Enjoy delicious and fresh weeknight meals in just minutes with these easy recipes using the most underrated yet versatile appliance in the kitchen—the toaster oven! While your standard oven is great for big meals, who wants to wait for it to pre-heat when you’re making weeknight dinner? That’s when the toaster oven comes in handy! As one of the most flexible and space-saving appliances in the kitchen, the toaster oven can do everything a standard oven can but is faster, easier to clean, and more energy-efficient. In Toaster Oven Takeover , you’ll learn how to make recipes the whole family will enjoy, like: -Freezer-Ready Breakfast Burritos -Stromboli -Sweet Chili-Glazed Wings -Lemon-Roasted Fish with Olives + Capers -German Chocolate Cake -And more! Perfect for cooks of every skill level, Toaster Oven Takeover is chock-full of recipe tips as well as toaster oven basics. Whether you’re maximizing space in a small apartment or just looking for a faster way to put dinner on the table, Toaster Oven Takeover will make your toaster your go-to for delicious perfectly cooked meals that can be made in no time! Roxanne Wyss with Kathy Moore , The Electrified Cooks , are cookbook authors, food consultants, food writers, cooking teachers, and food bloggers, who share their test-kitchen expertise through creative recipes and tips that make cooking easier and more fun. This is their sixteenth cookbook, previous titles include Rice Cooker Revival and The Easy Air Fryer Cookbook for The American Diabetes Association. They teach cooking classes, consult with food and appliance companies, write feature articles and appear on television, including appearances on QVC. Their professional careers in food, spanning over thirty years, now include a popular blog, PluggedintoCooking.com. Chapter 1: Basics Be a Toaster Oven Pro—Let’s Get Cooking Place the toaster oven securely on the counter or a table and allow space for air flow all around the appliance. It is awkward to move, so you won’t want to move it daily, which is how often you will use the oven. The oven will be hot, so do not touch it while operating. Many countertop manufacturers recommend to avoid operating hot appliances on granite, quartz, or other countertops. Place the toaster oven on a heatproof board large enough to hold it securely and protect the counter. Read the use and care booklet that came with your toaster oven. You will uncover a lot of tips and suggestions. Be sure to follow all of the recommendations for safe operation. Breaking It Down These are the various elements and functions usually included with your toaster oven. REMOVABLE RACK Many toaster ovens offer different heights for the cooking rack. Often you place the rack in the middle position for toasting bread, and the lowest position when baking, but check what the manufacturer of your oven recommends. CRUMB TRAY Toaster ovens are equipped with a crumb tray. Wash it frequently and always position it correctly before cooking. No matter how tempting it might be, do not ever line the crumb tray, unless the manufacturer of your particular toaster oven recommends it. SETTINGS Electronic settings typically include one for each function—such as toasting, baking, or broiling—a temperature setting, a timer, and an on/off switch. FUNCTIONS Today’s toaster ovens may have five, ten, or even more different functions. Here are the most common ones. Toast: Often the toast setting allows you to choose the number of bread slices and if you prefer lighter or darker browning. Bake: This popular setting is one you will use when baking a casserole, a cake, a batch of cookies, or many other foods. Once you select the bake function, set the temperature, just like you would for a big oven. Usually you place the rack in the lowest position when baking and allow the toaster oven to preheat to the desired temperature. Broil: Use the broil setting for broiled meats. It is also the ideal function to use when browning a crisp topping on a casserole or browning and crisping wings or ribs. Place the food on a broiler pan and adjust the rack height as needed for the food. While the top rack position may work well for some thinner foods, the center or a lower position may be best when broiling meat or the top of a casserole. Bagel: This is a variation of the toast setting and is designed to brown and crisp the top of a bagel while warming the bottom of the bagel, which makes it ideal for bagels, of course, but also for English muffins or any thicker pastry. Be sure to place the bagel with the cut side facing up. Roast: Yes, you can roast a chicken or a wide array of vegetables in your toaster oven. It is very similar to using the baking function, but may offer a longer timer setting. When roasting, the food is not covered and develops a beautiful brown crust. Pizza: This preset function is an ideal way to bake a pizza. Convection: A fan circulates the hot air when you set th