Not perfect, but a good cross between toaster and oven

I've been a loyal user of the classic Block & Decker toaster oven for 30 years. But apparently toaster ovens are no longer allowed to have a push down lever that pops open when done toasting. Today's models have a knob that you have to turn and set every time.

I went on a long quest to find a toaster oven that operated more like a toaster. I admit that I tried and returned 3 models before settling on this Hamilton Beach toaster oven. Here's why this toaster oven is a keeper:

- You can operate in either oven or toast mode; the top half of the appliance has a toaster opening while a small oven with a glass door occupies the bottom half. The toaster opening closes when a lever is switched from toast to oven mode. One dial sets the oven temperature, and the second dial sets the doneness for the toaster. A lever on the right side of the oven is used to push the toast down when in toast mode.

- The oven has a small footprint because it is less than a 4-slice toaster oven. I discovered that 6-slice toaster ovens are like having a small microwave on your counter, which is way too much space to occupy.

- It has a removable crumb tray. One thing I hated about my classic B&D oven was that it was so hard to clean because its crumb tray was not removable.

- It has 4 evenly spaced glass heating elements, which makes the oven heat up quickly and evenly. Speed is another reason why I wanted a smaller oven.

- And finally, the best thing about this oven is that it made nice toast in short time. Evenly browned on all sides, frozen waffle or plain bread.


However, there are a couple of problems with this oven:

- The oven part is on the small side 6"D x 10"W x2.25"H. You can't put a fat croissant or large TV dinners in this one.

- The toaster opening is 1"D x 9.5"W x 4"H so that you can fit bagels in it. But if you put in a pop-tart, it is going to warp and not stay flat. So the manual says to cook pop-tarts in the oven at 325.

- A lot of toaster ovens have built-in timers, but this one does not.

- It comes with a 6x10 aluminum tray for baking. You cannot broil in this oven.


I settled on this toaster oven because I already had a microwave-convection oven on my counter, and I just wanted something to quickly toast as well as heat small items. It's not perfect, and we'll see how long it lasts, but I think it is well designed to do these two things I needed.