If you have some leftover food or if you refrigerate cooked food to be consumed later, then getting your hands on the best toaster ovens for reheating food may work quite well for you.
Basically, there are four common appliances that come to mind when reheating: stove, regular oven, microwave oven, and a toaster oven.
The most common one among them are the microwave oven and a toaster oven. While microwave ovens are great for instant heating up food, they do not retain the same taste as the original on certain foods.
For this reason most prefer reheating there food in a toaster oven.
As such, in this article we will review some of the popular reheating toaster ovens.
Also Read: Best Toaster Ovens for Frozen Pizza
Top 3 Toaster Ovens for Reheating Food
4.9/5
[Best Overall]
This toaster oven has a low 1200 Watts power rating with a cooking timer of maximum 30 minutes. As such, for quick reheating or making quick toasts and snacks, this little device is excellent for your kitchen countertop.
4.8/5
[Best for the Money]
This oven is more than just capable of reheating food. It has a cooking timer of 120 minutes, the size to fit a family sized chicken and comes with all the accessories such as baking pans and racks to prepare a complex recipe.
4.7/5
[Best Mini Smart Digital Toaster Oven]
The oven features 4 Quartz heating elements with a whopping 1800 Watts power rating. This amount of power enables the oven to preheat very quickly which in turn results in much faster reheating of your food.
List of Best Toaster Ovens for Reheating Food in 2023
The following, in our opinion, are the best toaster ovens for reheating as far as their functions and price point is concerned.
- Hamilton Beach 31344D – Affordable Small Sized Toaster Oven for Reheating Food
- Hamilton Beach 31107D – Large Double Rack
- Breville BOV450XL – Mini Smart Digital Toaster Oven
- Oster French – Extra Large Oven for Feasts
- Breville BOV650XL – Regular Sized Smart Digital Option
1. Hamilton Beach 31344D – Affordable Small Sized Toaster Oven for Reheating Food
If you need a simple, compact and a highly affordable toaster oven for reheating your food, then we recommend this Hamilton Beach 31344D.
Note that this is a regular toaster oven and does not feature the convection fan. If you are unaware, convection fans are generally used to circulate the warm air evenly across the oven chamber.
For reheating though, you won’t notice a huge difference especially in such a small oven if it lacks the convection fan.
This toaster oven has a low 1200 Watts power rating with a cooking timer of maximum 30 minutes. As such, for quick reheating or making quick toasts and snacks, this little device is excellent for your kitchen countertop.
As far as the size is concerned, it can fit 4 slices of toaster or about a 9″ pizza.
All in all, if you are short on kitchen counter space or if you are looking for an affordable option, then this is the best toaster oven for reheating food in our opinion.
The only drawback here is that this is not a digital oven and therefore does not have any preset for reheating. Therefore, you will need to adjust the timer and the temperature yourself depending upon the food that you reheat.
2. Hamilton Beach 31107D – Large Double Rack
Like the previously mentioned Hamilton Beach 31401, Hamilton Beach 31107D is also NOT a digital oven, however, it has a much larger capacity.
The oven can’t just fit one 12″ pizza, but two on its dual racks. Therefore, if you like warming up feasts for crowds then this is an excellent option to have.
Basically, this oven is more than just capable of reheating food. It has a cooking timer of 120 minutes, the size to fit a family sized chicken and comes with all the accessories such as baking pans and racks to prepare a complex recipe.
Moreover, Hamilton Beach 31107D also offers the convection fan. With the convection feature on, you will need to adjust your recipes a bit, but you can get an overall evenly cooked food as the heat is circulated to all the nooks and crannies consistently.
In the end, if you need a large capacity option to reheat or to, perhaps even, cook large portions of meals, then this the best toaster oven for reheating food at an affordable price tag.
Also Read: Best Toaster Ovens with Rotisserie
3. Breville BOV450XL – Mini Smart Digital Toaster Oven
There are digital ovens and then there are smart ovens. Smart ovens employ the best this industry has to offer. Unfortunately, with high tech comes a higher price tag.
Breville BOV450XL is the smallest of the Breville Toaster Ovens that employ the Smart Element IQ Technology, however, despite its size, it is one of the best model out there not just for reheating but for cooking meals.
