Have Toasters Become An Appliance Of The Past?

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I grew up on toast with a little butter and jam for breakfast, alongside some eggs and fruit for a complete meal. After all, toast is fast and quite easy: to perfectly toast a piece of bread, just pop it in the toaster, push the lever down, wait a couple minutes, and voila, bread with the perfect amount of crunch. But I haven't used an actual toaster in quite awhile, and if you still have one, it may be time to say goodbye.

There's something nostalgic about having a toaster, but when you think about it, it's not that useful an appliance. It can only make a couple pieces of toast or bagel slices at once; it gets filled with crumbs easily; and my main problem, it only does one thing while taking up a sizable amount of counter space. My kitchen is on the smaller side, and to be real about it, I'm not making toast daily. Even if I was, it's time to move on to a newer kitchen tool that's way more versatile: the countertop oven.

Why have a designated toaster when you can have a countertop oven that does everything in one appliance? Last year, I purchased the Breville Smart Oven Pro, and I wonder how I ever lived without it. It has 10 cooking functions: There's a toast and bagel setting that rivals a toaster, but there's also a pizza setting, broil, bake, cookies, and even slow cook, meaning I can also get rid of my slow cooker and save more kitchen space.

Even if you're using it just to make plain ol' toast, it's better because there's room to stick multiple slices in it at once. I've been able to toast bread for a huge crowd, and I've determined that sandwiches are so much better toasted. There's also plenty of room in a countertop oven to toast other foods, such as croissants, Belgian waffles, and foods that don't fit in a standard toaster slot.

There are a whole range of mini ovens at various price points. Some, such as the Ninja Prestige Smart XL for $429.99, cost much more than an old-fashioned toaster, but there's also the Breville Mini Smart Countertop Oven for $159.95, which I think is reasonable — especially when you consider how much these ovens can do. So, if you love cooking in various ways, including making toast, but hate clutter, it's worth investing in a countertop oven.