The bake and broil functions will be all you need if you know your way around the kitchen. The temperature knob also includes a Min setting which, at 100°F, can act as a ‘keep warm’ option. However, the chicken’s hamilton beach air fryer internal temperature was 185°F-192°F, higher than the USDA recommended 165°F-180°F. When we slid the pan in, the top of the chicken breast grazed the upper heating element’s guard and was seared.
Roll-top door makes it easy to clean, reach, or quickly transfer hot food. 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. The GE Quartz Convection Toaster Oven and the GE Calrod Convection Toaster Oven are identical, except that one has quartz heating elements and the other has Calrod heating elements. 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 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 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.
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.
We felt that the larger size would save on heating up the big oven for some smaller side dishes. While the timer is loud, you get used to it like everything else and it’s really nice to have a built-in timer aside from our oven timer. This oven is not “intuitive”; it definitely takes some getting used to.
The first batch of toast was crispy on the outside while still soft and moist on the inside, so we gave it an 8/10 for taste. Our head chef, Tuyet Pham, said it would go very well with everything including sandwiches, soup, omelets, and eggs benedict. Also keep in mind, some products may only be available in our stores, not online. A. Toaster ovens are no less safe than regular ovens, especially when you buy from a reputable manufacturer like Hamilton Beach. Of course, you should always read the manual before use and adhere to any safety guidelines contained within. Along with our in-house experts, our team analyzes thousands of product reviews from the most trusted websites.
It fits perfectly with the guide to help prevent accidents when placing your food in the oven. The Toast function is where both the lower and upper heating elements work. Nonetheless, the oven still provides all the basic functions for its intended purposes. Aside from the Hamilton Beach oven itself, the box also contained a baking pan, a baking rack, a removable crumb tray, and a basic user manual. The Mueller 4 Slice and the Hamilton Beach 31127D 6 Slice are both conventional, analog toaster ovens. Considering their difference in size, it’s quite impressive that the Mueller only loses out in its overall score to the Hamilton ever so slightly.
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. Generous size can hold 6 slices of toast, a 9 x 11-inch baking pan, or even a 12-inch pizza.
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.
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.