The oven features 4 Quartz heating elements with a whopping 1800 Watts power rating. This amount of power enables the oven to preheat very quickly which in turn results in much faster reheating of your food.
The defining feature of this and the rest of Breville smart ovens is that they come equipped with Smart Element IQ technology. With this technology, the oven senses and adjusts the temperature depending upon the food being cooked or reheated.
Thus as far as quality of meal goes, this oven takes the cake.
The only drawback is that it is fairly expensive. Other ovens, some even much larger than this, are available at a fairly lower price tag.
All in all, if you need a digital and fully automated mini option, then this is the best toaster oven for reheating food.
4. Oster French Door – Extra Large Oven for Reheating Large Food Portions
This oven is big. This is a toaster oven that is fit for feasts. To give you an idea, it can fit 2 x 16″ pizzas on its dual racks. That is a lot of space.
From turkey to family sized chicken this oven can fit them all.
While there are plenty of extra large toaster ovens out there, what separate this from the rest is that it has digital controls and also a dedicated digital function for reheating.
The benefit of this is obvious, it leaves the guesswork out of your cooking since the oven automatically adjusts the temperature and the timer for you.
Of course an oven as large as this may not be everyone’s cup of team since it requires a large family to justify its purpose. On top of that, it will also take up plenty of counter space.
However, if you love cooking oversized meals or if you generally bake, broil or roast a lot, then this options makes sense.
In the end, if you came here specifically looking for an extra large digital option then this is the best toaster oven for reheating food.
5. Breville BOV650XL – Regular Sized Smart Digital Option
Like the previous oven, this is also a smart oven that employs Breville’s proprietary Smart Element IQ technology.
However, this has a larger size and therefore should be able to handle large sized meals and portions.
As far as the features are concerned, it offers the same set of features as the Breville BOV450XL. In other words, it also offers 8 cooking presets including reheating functions and also 4 Quartz heating elements.
All in all, if you need a family sized smart digital option, then this is the best toaster oven for reheating food and also for cooking.
FAQ
Reheating Food in a Toaster Oven
Reheating in a toaster oven is far simpler as compared to a regular oven. Since they have a small chamber, they heat up very quickly and therefore, you can have a quick go at your frozen, refrigerated or leftover food.
While they do take longer than a microwave oven to reheat the food, the results are generally crispier and retain the original taste.
They are great for reheating bread, pizza, bagels, meat and vegetables.
Warming in Microwave vs in Toaster Oven
Microwaves are perhaps the most obvious contender against toaster ovens when it comes to reheating.
While microwaves are fast, they do not necessarily have the best results.
Here is a summary of the two.
| Toaster Oven | Microwave |
|---|
| Cooking Result | Crispy | Soft |
| Cooking / Heating Time | Average | Fast |
| Cleaning and Maintenance | Tough | Easy |
| Energy Efficiency | 1200-1800 watts ; Consumes More Energy | 700-1300 watts ; Consumes Less Energy |
| Size | Can be found in very small size | Larger than an average toaster oven |
| Installation | Easy to install and operate | Easy to install and operate |
| Safety | Requires proper ventilation and vigilance | Relative safe to operate |
| Countertop Convenience | Small and Compact | Most models can be fitted in kitchen cabinets freeing up countertop space. |
| Frozen Food Convenience | Takes time to defrost | Ideal for defrosting |
Basically, when it comes to browning, toasting and crisping, toaster ovens win, hands down. The heating element on the top and bottom provide direct heat so that surfaces become crisp.
Microwaves on the other hand can result in the food ending up as soggy or completely devoid of water. You cannot achieve the crisp result.
Also Read: Toaster Oven vs Microwave Oven
How to Reheat Food in a Toaster Oven?
Reheating in a toaster oven isn’t a difficult task. Generally there are two ways to reheat leftover in a toaster oven.
Automatic
Digital Toaster Ovens have a Dedicated Reheat Function
This is the most obvious choice if your toaster oven has a “Reheat” function.
Many toaster ovens, especially with digital controls, have a dedicated preset function for Reheating.
This takes all the guess work out of the cooking as the toaster oven takes care of settings of the right temperature and timer for you.
