However, when you open the oven door, you’ll find the rack position numbers printed on the side of the oven. But you’ll still have to consult the user manual to know where the racks should be placed for each cooking function, which is a little inconvenient. We also used an AI-powered analysis tool to scan 6,500-plus customer reviews across nine toaster ovens to identify what made some models better or worse than others. A large toaster oven that also works as an easy-to-clean rotisserie oven; earns our expert’s approval.
The inexpensive Hamilton Beach 4-Slice Toaster Oven toasted bread better than any other oven under $100. This no-frills model lacks many of the features included in our other picks—such as digital controls and preset cooking features—but it heats evenly. The Hamilton Beach’s humble size makes it ideal for kitchens with limited counter space, but it’s still large enough to fit four slices of bread. This toaster oven runs cooler than other models we tested, so you’ll need to increase the temperature by about 25 degrees when baking or roasting.
The June Oven is a smart countertop model with an internal camera, a built-in probe thermometer (which estimates when your food will be cooked through), and several pre-programmed cooking functions. The HD camera can recognize certain ingredients, automatically prompting the interface to recommend corresponding cooking programs. Plus, a Wi-Fi connection allows you to use an app to monitor your food with the camera and control the oven from anywhere in your home—or even miles away. Despite all these features, we were disappointed with the June’s performance, especially given its high price. We wish it had additional cooking programs and that the recipes were more enticing and better written.
We toasted just one slice of large white bread in each model, aiming for medium brown toast. Owner satisfaction ratings are based on the proportion of members who are extremely likely to recommend their toaster oven brand to their friends and family. The removable accessories were as easy to wash as most bakeware I have, which is good because hand washing is recommended to preserve the longevity of the items. At worst, when a bit of cheese crusted onto a rack, I let it soak for a minute or two before using a scrubbie sponge to finish the job.
We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that’s designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. We may get a small share of the sale should you buy something through our recommendation links. I enjoyed the Hamilton Beach Countertop Oven With Convection and Rotisserie (model number 31104D) and had good results with the recipes I made.
The top elements are at the very front and back of the oven, so I was surprised at how evenly my open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches cooked when I set the oven to broil. I was also pleased when I used the broil setting to sauce and broil some ribs I had cooked the previous day. The broiler isn’t hamilton beach mixer super-fast or powerful, though, so it’s not the perfect replacement for the broiler in a standard oven. The oven’s door has a large, thick, wide handle that helps to keep hands away from the glass when the glass becomes hot from use, with enough space to wear an oven mitt when opening it.