In spite of the fact that they needed 18 minutes to cook to a medium doneness, the burgers were more gray than brown, although they were moist and juicy. GearLab is founded on the principle hamilton beach toaster of honest, objective, reviews. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products.
But if you’re looking to do a lot of air frying in your toaster oven, you may want to check out our separate guide to air fryer toaster ovens. Like traditional ovens, many toaster ovens use convection heating or at least offer it as an option for baking. Other models make up for the lack of convection with multiple heating elements placed around the oven. They may use less energy, but if you’re buying with sustainability as a top priority, and you have the counter space, you should probably consider getting a toaster oven instead of a slot toaster.
When you want to make perfect toast, and plenty of it, it’s easy to toast six or more slices of bread at once in a toaster oven. But if more than just toast takes your fancy, all Hamilton Beach toaster ovens can bake and broil, and some have even more cooking functions, such as air frying and convection cooking. Bread toasted on the medium setting came out beautifully golden brown, without any scorching or charring. Other models we tested toasted bread unevenly, with extreme light and dark patches.
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.
For instance, our budget pick, the Hamilton Beach, has the same quartz elements as the Cuisinart Chef’s Convection Toaster Oven, which costs more than $200. And the Wolf Gourmet Countertop Oven we tested, which normally costs over $700, uses Calrod elements, which are typically found in cheaper models. So, it’s not always worth paying more for certain elements, as performance varies with every oven. High-end Hamilton Beach toaster ovens are priced between $100 and $170. These ovens are way more than just toaster ovens (though they can toast too), with options for convection cooking, air frying, and more, plus quality features like digital controls. We think it’s a great choice for people who are looking for a traditional toaster oven primarily to toast all kinds of bread, heat frozen pizzas, and air fry chicken nuggets or frozen fries for the kids.
Small toaster ovens are much lighter and easier to tuck away in a cupboard. Check the number of slices of bread your chosen toaster oven can handle at once. How well the toasters or toaster ovens produced a batch of even, medium-brown toast.
In addition to cooking functions, you should consider size and capacity to make sure it’s large enough to cook what you want to cook but also fits on your countertop. Also look for handy features like toaster slots or a roll-top door. The large size and roll-top door of this convection toaster oven earn it approval from our cooking and baking expert. While the Hamilton hamilton beach toaster oven Beach Air Fryer Sure Crisp Toaster Oven has a contemporary brushed chrome housing, it pretty much has the same design as toaster ovens from decades ago. It has a glass door with a small handle on top that opens downward and three dials that serve as controls. At just 9 x 18 x 14 inches, it easily fits under a cabinet and doesn’t take up excess countertop space.
The included rotisserie spit removal tool worked, but I felt it was a bit silly. In the end, I preferred to don my waterproof grill gloves and just reach in and grab the spit. The De’Longhi Livenza Digital Convection Oven did not toast evenly in our tests. It also had a difficult time maintaining its internal temperature (which fluctuated between 322 °F and 369 °F when set to 350 °F). We also ran a bonus round to evaluate how well each oven could crisp up the skin on chicken thighs—a very telling test, as very few models excelled at this task.
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. It also had a very noisy convection fan that sounded like it was struggling to operate with every rotation. Unlike our upgrade pick, the Cuisinart lacks a handy rack-position key on the oven door.