You’ll need to reduce the toast shade setting for each subsequent batch you make to prevent the bread from burning. This convection toaster oven has a slightly more powerful fan for air hamilton beach frying than the Cuisinart, plus convenient markings on the door and the easiest-to-clean interior. It also has additional settings for proofing bread, slow cooking, and dehydrating.
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 Cuisinart TOB-135 toasted hamilton beach toaster oven bread unevenly, and its temperature control was less consistent, so we dismissed it. Also, the FlashXpress has a somewhat flimsy, stamped-metal crumb tray (versus the sturdier trays that come with our other picks). After only a few cycles, the FlashXpress tray was already warped.
In fact, it received higher scores than some bigger, fancier models with double or triple the price tag. Coupled with a thirty minute timer, the toaster oven shuts itself off at the end of its cooking time. While wiping it clean was easy, I’d suggest being careful to not slop water or food into the convection fan’s vent holes in the oven.
The Zojirushi ET-WMC22 toasted so unevenly that the bread looked like someone with terrible aim had zapped it with a laser. The power cord protrudes from the bottom of the oven which can create some inconvenient bends. Nonetheless, roughly 35″ is plenty of cord length for household use. However, the oven doesn’t have a storage place for the cord. Our measurements of the oven’s footprint were 18.5″ x 15.56″ x 9.41″—marginally different from the manufacturer’s provided 18.74″ x 15.24″ x 9.41″. The crust had a golden color all the way through and the inside was still moist. If only the crust was a bit more crispy, it would’ve gotten higher than an 8/10.
The Cuisinart has four slots for the racks, with metal hooks that pull out the middle rack when the door is opened. It was one of the fastest models to preheat to 350 °F, taking just hamilton beach toaster oven over three minutes. Some toaster ovens (ones with convection technology, like our larger pick) can even work with air frying recipes, though that may require some adjustments.