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. Similar to many other small toaster ovens, including the Comfee CFO-BB101, the Mueller lacks a convection fan and an interior light. In addition, it only has two heating elements which can usually lead to uneven heat distribution compared to four or more heating elements. However, you won’t get the stellar performance and extra features that you find on the more expensive models.
We measured the cooking chamber volume to be around 12.81 liters, slightly different than the manufacturer’s provided capacity of 11.67 liters. Different from most other toaster ovens, the Mueller’s Bake function only uses the lower heating elements as opposed to lower and upper. For our Toast test, we started off by trying the Medium Toast setting which was around 3 minutes 5 seconds on the timer. The four pieces of bread on the upper tray level came out only lightly toasted on top except for one golden brown piece. We then cranked it up to the Dark Toast setting—around 4 minutes 50 seconds on the timer—which, unfortunately, burnt the toast a bit. In terms of design score, the two toaster ovens are quite equal.
It also comes with an air fry/dehydrate basket rack and a broiling rack that fits inside its enamel roasting pan. But we still prefer the Cuisinart’s ceramic pizza stone over the Breville’s nonstick pizza pan (though Breville does sell a pizza stone separately for around $30). For the past two years, two Wirecutter employees have used the Hamilton Beach for basic tasks like making toast, reheating pizza, and baking frozen snacks. One of our testers initially tried toasting bread in the baking pan, which only browned the top of the bread. As with all models, you want to remove the pan and toast bread directly on the oven rack.
The toaster oven has a timer which I can set at the my desire time and it also has a auto shutoff I can set just in case I leave the house and I am not able to turn it off myself. The toaster oven comes with a slide out tray, bake pan and a broil grid. Each of these items are easy to take out of hamilton beach the oven and it is easy to wash and clean. It is very easy to use, I just turn it on to my desire temperature and set the time I want it to last for. The oven looks pretty simple but to me that it is not a negative. Safety
Has been safe to use for me.
Ease of Cleaning
Pretty simple to clean.
A large toaster oven that also works as an easy-to-clean rotisserie oven; earns our expert’s approval. While a yellow cake baked up moist and tender in the recommended time, it didn’t rise very high and the top crust was quite dark and unevenly colored. If dual functionality, hamilton beach space-saving design and ease of use are your top criteria for countertop appliances, then take a look at this combination mini oven and toaster. Toaster ovens by Hamilton Beach only take up a small amount of counter space and have a variety of uses.
Inside the box are also a user manual and a simple recipe booklet. Nonetheless, our chef decided to stop the roasting as the color wouldn’t improve anyway and to avoid overcooking the meat. This cooking time was the equivalent of a 6/10 according to our data. It’s important to think about both the internal and external size of any toaster oven you’re considering. We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that’s designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space.
After the first 40 minutes, we flipped the chicken to find out that parts of the skin on the back got stuck to the baking pan. Then, when we reinsert the pan, the same problem with the breast happened to the back. 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. If you want a simple toaster oven with a couple of nice conveniences, consider this compact model.
The process of cleaning this oven is pretty much the same as cleaning a regular oven, albeit a bit easier, since I had it on a countertop and could turn it as I needed. The worst mess I made was when a wily pizza eluded my grasp, bounced off the back wall, and spewed toppings onto the floor of the oven. The crumb tray caught most of the mess, and the walls wiped clean with no fuss, thanks to the nonstick coating inside the oven.
It has a coating but is not completely non-stick so you may need to watch out for some stubborn stains after a hefty roast. Our measurements of the oven’s footprint were 14.96″ x 11.61″ x 8.86″ which pretty much coincided with the manufacturer’s 14.84″ x 11.85″ x 8.86″. However, the weight of the oven by itself was already 9 lbs whereas the label said the entire box was 7.63 lbs. The oven has a cool-touch door handle and back buffers to prevent it from being too close to the wall. The meat was acceptable in terms of texture and juiciness, but didn’t stand out as remarkable.