I never use the oven for toasting bread, unless I need a whole lotta toast. I got a toaster for bread. I like both sides of the bagel toasted.
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I use mine more than the oven, too. Empty nesters, ya know, smaller batches. I don’t put potatoes in the toaster, nor do I put bread in the oven (often.)
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When I was growing up I was told that bagels were toasted to mask being old. So if I cannot get it early enough in the day to still be warm, I am looking for another option. My wife, a native Texan, likes toasted bagels.
I don’t know any better, so I’m fine with toasting. Hey, I grew up with Lenders’.
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LOVE my Cuisinart convection toaster oven and use it daily for toasting as well as every few days for baking / cooking. As mentioned by others, it’s terrific in hot weather to not heat the large gas oven. And in all weather it preheats quickly for cooking “for 2” 8x8 casseroles, roasted veggies, tater tots.
Edited to add - search doesn’t find a model with features similar to mine, sorry to say. Mine has a timer built in as well as added toast controls - reheat/4-slice/defrost - functions I use quite often.
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Exactly. I so rarely use 9x13 unless I have one , or both, of the kids home. 8x8 is my thang. Mine is much cheaper than the Cuisinart; but everything Cuisinart I’ve purchased, I liked and felt was good value. It’s the must-have for empty nesters; especially those who live in hot climates…like WI. 
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Specific reply:
Yes, do try a plain old toaster. Consumer Reports’ reviews are more reliable than most others, I think. (Serious Eats and Wirecutter, for example, get commissions on sales and tend to focus on more expensive items.) When checking reviews, start with the one-stars: people who complain are more often reliable and specific and 5-star ravers.
General reply:
Toaster ovens won’t operate with the door open, so–as you can see through the glass–they trap a lot of bread moisture in the form of steam. REAL toasting is an open-fire technique, so I use a chopstick to prop my Cuisinart’s door open just a tad, but more often I’ll simply open the door for 10 secs to let the steam out.
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Great idea to let the steam escape. I think the fact that a toaster oven takes a good bit longer makes the bread dry all the way through, taking it to a very crisp product. My regular toaster makes a crisp surface but a center that still has a tiny bit of tenderness.
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Done. Bought a $42 mueller. Found a nice home for it in the pantry.
Thanks all.
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Sorry for the late post, but here goes!
If you wish to make toast, buy a toaster. $30 or so. Everybody in the thread seems to talk about toaster ovens, but they don’t really do the job well IMO. Wirecutter recommends the Cuisinart. They say it toasts uniformly on both sides of the bread. So I bought one. It isn’t totally uniform, so I guess it depends on which one you get, but it’s good enough for me.
If at a thrift store you spot one those really old Sunbeam ones with the slots going crosswise and that lower and raise the bread by itself (the one in the pic is a T-20), grab it – they are collectors items. That’s what I used to have (I gave it to my folks about 70 years ago then inherited it back) and it was great. Unfortunately I discovered you could get it to stop and raise the bread by tapping it on the counter, which I often did but eventually I broke it. Sigh!
Update: Writing this got me to thinking and I dug out the old toaster and put it through its paces, and lo and behold it’s working fine. I’m very happy. Mine is a T-35, and has a more modern cord than the one in the picture and no engraving on the side, but otherwise the same.
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I think my grandparents may have had that exact toaster! It lived on the end of their kitchen table where my grandfather could pop fresh bread into it and pluck hot toast to distribute around the table at breakfast. I remember getting half a slice of toast slathered with butter and topped with a prodigious spoonful of honey to finish off many a breakfast!
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We had a Sunbeam on the kitchen table. I think everyone did …
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They were immensely popular for good reason. They performed flawlessly. Although it was very rarely needed, they were also repairable. Many years ago when I bought my own toaster, times had changed enough that finding a toaster that was repairable, one that did not base its operation on a microchip, had become much harder and much more expensive. That Dualit with an analog timer and replaceable elements has little, if any, competition other than vintage toasters on eBay.
I have that Dualit. I’m all for analogue timers …
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Ok, I have to reassess my feelings for our toaster oven, all due to a serendipitous mistake. I was toasting some sourdough for BLTs today, and failed to check the setting for the toaster oven. I thought I had it set to toast somewhat lightly, but instead it was cranked around to broil. After a few minutes, I looked through the glass door and saw that the top sides of the bread were getting quite browned, so I assumed I had made bread shingles and not light toast. When I pulled the slices out, though, they were moderately brown on one side, but the undersides were still light and soft! I made the sandwiches with the toasty side in and the soft side out. Mrs. ricepad and I agreed that we liked them better that way. Soft bread to bite through easily, but still have some crunchy texture and full flavor of the toasty side, too. I discovered my new favorite way to make a BLT today!
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I’m a solid state lover as well. Seems like everything I buy that’s digital goes to hell quicker.
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My Williams-Sonoma catalogue arrived today. It seems as if they are constantly spawning new brands of kitchen appliances and cookware. This month’s launch is Lotus Appliances. For only a little over a hundred dollars more than a Dualit, you can get a toaster that isn’t a Dualit!
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Per Lotus’ site:
Lotus, a premium range of gourmet small appliances, was created by industry experts seeking to elevate everyday cooking through thoughtfully crafted, performance-driven design.
Born from a deep understanding of both culinary artistry and technical precision — and the result of more than a decade of meticulous engineering and development — our line of small kitchen appliances fuels big culinary ambition.
Perfectly balanced, elegantly efficient, each piece that bears the Lotus name is designed to deliver a harmonious, finessed blend of intuitive settings, streamlined functions, and consistently rich flavors.
From our passionate team to beautiful kitchens around the world, Lotus is more than just a brand of chef-inspired tools, it’s a promise of culinary confidence — a philosophy focused on savoring and sharing passionate preparation and its delicious results.
Permit me to attempt to translate:
PUFFERY
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Good lord. What a load of BS. AI-generated? The first paragraph was enough to make me wretch, but it just kept piling on. If it was not generated by artificial intelligence - and it certainly sounds very artificial, indeed - then some PR hack needs to put down the thesaurus.
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More like the PR hack needs to be put down …
This old English major really craved eye bleach after that.
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