The Hamilton Beach Countertop Oven With Convection and Rotisserie 31104D gives you plenty of room for baking, roasting, toasting, and more. It does eat quite a bit of counter space, but the rotisserie function makes it worth its real estate. You’ll need to wait until 2023 to buy or install a new electric oven, when the rebates (which will vary by state) go into effect. In the meantime, you may be pleasantly surprised by how much one of our larger picks (like the Cuisinart TOB-260N1 or the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro) can accomplish as a temporary replacement oven. The FlashXpress’s retro LED display looks more like a time bomb from a 1990s action thriller than a modern kitchen appliance (but we kind of love it).
And although the June is larger than most toaster ovens, its capacity is still limited compared with that of a full-size oven, especially if you plan to prepare food for four or more people. We like the Breville Air Fryer Pro’s sleek design and easy-to-navigate interface. The Breville also has a Phase Cook feature (similar to the Cuisinart’s Dual Cook Mode), which allows you to program two back-to-back cooking functions. Like the Cuisinart, the Breville’s rack glides out when you open the door so you don’t have to stick your hands deep into the oven cavity to retrieve your food.
Hooks on the door help eject the toaster’s wire rack, so you don’t have to reach your hand as far into the oven cavity to retrieve your food. The FlashXpress made crispy-yet-melty Bagel Bites that were more consistently browned from one edge of the pan to the other. Some ovens’ results weren’t dark enough; others were overdone or unevenly cooked. This was also one of the only models in this price range that could bake chicken thighs with a golden brown, crispy skin. Up against bigger, more expensive toaster ovens, the FlashXpress more than held its own. Some toaster ovens, like our budget pick, are equipped with only two heating elements.
Despite the lack of interior light, I was able to see through the glass to see my food cooking, although I would have appreciated a light for a better view. This is a fairly large oven that eats quite a bit of countertop space. We’ve read some user reviews regarding hamilton beach mixer food catching fire in this oven. Though we never experienced this in over two years of long-term testing, always be sure to place food at least an inch from the heating element. Also, clean the heating element and the bottom of the unit before operating.
The tray in the bottom of a Hamilton Beach toaster oven collects crumbs and other food debris to help prevent mess. You should empty this once every week or two depending on how frequently you use the appliance. It might seem like a hard task to find your perfect Hamilton Beach toaster oven, but we’ve done our research.
The biggest drawback to this model is the toast shade setting on the timer dial. You have to turn the knob past the 10-minute mark and then reverse it to the desired shade setting. However, it’s difficult hamilton beach toaster oven to determine exactly where the dial should be placed for your preferred toast shade. Eventually, we were able to find the sweet spot on the dial for our desired doneness, but it took multiple attempts.
Keep in mind this high-quality item is made of durable metal and is sold individually. As previously mentioned, the Easy Reach struggles to maintain temperature. During our tests, we strategically placed calibrated thermometers inside the oven.