Hamilton Beach 4-Slice Toaster Oven vs Breville Smart Oven

I bought this toaster oven in October 2019 to replace a nice Cuisinart toaster oven whose bottom element had warped and eventually, literally, flamed out after three years of everyday use. My criteria for its replacement were pretty basic: cheap, easy to use and clean, fairly small, attractive and stainless steel exterior. This toaster oven seemed to check all those boxes so I purchased it, $48.99 at the time

As a single person, the Breville toaster oven is a great buy for me. I bake my bread and pizza in there, and haven't used my regular oven for years.

even if sold separately. I am tempted to cut off those wire drip tray hangers and use the shelf as years of design have proved useful. But on this model the lower tray setting is limited. Flip it over and it should be fine for baking at medium temps but those wires to hold the drip tray get in the way

. There is a design flaw in this oven that puts one at a huge disadvantage if placed on a higher shelf, which I initially did, above my microwave. The door opens top to bottom

I replaced my convection oven with this out of curiosity to see how it would compare...convection ovens are claimed to heat better and faster

I don't normally review purchases, but the stated interior dimensions are so wrong that I thought I should as a service to others. The Breville Smart Oven I just purchased arrived on time, undamaged, and ran through one heating cycle perfectly. Quality appears good relative to price. Time will tell how well it performs on different foods and through the years

Pay attention to the measurements. I purposely purchased this one for the small/compact size.

Can anybody recommend an air fryer toaster oven that is fast like an air fryer basket but big enough to toast at least two pieces of bread?

I've used the broiler. It works great. I've baked a couple of things. That worked fine

I don't use a veggie steamer or griddle pan ever. I have tried and hated crock pots and instant pots - it just makes all food mushy to me but I also don't eat meat. I prefer to make everything on my stove top.

This is a small toaster oven. Has all the features my older bigger one had except the door doesnt stay open partially which I miss and one thing all toaster oven seem to have what I wish it did was a stopper for the tray when you pull it out. Like a regular oven. Always have to be careful not to pull it all the way out

It all feels so substantial! The little details are abounding. The base is super skid proof. The rack at level: 3/4 will automatically come out when the door is opened (via magnets) You can adjust the sound/volume of the beep/alerts and even turn the beeps off if you wish. Things are marked for you on the glass door what tray level is best for what task

This is the second time I'm purchasing this product. The first time was 3 or 4 years ago. I was as much motivated by its price as its size (for the space in which it would be stored). I was very happy with the oven space and how it performed

Now I read all the reviews and this was consumer reports rated best toaster oven so we could possibly have just a model that went bad, but dealing with the company’s product support policies, it makes me feel like a misplaced $400 purchase. We use our toaster oven in place of an oven, we use it to toast, broil, bake, air fry. We have use this toaster oven for almost all our cooking needs, and gradually over one year of ownership, as you can see in the pictures, the toaster oven cooking unevenly. I called Breville’s product support, very nice employee, but could tell by the one hour hold time that their customer support is not getting any support themselves from the company