Preparation
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.
Most Precise: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer ProBest Budget: Hamilton Beach Countertop Oven with RotisserieMost Versatile: Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster OvenBest Splurge: Wolf Gourmet Elite Countertop Oven with ConvectionBest Compact: KitchenAid Dual Convection Countertop Oven
