bagels or bread slices for breakfast, this appliance may come in handy for some quick meals.
The multiple cooking option here means that you can spend less time cooking and more time doing your camping adventures.
Unfortunately though, it does cost more that regular ovens so you will have to carefully gauge the value of this oven for yourself.
It should be noted here that despite being a small and compact oven, it does offer a high 60 minutes timer instead of just 30 minutes. A 60 minutes timer means you can cook more complex recipes.
Again, if you value the slot toaster option in this, then this is the best toaster oven for camping.
5. Black+Decker TO3290XG – Digital Toaster Oven
The Breville BOV450XL smart oven we saw earlier above was expensive. Therefore, if you need a cheaper model BUT with digital controls, then this is the best toaster oven for camping in our opinion because it is compact and quite affordable.
It does not have smart control or advanced sensors like the Breville BOV450Xl above, but it does offer easy to use digital control as well as cooking presets.
The first thing you will notice that while the height and the depth of this oven is still quite small, the width is a bit larger. This makes it suitable for toasting 8 slices of bread at a time instead of mere 4 as is the case with previously mentioned options.
Therefore, if you camp with a large group, then the larger interior space here may be appealing to you since it is spacious enough to fit most pans.
The digital preset on this oven include selections for toast, pizza, and reheating among the usual control like bake, and broil.
One very important feature here is the convection fan. The convection fan is seen as an important component by many since it not only reduces the cooking time, it also promotes even cooking.
With a convection feature, the fan basically circulates the hot air inside the chamber so that the food gets heated from all corners evenly.
By reducing the time to cook, it also conserves energy in the long run.
All in all, there are plenty of features that make this the best toaster oven for camping. Features such as low profile but wider width, convection fan and digital controls all at a reasonable price tag are highly valuable in our opinion for any camper.
What to Look For?
Toaster ovens come in all shapes and sizes and with a large combination of features. Therefore, to specifically have a toaster oven for camping, there are a few things that you can look into.
Compact
The smaller the better
It goes without saying that when camping, cargo and stowage space is limited.
Therefore, you need to make sure that your toaster oven is compact enough to fit easily in your tent, your car, or in your RV without occupying much of the essential space.
Fortunately, there are plenty of compact toaster ovens out there.
Easy of Use
The toaster oven should be fairly easy to use and intuitive. Complex controls or cooking functions may come in handy, but they can add to the frustration.
The simpler the better.
Manual vs Digital
Speaking of Ease-of-use, you can either go for manual or digital ovens. Manual ovens are cheaper and offer old school controls. They are not precise, but they are still great for simple toasting or reheating tasks.
Digital toaster ovens, on the other hand, come with many cooking presets and some may even offer multiple cooking functions. They can be operated by a single press of a button. They are great for preparing meals but they are also expensive.
Also Read: Best Mini Toaster Ovens
Energy Conservation
This is a very important consideration. Since energy is a limited commodity, you need to make sure that toaster ovens are as energy efficient as possible.
This is especially true if you are going to operate the toaster ovens using an electrical generator. A toaster oven that consumes lower energy means it will be quite compatible with a smaller generator.
Read: Energy Star Guide on Toaster Ovens
Final Words
Here we looked at some of the best toaster ovens for camping by taking into consideration their value, customer reviews, their size as well as energy consumption requirements.
Again, your choice would depend a lot upon what you want to accomplish on your camping adventure. Do you want to cook meals? If so, then a smart toaster oven like the Breville BOV450XL would work great for you.
On the other hand, if you want a simple option for toasting and reheating, then the much cheaper toaster ovens like the one from Mueller would seem like the better option.
FAQs:
1. What are the best toaster ovens for camping?
List of Best Toaster Ovens for Camping that we tested:
1.
Mueller Toaster Oven – Budget Low Powered
2.
Hamilton Beach 31344D – Affordable and Compact
3.
Breville BOV450XL – Mini Smart Oven
4. Hamilton Beach 31156 – 2-in-1 Toaster Oven
5.
Black+Decker TO3290XG – Digital Toaster Oven
2. Does a toaster use a lot of electricity?
When in use, the bread toaster consumes between 800 and 1500 watts of energy; an average toaster consumes around 1200 watts. Calculate the energy consumption of a bread toaster operating at 1200 Watts for 0.20 hours per day at the cost of $0.10 per kWh. This equates to toasting six slices of bread for a total of 12 minutes per day.
3. How much does a toaster oven weigh?
Toaster ovens are the smallest of the bunch, weighing an average of 25 pounds. Toaster ovens with larger ovens are typically heavier. If you are moving or need to transport the oven, weight may be an issue.
4. What is the average size of a toaster oven?
The average size of a toaster ovens are with dimensions of 16.5 inches across by 14.25 inches deep and a height of 10 inches. The 1,800-watt toaster oven provides much-needed power in a space-saving design.
5. Can you cook meat in a toaster oven?
Yes, a toaster oven can be used to cook meat. Toaster ovens are also capable of cooking meat and sausages. And if your sweet tooth gets the better of you, pop a few cookies in them. It's a more cost-effective option than baking a full-size batch.