Ovens for Meal Prep
Ovens are versatile kitchen appliances that heat food in an enclosed space. They are essential for baking and are used for a wide range of other dishes. Ovens come in a huge selection of sizes and types including air fryers, microwaves, and toaster ovens.
Depending on your preferred cooking styles, a good oven can sometimes be all you need for successful meal prep. A lot of pots and pans are oven safe, making it easier to move food from the stove top to the oven.
Ovens are typically equipped with a common set of options: bake, roast, and broil among others. These settings determine how and where heat is produced inside the oven, giving cooks more control over heat distribution and how you’ll need certain foods to be cooked.
Air Fryer
Air fryers have quickly become the latest and greatest new appliance for kitchens. They take convection heating one step further by circulating air in a way that causes textures to become more crisp with less oil.
More advanced models can include baking and toaster settings so that you don’t have to sacrifice kitchen counter space for more appliances. Air fryers are incredibly convenient, making them a perfect companion for meal prep.
Another advantage of air frying is their ability to reheat. Besides cooking from scratch, air fryers excel at bringing precooked food, limiting moisture and recreating original textures. For those brave enough, an air fryer might even be the solution to the challenges of bread in meal prep.
Convection Oven
Convection ovens are typically large and spin hot air around to cook ingredients. They can maintain high temperatures and are required for baking, roasting, and more. Their versatility makes them perfect for easy cooking. Once things are inside all you need to do is set a timer and wait. You’ll notice things are getting ready by the smell.
A good oven can do a lot more than just heating up ingredients too. When you’re roasting large pieces of meat and vegetables you’ll end up with au jus that can be made into broths, gravies, and more, extending the value of your budget at the grocery store.
And who couldn’t forget baking? With a convection oven, all your standard baking delights will be available at your fingertips to try and recreate. While baked goods can be difficult to maintain in the fridge, nothing starts the morning off better than some freshly baked bread.
Microwave
Microwaves use electromagnetic waves to vibrate fat and water molecules, generating heat and can prepare food in seconds. Popular in college dorms and office break rooms, microwaves are near essential for meal prep because of how quickly they reheat food.
The entire purpose of meal prep is to reduce daily cooking times, making microwaves a core component of meal prep. Not only do they reheat food quickly, they reheat food that has been in the fridge for days best.
While we can’t control what kind of microwaves we will have available at work, we can still find the best models for our homes. Nearly everything you cook for meal prep will be reheated using a microwave, so we’ll only show you the best.
Toaster Oven
Toaster ovens are basically a mini version of the standard convection oven. They sit on the counter and can do most of the same things that a regular oven can plus toasting which is great for a morning bagel or toast.
Toaster ovens are specifically beneficial compared to their larger counterparts when large appliance space is not an option or if you only plan to bake small things like chicken wings or slices of pizza.
Toaster ovens are one of the best alternatives to microwaves as well. While they’ll add an additional 8-10 minutes reheating food, you’ll receive a result that is more conventionally hot and ready to eat.