All in all, these results made the Hamilton Beach’s temperature knob seem more like an on/off switch. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). The Calphalon Quartz Heat Countertop Toaster Oven didn’t toast as well as our picks and it didn’t evenly melt the cheese on bagel bites.
The Balmuda’s controls and capacity are also limited compared to our top picks. It offers just three temperature settings—350 °F, 400 °F, and 450 °F—plus four presets, and it can only fit two pieces of bread. The Balmuda has other design flaws (a flap on the door) and twee impracticalities (the easy-to-lose steam cup), and ultimately, we hamilton beach toaster oven found it to be just a snazzy-looking prototype at best. The KitchenAid KCO211BM Digital Countertop Toaster Oven didn’t toast as evenly as our picks, and several slices of bread were burned in patches on the bottom. The Cuisinart TOB-40 Custom Classic Toaster Oven Broiler is easy to use, but on its medium setting, bread became too dark.
We found that the displays on the pricier Cuisinart and Breville toaster ovens were easier to read. In every round of testing we conducted for this guide, we started by filling each toaster with as many slices of basic white bread as we could, then hamilton beach juicer set each machine to toast at medium shade. The results gave us a heat map of each oven, showing us how evenly each model toasted and whether there were any hot spots. How well the toasters or toaster ovens produced a range of light to dark toast.
However, in our research, we’ve found that toaster ovens have a longer life expectancy than slot toasters. If you don’t have room for both appliances in your kitchen, we’d recommend getting a toaster oven instead. It was the Hamilton Beach Toastation, a combination mini-oven and toaster. What made the Toastation unique is that it had a slot on top like a standard toaster but it was also a small oven that could bake or broil. It was easy to use, cooked evenly and quickly, saved on precious countertop space and it was a cute red color, so it added a little extra personality to my kitchen. Then one day that switch that flipped it from oven to toaster broke.
That’s because a toaster oven can fit more food at once, and in our experience it cooks more evenly. Its convection fan has two speeds, like the Cuisinart’s, but the high speed is slightly more powerful and can crisp up food faster. The Breville Pro is also a bit roomier—it can fit a 6-quart Lodge Dutch oven without a lid, or a 5.5-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven with a lid (the same Le Creuset can only fit in the Cuisinart without a lid). Just avoid using the lid if it has a non-metal knob that could be damaged by close contact with the heating elements (use foil to cover the pot instead).
To keep grease from dripping on the lower heating element, use foil and a pan underneath whatever you’re cooking. If grease splatters inside the oven, clean the interior according to the manufacturer’s instructions or refer to the care and maintenance section in our guide to the best air fryer toaster ovens. This model comes with the most basic accessories, including an oven rack, a baking pan, and a crumb tray. More-advanced digital models will alert you once the oven is preheated to a set temperature, but the Hamilton Beach lacks this feature.
If you’d like to air fry, but you just don’t have the space (or budget) for an air frying toaster oven, then a pod-shaped air fryer might be best for you. Because their small capacity keeps your food close to the fan and the heating elements, pod air fryers can make food even crispier, and often do so more quickly, than their toaster oven-shaped cousins. Their cooking baskets can also be a little safer or simpler to maneuver than a hot pan for children, new cooks, or those with mobility concerns.
It is an identical replacement for a missing or damaged rotisserie rod/fork that was included with a new unit. Please make sure to check the owners manual for the correct application of this component. Keep in mind this high-quality item is made of durable metal and is sold individually.
Convection mode uses a fan to circulate air during baking or roasting. The payment hamilton beach toaster oven for your account couldn’t be processed or you’ve canceled your account with us.
The quartz model costs about $25 more than the Calrod version (at the time of this publishing), but there wasn’t a huge difference in performance between the two. The underside of the toast we made was very uneven and patchy in the GE Quartz, while the GE Calrod toasted a bit more evenly. The cheese topping on Bagel Bites didn’t melt as evenly in these models as our picks, and the bottoms were burned. Also, the wide gaps on either side of the oven racks allowed bread to slip through the slots and onto the bottom of the oven cavity. Additionally, as a Japanese appliance, the Panasonic FlashXpress is designed around degrees Celsius for temperature input.