I can’t comment specifically on the Gridmann, but I have a professional prep table–stainless steel, about 5 feet long, close to 3 feet deep–that I bought years ago at a second-hand shop (and they got it from a restaurant closing sale). I love love love it. It has stayed gorgeous through the years, and its a great place not only to put all the kitchen gadgets, but also to work on. Clean-up is SO easy on stainless steel.
The Breville is the Cadillac of toaster ovens, yes. Some of the models are quite large so be sure to measure your space before buying.
If you want to save some money, The Wirecutter has cheaper recommendations.
I have zero counter space. Even if I don’t put the coffee grinder, microwave, toaster and dish drainer in the kitchen, those counters are almost useless for food prep. Seriously tiny kitchen, biggest drawback of the new place. Meanwhile I measured the nook this morning and it’s 90"x100" which should be plenty of space for a medium-to-large prep table. I’ll probably go that route.
Been eyeballing that very toaster oven, stusser, ever since you first introduced it to this thread. Mmmm.
It really does do a fantastic job, and it’s large enough that I don’t need to use my full-size oven for most things. You can roast a 14lb turkey!
Dumb question, but although you don’t have to use the oven, why is it better than just using the oven?
My kitchen gadgetry has reached maximum absurdity.
Between the still-rocking old Black and Decker toaster oven from something like a decade+ ago, regular toaster, Kitchenaid stand mixer, Indian mixer-grinder, shitty Walmart blender, big Cuisinart food processor, little Cuisinart food processor, Cuisinart griddler 5-in-1, Zojirushi fancy-ass rice cooker, Duxtop induction cooking surface, cheapo Hamilton Beach slowcooker, oldass GE deep fryer, the gf’s cheapo 5-cup coffee maker, an AeroPress she never touches, a goofily over-fancy noname Chinese brand water kettle, and a stovetop pressure cooker so large it has to hang out with the appliances, plus a big non-disassemblable electric flat top griddle stashed under a cabinet somewhere, I am practically drowning in this stuff.
The best that I can think of is that I might be able to replace the slow cooker and pressure cooker with an Instapot, and I do need to recycle my old, broken Kitchenaid mixer from many years ago, but even then. . .
. . . yeah, no more kitchen gadgets for me >.>
edit: except maybe a sous vide. And maybe a pasta maker and ice cream maker.
But that’s it. DEFINITELY
Stusser can answer this better than I can I’m sure, but I think the answer is that convection is superior and picking up one of those portable ovens is a LOT cheaper and easier than replacing your main oven with a convection version. As for why is convection itself so great, my understanding is it circulates heated air through the entire oven space evenly, which means more even cooking and faster cooking times. So better cooking, faster cooking, and more efficient energy usage. There’s probably a lot more he could say on the subject (and he probably already has, upthread).
Huh. Sounds a bit like the reason for sous vide, but with air instead of water.
Also a small oven gives off less heat, and the Breville is easier to clean and turns off automatically when the cooking time is over.
I was skeptical since toaster ovens SUUUCK historically. But the Breville has won me over. It gets to temperature way faster than the big oven, doesn’t heat the whole house, etc.
Diego
Yeah, it heats up much faster, heats more evenly, doesn’t heat up my entire apartment, and has a convenient timer so I don’t need to watch it. Also, you can make toast.
If you already have the stand mixer, Kitchenaid attachments don’t take up that much room.
They’re super versatile!
I love my KitchenAid… but not that much.
Oh trust me, I know. And my girlfriend knows I know. It’s a dangerous standoff
So where do you, you know, put your penis?
In the sauce. Of course.