mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Skippy · February 2013

Well guys, A while back, I had a bright idea of combining the elements out of a toaster oven, into a larger more insulated box. Worked great keeping the cold in the fridge, so why not keep the heat in the oven ? ?

So I built a steel box big enough for a large roasting pan, then built a larger box, big enough to fit the smaller box inside - with 12 inches of space around it. Insulated the 12 inches of space with roaxsol insulation that is made with fire proof materials (will not burn) and then added a nice thick door, to keep the heat in. I also used all the ceramic insulators (for the electric elements) that came with the oven, so it is made the same way as a regular toaster oven - just a bigger - better insulated box.

Now, when I plug it in, it draws full power, until it heats up the smaller oven box, then after that, it drops off significantly, but it does not work as good as I thought it would.

First off, your large power hungery oven at home, is designed to lose heat..... you put in a cake that says "cook at 350 for 30 min", and the oven will not only stay at 350 for that time, but will be on for alot of that time - constantly bombarding the food with heat . . . were my mega oven will come on, then shut off, and "coast" for 20 min. - big difference in cooking times ! I can (and have) made a large frozen lasagna , but you have to watch the internal temp, as well as adding over an hour to the cooking time. . .

Second, since all recipes out there are assuming that you have a "regular" oven, all the cooking times are out the window . . . makes cooking far more interesting now. . .

So, since a few of you guys have meters, how much power does an electric range use to cook a lasagna, figure that one out, while I go home and cook another lasagna while plugged into my k.o.w meter . .

icarus · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Ovens also need to vent steam to properly cook most things.

Tony

Cariboocoot · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

icarus wrote: »

Ovens also need to vent steam to properly cook most things.

Tony

Yup. And if it can't vent enough it can go "boom".

ChrisOlson · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Skippy wrote: »

So, since a few of you guys have meters, how much power does an electric range use to cook a lasagna

What does a lasagna take - about two hours? We run our electric range (with convection oven and induction cooktop) with the inverter and batteries with no problem - and generator support if the amp draw with other loads overtaxes the inverter. It uses the most power in one shot during pre-heat - it will take it 12-15 minutes to get up to temperature, during which time the heating elements are running steady.

After it is up to temp, it only cycles on about 2 minutes every 20 minutes.

Attachment not found.

The oven pulls 17 amps @ 240V, which is 4.0 kW. So for a 15 minute pre-heat it uses 1 kWh. If the cook time is 2 hours it will cycle on about a total of 12 minutes of run time during that 2 hours, which uses roughly another kWh.

If you ask me, the electric range is pretty darn efficient and hard to beat. Virtually every watt of energy you feed into it is converted to heat with virtually zero losses. Unlike gas cooking, which is less than 50% efficient.

Our range is a modern one, and it was expensive (slightly over $3,000). It is built by Electrolux and my wife imported it to the US from Sweden. Electrolux only had to change the transformer/power module in it that powers all the (DC) electronics and control circuits, and change the neutral/ground and wiring decal for US 240V 60Hz power. The heating elements in the convection oven and the Litz Coils in the induction cooktop that create the magnetic field in the cookware** don't care whether they're running on 230V/50Hz or 240V/60Hz.

**Edit: actually the Litz Coils create a magnetic field that in turn creates eddy currents in the cookware. It's the eddy currents in the cookware that heat it. So there is zero losses from heating a cooking vessel with conduction from a "burner" because the cooking vessel itself is what the heat is created in. The surface of the cooktop stays cold, and only warms up after awhile due to heat conducting from the cooking vessel to the cooktop.
--
Chris

Skippy · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Well, I went home last night and plugged in the MTO into the k.a.w meter. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then put in the 2 lb frozen lasagna. The package says to cook for 70 minutes OR till it reaches 160 F. Add 1 full hour to the 70 minute cook time, and it was pretty darn close to being done - 159 F or so. . . total energy usage for the 2 hours 10 min. of cooking 1.4 Kwh.

1 - 120 V toaster oven plug.

Start up = 1300 watts
intermittent = 800 watts

This unit is by no means air tight, as the front of the unit was wet (but not dripping) from the steam escaping around the edges. Its basicly 1/8 inch folded steel sheet - riveted at the edges to hold it together. So sorry - no boom

Its really good for melting the cheese on natchos too

What do you think ? Should I add this one to my signature as well ? It does save energy . . .

Oh, and chris - nice oven !

NorthGuy · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Skippy wrote: »

Add 1 full hour to the 70 minute cook time, and it was pretty darn close to being done - 159 F or so. . . total energy usage for the 2 hours 10 min. of cooking 1.4 Kwh.!

Did you measure the un-modified oven for the same lasagna with k.a.w? Wouldn't the increased cook time mean more energy used?

ChrisOlson · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

NorthGuy wrote: »

Did you measure the un-modified oven for the same lasagna with k.a.w? Wouldn't the increased cook time mean more energy used?

