To see if this appliance is a worthwhile purchase, I put it to the test over the course of several weeks. I tested all seven of its browning options on standard white bread, and settings 6 and 7 performed nearly the same, leaving the bread crisp and brown but not charred or burnt. Like traditional ovens, many toaster ovens use convection heating or at least offer it as an option for baking.
If you look at the underside of the appliance, you’ll see that the cord actually starts at the front of the toaster. Because I wanted the cord to stick out the back of the appliance, I had to run it down the entire length of the unit, which left me with around 20 inches of cord to reach the plug. It’s a strange design choice if you ask me, and it forces you to keep the toaster fairly close to an outlet. Camryn Rabideau is a freelance writer and product reviewer. She’s an expert on all things home, including kitchen appliances, grills, and other cooking gadgets.
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There are four buttons on the front of this toaster, alongside its lever, and they are the Keep Warm, Bagel, Defrost, and Cancel settings. The Keep Warm option is the most unique, and it holds your food inside the toaster for 3 extra minutes after cooking (without over-browning it). I personally didn’t find much use for this setting, as I’m typically in the kitchen hamilton beach toaster oven while my food is toasting, but it might be handy if you tend to get ready as you cook breakfast. As you might imagine, an appliance that heats all these foods is going to get dirty. Luckily, most models are as easy to clean out as a traditional toaster, if not easier. There’s generally a tray at the bottom that catches crumbs, melted cheese or other debris.
Other models make up for the lack of convection with multiple heating elements placed around the oven. Easily toast artisan breads and bagels with this Hamilton Beach 2-slice toaster. Its wide slots are perfect for everything from this slices to small breads, waffles and English muffins. The other two settings—bagel and defrost—worked as expected. The bagel setting cooks just the inside of the bread, leaving the exterior warm but not overly crisp. The defrost setting helps to crisp up frozen foods, and I found that it was particularly useful when cooking frozen waffles.
Finally, there’s the cancel button, which just cancels the cycle—something usually achieved by lifting the toaster’s lever. We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.