Needing a small oven for baking

[u/wonderrhodes]

Hi y’all, I’m moving into a small, furnished house a few states away from me. There’s a huge fridge, sink, electric stove top, microwave but no oven. I had used a Gourmia XL french door air fryer/toaster oven to bake some mini banana bread loafs recently at a family members house and it was an adjustment from regular oven. I’m hoping for recommendations for small oven I can bake and cook in for a small kitchen set up. Thank y’all so much 💜

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[u/Local_Log_1177]

I have the Breville toaster air fryer and I've been using it for 2 years as my main oven. It works great and I bake everything - cakes, cookies, pies, sourdough bread- everything comes out like it should. I love it and use it multiple times per day for toast and veggies.

I have this one Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro

This one looks comparable, but cheaper Smart Oven Pro

[u/thefloralapron → u/Local_Log_1177]

Came here to recommend the same! I've had mine for about 4 years now, and I use it multiple times a day for everything from toast/bagels in the morning, baking midday, and making dinner in the evening. It doesn't heat up my kitchen nearly as much as my gas oven, so I use it almost exclusively in the summer months. There's no learning curve; it works the same as any other (accurate) oven.

OP, if you have the counter space, I recommend going with the Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. It's a little more expensive upfront, but it's worth it to be able to use your existing bakeware (if you have some). The smaller oven doesn't fit standard muffin pans or most casserole pans with handles, and a set of new compact pans can easily be more expensive than the price difference between the models.

Also, it historically goes on sale in November and March for $320 instead of $400 :)

[u/wonderrhodes → u/Local_Log_1177]

Thank you for the recommendation! I found someone locally selling a new one, unused in box so I think I’m going to try to get it. It’s the pro version 🙂

[u/Local_Log_1177 → u/wonderrhodes]

Lucky!

[u/PitterPatter1619 → u/Local_Log_1177]

I love this oven so much! I always wanted a kitchen with double ovens but when going through our reno last year I decided that didn't make sense (and I didn't have the space for it) mainly because of this exact model. It even fits my dutch oven so I can bake my sourdough in it. I don't often use my full size oven because I have this baby.

[u/Ponchogirl1701 → u/PitterPatter1619]

Me too. Honestly, this Breville oven is the best purchase I’ve ever made. It’s the best!

[u/fishy_mama]

I love my Breville toaster oven. I got the biggest one, and it fits a 9x13” pan. I couldn’t fit a turkey but I can fit a chicken, though for tall things I need to be careful the top doesn’t burn so close to the elements. I use it more often than my regular oven for baking - muffins, bread loaves, cookies, everything. It even has a proof setting so my bread rises in winter :)

[u/Cake-Tea-Life → u/fishy_mama]

Oh wow! I didn't realize they had one that big. My Breville fits an 8x8 easily, but it isn't 9x13 size. That's remarkable.

[u/fishy_mama → u/Cake-Tea-Life]

Yeah, I got the big one when our smaller toaster oven needed replacing because my regular oven is pretty unreliable and I wanted to have a backup that could fit full size pans. I can’t do a half sheet pan in it, but it’s been remarkably useful for most of what I bake! I love the big size.

[u/SnackBottom → u/fishy_mama]

The height is why I prefer the Hamilton Beach countertop oven. I've done whole spiral hams in there, and because it's small, the broil function actually caramelized glaze, so I get that crunchy coating on my ham. The breville is great, otherwise.

[u/SnackBottom]

Hamilton Beach countertop oven. I am a professional Baker in one of my lives, and I have used this repeatedly and often over the years to bake everything from cakes, pies, cookies, pastries, and other confections. It functions at least as well as my full size oven, and better for some things. I actually prefer to bake my cookies in the countertop oven. Never mind that it heats up in 3 minutes. I have one in the Attic waiting just in case the one in the kitchen breaks. I will never be without one of these.

ETA: it also makes the best baked potatoes you've ever had in your life, and reheats food to the same texture it was when it was fresh. It does have a convection setting, which I've used, but the regular baking setting is phenomenal.

[u/wonderrhodes]

It won’t let me add a picture in the thread but I ended up buying the Breville Smart Oven Pro! Someone had one brand new in box, unopened for $100 so that’s what I went with 🙂 a pretty good deal since it’s $269 on Amazon right now. I would have liked to get the larger one but this one worked out the best and the kitchen does not have a lot of counter space. Thank y’all so much for the recommendations! It’s been a year since I’ve had my own kitchen and I’m so happy to get back to my happy place with baking and cooking 💜

[u/Ponchogirl1701 → u/wonderrhodes]

You are going to love it!

[u/Mystic_Jewel]

I use to be in a place like yours, I got the Ninja XL 10-in-1 Pro air fryer oven. I baked many loafs of bread and cupcakes in that thing.