bluedot-79's Full Review: Hamilton Beach 22708 Toaster Oven
Okay. It's true. I am a sucker for kitchen gadgets and small appliances. And, when I saw this oh-so-cute little toaster oven/pop-up toaster, there was no way I was passing it up...especially since my previous toaster oven was on it's last legs. The fact that it came in red (to match my kitchen) just sealed the deal!
What's in the box:
*The Toaster/Oven Combo Appliance
*A small baking sheet for the oven
*A crumb tray
*Manual and Instructions
General Use:
This toaster has two functions, the pop up toaster function and the mini-oven function. However, these cannot both be used at the same time. To switch between the two functions, you will have to slide a lever on the front of the appliance. When you choose the "oven" function, there will be a seal that covers the toast slots on the top of the machine. The crumb tray is easily removable for cleaning.
The Pop-Up Toaster:
As I mentioned above, to use the pop-up toaster on this appliance, you simply slide the lever to the "toast" option. There is a single extra-wide slot on the top of the machine which fits two slices of toast.
Texas toast and bagels will fit in the slot just fine...unless your bagel shop makes really fat bagels. You never know with my shop and I've had an occasional bagel get stuck, but it hasn't really been a problem so far.
The lower knob on the front of the appliance allows you to choose from six levels of lightness/darkness. It has been my experience that these levels are a little more on the light side, which is perfect for me since I hate dark toast.
The mini-oven:
The mini-oven is exactly that: mini. It comes with a tray, but, again, it is very small. I think that maybe you could fit one Hot-Pocket sized item in there, or possibly two bagel halves. So, don't expect to really get a lot of use out of the oven. This is something that might work well for a dorm student, but that's about it.
The oven heats to 450 degrees and you can adjust the temperature using the top knob on the front of the appliance.
What I like about this toaster:
Like I said before, it's really cute. In addition, I love that you can get a multi-function machine at a really cheap price. I also like that it has the safety cover over the toaster slot when it's not in use. And, I am thrilled that the crumb tray is easy to empty and clean. All that, and it doesn't look or feel cheaply made.
What I don't like about this toaster:
It's pretty small. Like I said before, the oven especially is fine if you're feeding one, but if you have a family, it's not going to work very well.
Overall Thoughts:
I think the price and the cuteness factor are in line with what I needed. Sure, it's not going to feed a family of four, but why would you be using the toaster oven for cooking a family meal anyway? It's nicely made, looks good in my kitchen, and is easy to clean. What's not to love about that?
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