Countertop Oven Comparison: Toaster Oven vs Air Fryer vs Convection Oven

You are looking for the perfect countertop oven. You want something that can quickly make small meals and snacks without much power or space. With summer right around the corner, you’ll want a solution that can cook up tasty appetizers for parties or prepare a meal without heating the kitchen.

Choose a toaster oven, air fryer, or convection oven to achieve your goal. The question is, which one is the best? How do you know whether you prefer radiant vs. convection heating? Will a pod or a pan make the tastiest food? 

We’re here to give you all the answers. Let’s compare our contenders to help you pick the perfect little appliance for countertop cooking.

Meet the Contenders 

Please turn on the spotlights; it’s time to examine our contenders. Which is the best of them?

Toaster Ovens

In the first corner is the modern toaster oven. A toaster oven is a straight-heating little powerhouse countertop oven that can bake, broil, and roast in a flash. Its affordable price and reliable performance have kept toaster ovens a home countertop favorite for decades.

Convection Ovens

In the second corner is the convection oven. It’s like a toaster oven but uses fans to circulate heat through the chamber and is usually larger. Convection ovens tend to be a little bulkier and more costly in return for all-around heat instead of directional heat.

Air Fryers

In the third corner is the air fryer. Air fryers are a new convection type, sometimes called a pod-style cooker. They use dry convection heating and a bowl-shaped pod instead of a pan. They have a more extensive size range, from extra small to extra large, and a matching price range.

Now, let’s compare our little appliances to the most critical points regarding your home, cooking style, and personal needs.

Speed and Preheating

When you want snacks right now, the speed of preheating and cooking will matter for a countertop oven. These three appliances stand out in performance when you compare their relative speed in reaching an ideal heat and quickly cooking your food.

Pod-Style Air Fryer

Air fryers are known for rapid preheating and high-temperature convection cooking within 3-5 minutes. The pod design amplifies the effectiveness of heat without scorching your food. They can provide fast, crispy snacks and small-batch fried meats in less time.

Radiant-Heat Toaster Oven

A radiant-heating toaster oven is small and heats up quickly. If you choose HeatMate, a Japanese toaster oven, no preheating is necessary. Your toaster oven will reach the desired temperature instantly, in a fraction of a second, which is essential when you are in a hurry or have to cook on short notice.

Toaster ovens cook at recommended times and temperatures, which can be even faster for small batches, while at a normal pace for dense or frozen meals.

Fan-Assisted Convection Oven

Convection ovens require 5-10 minutes of preheating, depending on the size, to reach the right temperature. The moving air can cause some foods to cook more quickly. However, delicate convection recipes take a little longer than straight radiant heating. That is a trade.

Cooking Capacity

How much food can you prepare at once? This depends on the size of your appliance, and all three come in a range of sizes. The smallest typically serves one or two people, while larger models might serve four or five.

Toaster ovens undoubtedly have the largest capacity compared to appliances with a similar amount of counter space, i.e., footprint.

Compact Toaster Oven

Toaster ovens have the largest cooking chamber when compared to the appliance footprint. This is because their simple design doesn’t need extra space for fans or a frame.

Toasters have a footprint of 13×10 to 22×18 inches with a capacity of 0.3 to 1 cubic foot.

Multi-Rack Convection Oven

Convection ovens are rectangular inside, like a typical range or wall-mounted oven. However, the need for fans and an air vent tends to make these appliances larger and the frame more bulky. A convection oven would have a smaller cooking chamber than a similar-sized toaster oven.

Convection has a footprint of 17×12 to 20×24 inches, with a capacity of 0.3 to 0.88 cubic feet.

Basket-Style Air Fryer

Air fryers are upright instead of rectangular, but their cooking chamber is rarely more than 1/3 the appliance size. The pod’s air fryers have a slide-out compartment at the bottom, and they tend to be pretty small.

Air fryers tend to have a footprint of 11×15 inches to 14×20 inches with a capacity of about 0.2 to 0.6 cubic feet.

Versatility

How many recipes can you prepare in each appliance type? What are your options for baking, toasting, broiling, making snacks, or cooking full-course meals? The shape and features of each one make them unique in this regard.

Precision-Controlled Convection Oven

The most versatile among countertop appliances is the convection oven.

The most significant difference in versatility is that the size of the internal heating chamber is usually larger, and depending on the recipe, you can set multiple heights for your heating rack. 

The convection feature also adds a range of delicate baking recipes to your list of options. Convection baking is a special subset of cooking where recipes turn out best with a flat rectangular cooking chamber and constantly circulating hot air. In some models, you can also turn the fans off to mimic toaster oven performance with more direct radiant heating.

Pan-Friendly Toaster Oven

Beyond delicate cake recipes that benefit from exceptionally even convection heating, the modern toaster oven is a versatile cooking appliance. This countertop device can do conventional baking, broiling, roasting, and toasting. With just a few pans that fit in your toaster oven, you can roast meat and vegetables, bake a pot pie, steam a potato, and crisp your nachos or French fries. 

HeatMate toaster ovens have a set of non-stick trays, including a flat pan, griddle pan, and grill rack, to complement the toaster’s versatile cooking capabilities.

Single-Chamber Air Fryer

Air fryers, another kind of countertop oven, are celebrated as versatile, but they are pretty limited. The pod shape of the cooking chamber means you can’t use pans or make “flat” recipes like cakes, toast, or nachos that rely on a flat pan. You can make great, well-crisped baskets of wings, chicken strips, fish sticks, and oiled vegetables, but you can’t make good toast.

Energy Efficiency and Summer Heat

What about energy and ambient heat? Each countertop appliance provides a different profile for efficiently using electricity and how much heat is released into your kitchen. This is especially important when you want your kitchen to stay cool during the summer heat.

Well-Insulated Air Fryer

Air fryers are usually built to be well-insulated. The heat is concentrated in the pod chamber and does not radiate from the plastic case. This also helps them achieve energy efficiency.

An air fryer typically ranges from 800 to 1800 watts.

Graphite Toaster Oven

Toaster ovens use electricity very efficiently through direct radiant heating. Kitchen heat depends on the model, ranging from an excellently insulated, cool-to-the-touch toaster oven, such as HeatMate, to metal heat boxes (usually older models). Choose wisely.

Toaster ovens typically have a wattage range of 1200 to 1600 watts.

Full-Size Convection Oven

This countertop appliance uses extra electricity and often emits a fair amount of heat. Although it can be well-insulated, it always uses more energy for cooking space and circulating air than the other two options.

Convection ovens have a range of wattage consumption between 1300 and 3000 watts.

Which One’s Right for You?

Selecting the ideal countertop appliance - toaster oven, air fryer, or convection oven depends on your cooking preferences and kitchen size and setup. So, consider these distinctions:

• Air fryers are recommended for people who make a lot of packaged fried foods, like chicken strips or wings, that cook well in a basket. They are small and efficient, but they are not very versatile if you want to get more creative with your recipes.
• Convection ovens are favored by bakers who prefer specific recipes that call for a convection heating style or cooking large meals for a group of more than four people.
• Toaster ovens are highly efficient miniature ovens. If you love traditional recipes or like experimenting with small batches, a toaster oven is a wise choice, requiring little space and power in the kitchen.

Explore which one best suits the foods you like to make, the space in your kitchen, and your plans for tasty meals and snacks.

Your Kitchen, Your Recipes, Your Favorite Appliance

Let your recipe book be your guide when choosing the perfect countertop oven for your home. If you’re looking for an efficient countertop cooking solution to make delicious foods without delay, check out our collection of toaster oven recipes and discover for yourself.