After setting the desired temperature, we allowed the oven to preheat and then checked the temperature at timed intervals. The Panasonic FlashXpress’ well-calibrated dark toast setting delivered a proper dark without burning the bread. While there are a few cons to this particular toaster oven, over all the Hamilton Beach Easy Reach Six Slice Toaster Oven is a great deal. If you’re looking for accessories to go with your toaster oven, see my recent Toaster Oven Accessory Buying Guide. One awesome feature to this toaster oven is the auto-shut off.
If you’re looking for a second oven, it’s not the one to choose as it doesn’t do a good job on baked goods and can’t accommodate a whole chicken. To get the complete lowdown, here’s our full Hamilton Beach Air Fryer Sure Crisp Toaster Oven review. Some higher-end s have a roll-top door. This opens upward and rolls over the top of the unit rather than opening outward and potentially getting in your way or taking up counter space. You’ll want to think carefully before buying your new toaster oven to make sure it has all the features you need.
While all of the ovens produced meat pies that were hot in the center, the least outer browning came from the Hamilton Beach toaster and Oster. Not surprising, considering both ovens both ran cool in the temperature consistency and accuracy test. The Comfee was fairly accurate too, although it ran an average of 22 degrees hotter than the temp I set it for. In terms of pure speed, the infrared Panasonic was the fastest, living up to its FlashXpress nickname. The Balmuda also toasted four slices in under three minutes, while the Breville Mini Smart oven did it in three. The slowest was the clunky Oster, which took well over six minutes to hit medium, followed by the GE, which took nearly five minutes and was still underdone.
This is where the Russet Potatoes shine, you get that crispy skin and the perfect fluffy potato inside due to the lower moisture and higher starch. We do not recommend using waxy potatoes, these are best for roasting and boiling. The baking tray that comes with the Panasonic FlashXpress was much easier to clean than the one that accompanies the Hamilton Beach.
The toasting controls can be hard to figure out to avoid burning your toast. On bright side, once we learned the subtleties of this oven, we were consistently able to produce frozen meals that were acceptably cooked. We simply had to wait a little longer than the directions suggested.
My biggest complaint with this toaster is the rack placement. The tray is able to slide in either near the top or the bottom but not in the center of the oven, which does cause some top-to-bottom hamilton beach toaster oven unevenness, but it wasn’t enough to really bother me. But if you need something fast and don’t want to spend much, the small yet mighty Comfee is a solid budget toaster option.