A classic stainless 2-slice toaster is among the handiest countertop appliances you could invest in. Target’s Cuisinart range has just about all varieties to get you the toast experience you’re looking for. Check out the collection and bring home a great breakfast buddy. I regularly use a toaster to make breakfast foods, including bagels, frozen waffles, and toaster pastries, so I was able to put the Hamilton Beach Toaster through its paces. The appliance offers seven doneness settings, and after the first two or three uses, I quickly found that setting 5 was the best option for me—it crisps and browns the bread nicely without burning.
Just toast a couple of slices of bread or bagels, top ’em up with spreads and you’re good to go. Get the perfect toasting machine with Target’s wide range of toasters in all kinds of styles & designs. Be it 2-slice toasters, 4-slice toasters or 6+ slice ones, find it all and more in great quality. Pick from trusted brands like Cuisinart, Oster, Sunbeam, KitchenAid and lots more.
Its convection heating makes for evenly browned bagels or muffins. It fits easily on any countertop, with a long cord that increases your options for placement. Second, the brand claims that the slots on this toaster are extra-wide, but they don’t look noticeably different from a standard toaster, in my opinion.
It has two slots to hold your bread, a push-down lever to start the appliance, and a dial to select a brownness level. The whole appliance is fairly compact, measuring roughly 11 x 7.5 x 7.5 inches. It’s compact enough to store in a cupboard if desired, but I simply opted to leave it on the counter for a few weeks during testing, as it doesn’t take up too much space. How well the toasters or toaster ovens produced both very light toast and very dark toast. Hamilton Beach’s Easy Reach Toaster Oven has a roomy interior, making it especially well-suited for warming up multiple snacks or cooking pizzas (up to 12 inches).
Need your snacks warmed up quickly, but hate that microwave sogginess? Need your potatoes, pies or side dishes baked while your main course is taking up the oven? The toaster oven is a perfect solution, and it does all that while using less power. The Hamilton Beach Toaster has a stainless steel body with gray plastic trim around the edges. The design is plain, but I did notice that the metal picks up fingerprint smudges quite easily—there were marks on the shiny metal just from me taking it out of the box. If you like your stainless steel appliances to look pristine and spotless, this toaster might prove to be a bit burdensome.
I tested all seven of its browning options on standard white bread, all leaving the bread crisp and brown but not charred or burnt. Some toasters housing are all plastic, some are all metal or a combination of the two. The toaster also allows you to push its lever up to raise the slots, which makes it significantly easier to grab smaller items without the risk of burning your fingers. The Hamilton Beach 2-Slice Toaster is pretty average as appliances go.
There are four buttons on the front of this toaster, alongside its lever, and they are the Keep Warm, Bagel, Defrost, and Cancel settings. The Keep Warm option is the most unique, and it holds your food inside the toaster for 3 extra minutes after cooking (without over-browning it). I personally didn’t find much use for this setting, as I’m typically in the kitchen while my food is toasting, but it might be handy if you tend to get ready as you cook breakfast. As you might imagine, an appliance that heats all these foods is going to get dirty. Luckily, most models are as easy to clean out as a traditional toaster, if not easier. There’s generally a tray at the bottom that catches crumbs, melted cheese or other debris.
Other models make up for the lack of convection with multiple heating elements placed around the oven. Easily toast artisan breads and bagels with this Hamilton Beach 2-slice toaster. Its wide slots are perfect for everything from this slices to small breads, waffles and English muffins. hamilton beach toaster The other two settings—bagel and defrost—worked as expected. The bagel setting cooks just the inside of the bread, leaving the exterior warm but not overly crisp. The defrost setting helps to crisp up frozen foods, and I found that it was particularly useful when cooking frozen waffles.
To that end, I wouldn’t buy this toaster based on that claim alone. This is an authentic manufacturer-sourced part which is specially designed for use with Hamilton Beach countertop ovens. It is an identical replacement for a missing or damaged rotisserie rod/fork that was included with a new unit. Please make sure to check the owners manual for the correct application of this component.