I guess you missed this.
I did. Apologies.
I think I probably saw “toaster oven” and switched off as it’s not a very common appliance in the UK. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in a friend or family kitchen.
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i live alone and have a tiny kitchen. my toaster oven is big enough to hold a 10-inch cast iron skillet and i use it all the time. rarely turn on the big one, though i did last week when i caramelized 9 of onions.
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I think they used to be used a lot more in the past for actual cooking than today - I’m thinking of a steak, for example. I think most folks, if they have the opportunity and equipment - will broil meat on an outdoor grill of some kind, instead of using the oven broiler. If forced to remain indoors, they will probably use a combo of the oven and skillet finishing rather than the broiler.I agree (from my college days) that gas stove broilers with flames are kind of scary to use. The broiler in my electric oven I use to brown and crisp an already cooked dish. I may have broiled a crab cake from time to time, but that’s just for effect and warming - the crab meat is already cooked. I remember as a kid steaks done with an electric oven’s broiler. Tricky to get good results. There are also all manner of tabletop grills and broilers which people can use (I don’t have one).
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Toaster ovens started off really tiny, but useful. They’ve grown into a whole family of countertop ovens. I love mine; I rarely use my stove oven, which is too big for most of my cooking tasks. I use it to store little-used oven cookware, natch.
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I find the broiler in my electric oven requires very close monitoring to not overcook or burn things, but I use it from time to time.
The broiler feature on my so called Breville air fryer is a bit easier to get right. Is this Breville what some folks mean by a toaster oven?
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I have that Breville. It’s what toaster ovens have grown into, with the help of steroids, I think. A countertop oven. Breville makes a “mini smart oven”-16x13x8 - which is close to the size of an original toaster oven.
parson’s nose!
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I did not know this was a thing!
My aunt once threw a passive-aggressive tantrum because my husband and I microwaved bacon that was to be chopped for a dish. She insisted on pan fried. In hindsight she was right that stovetop is superior to microwave. I agree with @biondanonima that microwaved bacon is unpleasantly chewy and dry.
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Especially if you buy thick bacon. I get my applewood bacon from the meat counter and it is about 1/4" thick. Microwave, toaster oven, and broiler are not good options unless you want it burnt on the edges and raw on the inside.
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i’d buy a ticket to see “a passive-aggressive tantrum.”
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Lots of dirty looks, huffing, and pot slamming. No tickets necessary just spend a holiday with my family.
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Ohhhh yesss. Very recognizable in these parts too.
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:oh, one of those… but, can she cook?
She makes a mean potato salad.
Passive-aggressive mean, or straight up mean?
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Well, I’ll be!
My electric stove’s broiler invariably burns anything placed higher than the middle rack. Maybe that’s because you are SUPPOSED to leave the door open slightly, which I invariably fail to do. Then there’s the smoke factor. I suspect an inverse relationship between the use of smoke alarms and broilers.
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I tried the water method this past weekend and I will stay with my oven method for cooking thick bacon.
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