These 5 Countertop Convection Ovens Will Help You Cook Everything Faster
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Courtesy of Bed Bath & Beyond
Imagine being able to turbo-charge your oven with the touch of a button. That's the power of convection. A fan inside the oven moves hot air around, enabling faster and more even cooking before an exhaust vent releases it. You use the convection feature when you want to brown or crisp cookies, vegetables, or pizza, but not for baking most breads or large cuts of meat (which require slow cooking or require moist heat).
Enter countertop convection ovens, which deliver convection on a smaller, faster scale. It gets better: Most models can effectively take the place of a toaster, oven, and air fryer. (Though not every model has an air frying feature, most are up to the task—after all, fan-propelled hot air is the key to air frying).
Using one of these countertop appliances means you don't always have to fire up your main oven, which is particularly handy when you're baking something small (or cooking for two!). There isn't, however, a specific formula for converting recipes written for a conventional oven to countertop convection. A simple rule of thumb? Decrease the oven temperature or cooking time by 25 percent. In either case, check the progress more frequently until you get the hang of it.
The Best Countertop Convection Ovens
Most Precise: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
Best Budget: Hamilton Beach Countertop Oven with Rotisserie
Most Versatile: Cuisinart Chef's Convection Toaster Oven
Best Splurge: Wolf Gourmet Elite Countertop Oven with Convection
Best Compact: KitchenAid Dual Convection Countertop Oven
Related: The Best Portable Induction Cooktops
Most Precise: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Prooven
This countertop oven allows you to add convection (or the even more powerful Super Convection) to almost all 12 settings—from bake, broil, and roast to presets for cookies and pizza. Super Convection uses a higher speed fan and promises even crispier food, making it ideal for air frying, dehydration, and roasting.
One of this model's main features is the PID temperature control system, which ensures a more accurate and precise temperature compared to a conventional oven.
Best Budget: Hamilton Beach Digital Countertop Oven with Rotisserie
An impressive oven at a low price, this appliance covers most of the basics. It's missing some nice-to-have features, such as an internal light, air fry, and toast setting, so you'll have to use broil or convection bake to toast bread or bagels.
It's less likely to overload your circuits at only 1500 watts, but that doesn't mean it's too small—it can accommodate two 12-inch pizzas. Best of all, it comes with a rotisserie rack that allows you to beautifully roast up to a 5-pound chicken.
Most Versatile: Cuisinart Chef's Convection Toaster Oven
This deluxe oven can toast up to nine slices of bread and is one of the fastest to preheat. The dual cook mode allows you to sequence cooking functions and the Speed Convection eliminates the need for preheating.
It has a non-stick interior, clocks in at 1875 watts, has 15 different cooking functions, and comes with a pizza stone, a 9x13-inch baking and broiling pan, and a three-year warranty. If you don't have or want a microwave oven, you will especially appreciate the leftovers setting for reheating.
Best Splurge: Wolf Gourmet Elite Countertop Oven with Convection
This is one of the easiest stovetop convection ovens to use—and if you've always wanted a Wolf stove for your kitchen, this handsome option is for you. It has the same distinctive red knobs as the company's signature range (you can swap them out for silver or black if you prefer).
It is slower to toast bread than an old school toaster, but the convection fan is whisper quiet. It fits a 9 x 13-inch stoneware casserole and comes with a temperature probe and a five-year warranty. It lacks an air fry setting, but you can air fry with the addition of a grill basket or rack.
Best Compact: KitchenAid Dual Convection Countertop Oven with Air Fryer
This KitchenAid model has five heating elements, but weighs only 20 pounds. At 18 1/2 inches wide, 13 inches high, and 16 2/5 inches deep, it has a smaller footprint than many comparable countertop ovens—but it can roast two small chickens at once.
It comes with a plug-in temperature probe, air fry basket, and baking pan with grill rack, and has a non-stick interior for easy cleaning. Its 12 functions include low temperature settings for dehydration and dough proofing.
