One of the ways to elevate toaster oven meals from the ordinary to the upscale is simply to choose bakeware that is attractive and functional, something just a little fancier than typical aluminum or glass. The following is a list of companies I have found that make unique cookware in sizes and shapes that work well in a toaster oven.
The Staub family has been making enameled cast-iron cookware in Alsace, France, for thirty years. Staub pieces are beautifully designed and practical. Aside from being finished with a unique matte-enamel finish that makes cleanup easy, Staub cast iron gives a beautiful golden crust to many of my favorite dishes. Many of the smaller dishes can go directly from the toaster oven to the table. I cannot recommend these attractive yet functional pieces of bakeware highly enough. The only caveat is that one must always handle cast iron carefully, being mindful that it gets mightily hot in the oven and can burn you badly if you are not paying attention. I would never let a child handle cast-iron cookware. Check the Staub USA website for more product information, photos, use, and care. My personal favorites are the small oval and round roasting pans.
Karen Tufty, owner of Tufty Ceramics and maker of Alfred Bakeware, began making ceramic bakeware in 1986 from red clay mined in upstate New York. It is called Alfred Bakeware after the town in which it is mined and made, as well as after Alfred University, in whose ceramics department the bakeware was first made.
The secret to Alfred Bakeware’s nonstick seal is not a glaze but rather a “terra sigillata” coating that simulates a process used by American Indians who burnished their unfired pottery by rubbing it with a stone. To produce the finish, crushed Alfred pottery is placed in a water formula to dissolve it, then it is sprayed back on the pottery surface, filling microscopic nooks and crannies and creating the bakeware’s ultrasmooth nonstick finish.
I love the look of these beautiful reddish clay pans and make constant use of the au gratin pan, square baking pan, quiche dish, and loaf pans (both mini and standard). Like the cast-iron cookware, the Alfred Bakeware makes a wonderful crust, especially on breads.
For more information about Alfred Bakeware see Tufty’s website:
Although the Le Creuset company is best known for its brightly colored, high-quality enameled cast-iron cookware, it also makes a line of brightly colored stoneware baking dishes, ramekins, custard cups, and individual soup crocks. Plenty of their pieces are small enough to fit in a toaster oven, and because they are available in designer kitchen colors, they can easily go from the toaster oven to the table.
I have made good use of their custard cups, soup crocks, ramekins, and au gratin dishes for desserts, custards, flan, scalloped potatoes, and casseroles.
Check out Le Creuset bakeware, both cast iron and stoneware, at their website:
Penzeys is my favorite for herbs and spices that I don’t grow in my own garden. Rapid turnover, wide selection, good quality products, delivery to my front door, and reasonable prices are the reasons I like to order from them.
The King Arthur Baker’s Catalogue is a very good source of not only flour, but also spices and other conventional and hard-to-find baking ingredients.