I sort of wonder about that too. If the cook time is 70 minutes our full-sized energy efficient range will use 1.46 kWh with the preheat time to 400 degrees. And to save energy it shuts itself off automatically 20 minutes prior to the set cook time to prevent the elements from cycling on the last time, and just uses the residual heat in the range to finish the cooking (plus prevents having your dinner charred to a crisp). If the temperature of the oven drops more than 10% from the set temperature during that last 20 minutes, it sounds an alarm to let the cook know that she should check the food in case it needs more time.
--
Chris

Photowhit · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Lots of "test Lasagnia" out there, I bet a lot of happy families...

I use to cook lasagnia all the time, It was an easy dry layup and when I had a large freezer I'd cook sauce and mix cheese and do 3 pyrex pans at a time, freezing 2. I found it took 1 and a half hour to cook a pan from the freezer, though I'd guess they went 3.5 lbs. I have some smaller pyrex pans coming and I'll try them in my toaster oven. I've been surprised how well and how efficently it works. I has a air circulation which will speed things up a bit.

I know glass will slow down cooking times in ovens, but I made the switch from plastic for storage and it very convienient for poping in the microwave. I'd do all rectangular if I could afford it, the use much less room in storage, unless you have round cabinets...lol.

Heres the sale at Amazom if anyone's interested.

WallyWorld has a nice collection of toaster oven sized pans for $20, well I went to find a link and it's no long quite as good a deal, mine came with 2 cake pans as well for the same $20, but I found it hard to find this size pans, so I'll post the link.

Skippy · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

NorthGuy wrote: »

Did you measure the un-modified oven for the same lasagna with k.a.w? Wouldn't the increased cook time mean more energy used?

At the time, I could not find a 120 V toaster oven that could hold a 2 lb. lasanga so I could not have my favourite food . I have not looked for one in a few years, but would imagine that a counter top unit would still not be able to hold a full sized cookie sheet - sized lasanga. So I built one.

I have cooked chicken legs in my - much smaller - toaster oven before, I guess I could do another test on the chicken legs, and see how much juice that takes and multiply by 2 or 3 since it would only be for about 45 minutes, not 2 hours.

ggunn · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Cariboocoot wrote: »

Yup. And if it can't vent enough it can go "boom".

The Great Lasagna Explosion of 2013...

NorthGuy · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Skippy wrote: »

I have cooked chicken legs in my - much smaller - toaster oven before, I guess I could do another test on the chicken legs, and see how much juice that takes and multiply by 2 or 3 since it would only be for about 45 minutes, not 2 hours.

That wouldn't be a fair comaparison. Small toaster will inherently need less heat, so you probably spend less energy in the small one anyway.

ChrisOlson · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

ggunn wrote: »

The Great Lasagna Explosion of 2013...

As long as you can scrape the fragments of the walls and eat it, all is not lost 8)
--
Chris

solarvic · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Criss, That one made me laugh and jogged my memmory about something that happened in my younger days. My wife and I run to the store and she left eggs boiling on the stove. Rge pan boiled dry and the eggs were on the ceiling when we come back!! solarvic

inetdog · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

solarvic wrote: »

Rge pan boiled dry and the eggs were on the ceiling when we come back!! solarvic

You get a similar effect, although not hitting the ceiling, if you try to microwave an egg in its shell without immersing it in water! Do not try this at home.

ChrisOlson · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

solarvic wrote: »

Criss, That one made me laugh and jogged my memmory about something that happened in my younger days. My wife and I run to the store and she left eggs boiling on the stove. Rge pan boiled dry and the eggs were on the ceiling when we come back!! solarvic

Ever seen them cardboard cans that biscuits come in, where you break the can open and the dough comes out, you put in on a pan and cook the biscuits in the oven? Well, my wife learned that I am not the one to trust when putting away groceries. How was I supposed to know that thing goes in the 'fridge? It looked like canned goods to me so I put it in the Lazy Susan.

The explosion in the middle of the night was pretty impressive

--
Chris

Ralph Day · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Who got to clean that little mess up Chris?

Ralph

ChrisOlson · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

Ralph Day wrote: »

Who got to clean that little mess up Chris?

Well, since my wife told me I can't read (where it says "Keep Refrigerated" on the container might have been the first clue) at least maybe I can scrape blown bread dough off everything in the Lazy Susan without screwing THAT up.

--
Chris

ggunn · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

On camping trips with the Boy Scouts, pranks were common. Boys will be boys, you know. One was to go into another campsite in the middle of the night when guys were asleep and a fire was still going, and toss a can of beans into their firepit. Of course, I never did that.

Skippy · February 2013

Re: mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

NorthGuy wrote: »

That wouldn't be a fair comaparison. Small toaster will inherently need less heat, so you probably spend less energy in the small one anyway.

Yup.

I cooked 2 meat pies in the toaster oven last night . You know the ones that say on the package (do not use in toaster oven )

. . and over 42 minutes of cook time, it used .30 kwh - so even if you multiplied by 3, the smaller - uninsulated oven uses less. I am learning to go by temperature, not time.

Good thing I haven't had to cook a Christmas turkey in the mega oven - yet .

It would fit in there though

mega toaster oven. . . experiment . . .

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