Manual
Basically, to reheat the food, set the temperature at 350°F or below. You will need to do some guess work on the time though as each food type and its size requires a different amount of time to reheat.
Generally, for foods like pieces of bread and pizza, 5 – 7 minutes should be good.
The amount of time also depends upon the size of the oven chamber and the proximity of the food to the heating elements.
What Can You Reheat in a Toaster Oven?
While there are myriad of things that can be reheated, as a general rule of thumb you should avoid foods that are rather in liquid form or do no have a crust like soups, curry, stews, rice, noodles and even boiled vegetables as they are better suited for a microwave oven.
Instead, you can reheat, any and all sorts of bread, fried food, roasted foods, baked products, grilled meats, pizza, sandwich, potatoes etc.
Also Read: Best Toaster Ovens for Potatoes
What To Look For in a Toaster Oven for Reheating?
When choosing the right toaster oven for reheating, there a few certain attributes that you can look into.
Size
The first and foremost important consideration is the size of the toaster oven you want.
This would largely depend upon what kind of food portion do you want to reheat.
For instance, if you are an individual or a couple who would only reheat a small portion at a time, then a 4 to a 6 slice toaster oven would do just fine.
On the other hand, if you will be reheating food for an entire family, then you need to look for larger, perhaps dual rack models.
The size will have direct affect on the cost.
Plus you need to make sure you have enough counterspace if you choose to go for larger models.
Manual / Digital
If you want save cost, go for manual models with the knob controls.
These toaster ovens have three knob controls one for selecting the temperature, one for selecting the mode and the last for selecting the timer.
Digital ovens, while great for ease of use, are more expensive and thus may not be recommended for mere reheating tasks.
This is especially true for digital toaster ovens that feature myriad of cooking presets. Sure if you plan to use them for future cooking then by all means go for an advanced digital model.
However, if you tasks will only be limited to basic reheating, then a manual model is better in our opinion.
Power
The higher the power rating the more quickly the oven heats up the food.
Toaster ovens have a power rating from 1100-1800 watts typically.
The higher the wattage, the more expensive a toaster oven tends to be.
An 1800 watts toaster oven can reheat your food in a jiffy but their procurement cost is higher.
A toaster oven with about 1300-1500 watts would generally give you the best price and value if you are on a budget.
Conclusion
The best toaster ovens for reheating food, in our opinion, are those that have dedicated preset function for reheating. Why? Because this literally saves you from the hassle of guess work.
The bottom line is that while toaster ovens generally take marginally longer to reheat food compared to a microwave oven, they are best at retaining the original taste of certain foods especially those that are baked, grilled, broiled, roasted or steamed.
FAQs:
1. What is the best toaster oven for reheating food?
The following, in our opinion, are the best toaster ovens for reheating as far as their functions and price point is concerned.
1. Hamilton Beach 31344D – Affordable Small Sized Toaster Oven for Reheating Food
2. Hamilton Beach 31107D – Large Double Rack
3. Breville BOV450XL – Mini Smart Digital Toaster Oven
4. Breville BOV650XL – Regular Sized Smart Digital Option
5. Oster French – Extra Large Oven for Feasts
2. Is a toaster oven good for reheating food?
Yes. A toaster oven is an excellent way to reheat food. Cover the food with foil to prevent it from burning in an oven-safe plate or bowl. 325°F is the ideal temperature for warming leftovers in about 20 minutes.
3. What temperature do you reheat food in a toaster oven?
Toaster ovens can be used to reheat food at a variety of temperatures, depending on the model. However, most toaster ovens have a preset temperature for reheating food, which is typically around 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Can you reheat food in a convection toaster oven?
Yes. Because it provides even, gentle heating, the toaster or toaster oven is usually my preferred reheating appliance. If you're concerned about food drying out, simply cover it with foil. Aim for a low-temperature oven (no higher than 350°F) and check on your food frequently until it is thoroughly heated.
5. How do you safely reheat food?
Always reheat food until it is piping hot throughout (you should only do this once). Place food in hot holding only after it has been properly reheated. Ascertain that reheated food is steaming hot throughout. If the equipment appears to be functioning properly, reheat the dish for a longer period of time and then test it again.