Mueller 4 Slice vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Mueller 4 Slice vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Toaster Oven. Our best-value small toaster oven put up a good fight but couldn’t measure up to our best large pick.
Specifications
Design
The Mueller has a standard design for a small oven which further highlights its detachable crumb tray. Its quartz heating elements can be another factor worth considering if you’re into energy efficiency.
The Ninja DT201 shows a high build quality in all of its design features from the exterior and interior to the included accessories. What stood out to us the most was the powerful convection system and the number of heating elements. We couldn’t confirm the accuracy of the Ninja’s claim that it had ‘up to ten times the convection power’ of a traditional full-size convection oven, though.
Usability Comparison
Similar to most small toaster ovens, the Mueller is easy to operate but not the most convenient to use. For instance, the control panel has a lot of room for errors and the oven’s interior doesn’t have a non-stick coating for easy cleaning.
The straightforward control panel on the Ninja DT201 allowed for easy adjusting and readjusting of the cooking settings. Moreover, the informative display combined with distinguished buttons removed all of the guesswork when it came to operating the oven.
The oven’s practical cooking functions shined all the more in combination with the 2-level even cooking feature. The oven’s interior could be improved with a coating for easier cleaning, though.
Performance Test
The Mueller showed its strength in heat distribution with its score in toasting bread, baking pizza, and roasting a whole chicken. However, baking french fries showed its weakness of low power draw which is common in small toaster ovens.
The Ninja DT201 performed differently on each of our tests but even at its worst, it still gave good results. We were most impressed with the oven’s ability to quickly reach and maintain its temperature despite the large cooking chamber. This could be attributed to the oven’s high power output, powerful convection system, and a total of 5 heating elements.
With these factors, you don’t even need to turn food during cooking, especially if you incorporate the air fryer basket. Interestingly, this was one of the few units where we felt increasing the food amounts would lead to even better results.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Lightweight and small size
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Quartz heating elements have safeguards
- Energy-saving
- Straightforward and informative control panel
- Tailored cooking functions
- Family-sized capacity
- Tray-level suggestions
- Sturdy construction
- Well-designed accessories
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Faulty interior light upon received
Conclusion
The Mueller 4 Slice Toaster Oven (MT-175) put up quite a good fight versus the Ninja Foodi XL Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven (DT201). We chose it as our best-value small pick for its performance in correlation to its cheap price, and not the number of design and usability features it has like with other toaster ovens. That being said, it still needs a lot more to measure up to our best large pick—the Foodie XL Pro.
The Mueller’s analog control dials are quite precise but not to the level of the Ninja. The Ninja’s control panel is one of the most excellent in our line-up, having an informative digital display, precise timer and temperature control, and handy toggle switches.
The Mueller’s detachable crumb tray is always a nice feature to have in a small unit that makes it easy to clean the inside. The large cooking chamber of the Ninja, however, allows you to simply reach in and comfortably clean.
Performance-wise, the Mueller has really good scores—the highest in all of our small toaster ovens—just not the best like the Ninja’s. Moreover, the result of its fries test showed some common weaknesses of small models—low power output and no convection system.
Surprisingly, the Mueller scored higher than the Ninja in baking pizza. However, the cooking time wasn’t as fast and the Ninja could have performed better on a fresh pizza.
Behind the Comparison
Alan Nguyen is a writer and product reviewer at HealthyKitchen101. His major in English language teaching taught him to present concise information. In addition to his cooking hobby, he values the practical aspects of household appliances.
Tuyet Pham is an award-winning Saigonese chef passionate about delicious and healthful foods. At HealthyKitchen101, she develops recipes and collaborates with our Research, Testing, and Review lab to evaluate the performance of cooking appliances. Her assessments add a strong authoritative voice to our product scoring process.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
