Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 22708 Toastation 2-Slice Toaster and Mini Oven, Black

5 star:		(129)
4 star:		(94)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(39)
1 star:		(76)

 

 

When our beloved 30 year old (from dorm days!) toaster oven died, we thought we'd go buy one just like it -- basic, small, good at toasting, yet usable as a small oven. Alas, nobody seemed to make anything like it. They tended to be larger, and didn't do a good job toasting bread.

After reading lost of discouraging reviews and trying a couple of toaster ovens, we had just about given up, when we saw the Toastation. What a great little unit! Makes great toast, nice and fast like a toaster should (through a slot in the top). Then flip a switch, and the top slot closes and it turns into a nice little oven.

It doesn't hog the whole counter (outside dimensions: 15" wide, 7 1/2 deep, and 8 high). The inside of the oven is small (6 1/2" deep by 10 1/2" wide by 2" high), so don't plan on baking pizza in it.

Yes, it works perfectly.

Provided you correct for a small physics and engineering problem in the design.

This toaster/toaster oven is designed so that the wide opening for toasting bagels, english muffins, and fat waffles or bread has a sliding cover that moves into place with the flip of a lever. Once the cover is in place, all the heating upper elements are reflected downward toward the little toaster oven (6" x 9" max -- with a pan included). The lower heating elements then toast or heat from the bottom.

Which is a great idea. Better to use the appliance that is the right size for the job, rather than heating a large oven for a small snack and wasting all that energy.

However --

The metal plate that slides across the bagel toaster opening is just a thin piece of metal with no seals of any kind -- so if left just closed, half the heat (or more) inside the toaster oven pours out the top, around the edges of the thin metal plate (heat rises -- right?)

To compensate for this loss of heat, the heating elements stay on ALL THE TIME and thus burn whatever pizza slices, cookies, or toasted cheese happens to be there.

BUT this is EASY TO FIX!

How do you stop heat from escaping through an unsealed barrier? You seal it! Not with grout or putty or styrofoam, or pink fiberglass -- just lay several regular sized pot holders over the bagel-toaster opening! Anything that is safe near heat will do. A silicone cake pan. A couple of damp (but not wet) kitchen cloths or sponges. My pot holders are thick terry and they worked perfectly.

As soon as I insulated the top of the toaster against heat loss -- the heating element worked efficiently and came on only occasionally to keep the temperature up. (as oppsed to running non-stop if the top was left not insulated.)

This is a small bit of on-the-fly rigging to correct for what the toaster's designers couldn't manage to figure out.

All that said, this is the first toaster I've ever used daily in 50 odd years -- because it's the right size for the job.

Nice size, fits in the same space as most 4 slicers, but, you won't be able to do more than two slices at a time. Oven too is small, but, works well for crisping up smaller things and heating things like danish. It uses tubes rather than heated coils and seems more effective. Probs - for one, it is very difficult to release if you need to get something out of the toaster in a hurry; which you will the first few times you use it. Pulling up on the handle is a difficult feat,the only way to release, and, once done it will shoot your toast across the room. Secondly, the design makes it a crumb catcher. It comes with a catch tray, but, everything must go through the bottom heating element and its cover before it get there. It sticks to the element and burns. On the top where the slices go in - there is a trim ring that has a slight recess all the way around it. Bad - bad bit of engineering - it is constantly full of crumbs. You will need to either vacuum it or tip the whole thing upside down to get it clean. It is compact, but, really too big to tip over and shake in the sink to clean.

Some more thought in the design and they could have a nice item.

We are very high tech about many of our gadgets, but decidely low tech about things like toasters. Our small oven needs include making toast, heating up items that are not microwave friendly, and doing some baking of items like fresh fish fillets. We also wanted to conserve on countertop space. Many of the toaster ovens on the market now seem to be built for cooking small turkeys and are sized for MacMansions.

When we ran across this little gem were stopped in our tracks - small footprint, slot in the top for toast, oven space for our wild salmon, and it's also very attractive looking (more so than the picture). We bought it, we love it.

Let's say you want to toast a bagel or half a baguette in the bottom section. You can, but you have to sit in front of the thing and watch it, because the toast selection knob only applies to the top section. So on the bottom section, you have to turn it on and off manually.

Or let's say you put bread in the top section and it comes out not quite brown enough, so you push it down a second time, and then you need to stop it before it completes its cycle...if you manually pull the toast up, it flies across the room like in old cartoons. It's not a problem when the toast pops up on its own, but it is if you have to manually pull it up.

Cute concept, but it needs some work.

Didn't think it was possible to get a machine that can toast and warms/cooks and do both well. The unit has a slot on the top, so if you want to do convetional toast, you stick the pieces in the slot and toast away. If you want to heat a croissant or a danish, then you slide the button to cook, the upper slot closes and you can put the item on the oven tray and heat. The oven tray is narrow but perfect for heating breakfast type items. I cooked a frozen piece of pizza just fine. The unit is smaller than a toaster and a toaster oven. It does not give the appearance of any great quality but it does work excatly the way you want it. Its perfect.

Pros: It toasts really fast--2 minutes--better than any other toaster oven. It has a small footprint.

Major con: Breads do not go in deep enough. The tops of my normal-sized bread slices were sticking out. When the toast was done, the top portions were soft and untoasted.

I'm on Amazon right now looking for a replacement for this junk. It burns almost everything you put in it, largely due to it's inability to toast evenly, you'll end up with a burnt line on a piece of toast everytime. I believe Consumer Reports also singled this toaster out as the only one to avoid in their test group. Stay away!

We've had this toaster oven for about a year. It will be replaced in the next couple of days as frustration finally overcame apathy. Frustration to the point of scheduling quality time with my 10-lb sledge hammer.

I don't think I can say anything that hasn't been said before but in summary (from most serious to least serious but still irritating):

1) Heating quite uneven such that some areas will blacken within an inch of areas barely warmed.
2) Certain items will get folded up in toaster mechanism. Sometimes you can shake them loose into the oven pan; other times require extraction in pieces.
3) Crumbs and other drippings tend to land in places that will carbonize quickly hence this appliance ends up smoking more than others I have used over the years.
4) Toaster spring release set so tight that popping toast prematurely will shoot it clear out of the toaster ala sitcom-style.
5) The oven pan doesn't fit all that well in the oven. It doesn't slide out nicely when the door is opened.

I can honestly say this is the worst toaster oven I have even had the opportunity to use on a regular basis. That it took us this long to replace it is a testament to our tolerance (or laziness).

I'm amazed to read good reviews about this toaster. My husband and I both hate it! It toasts very slowy, and unevenly (tends to be very dark on the bottom and light or uncooked in the middle) and the "oven" part is too small to heat even a small loaf of french bread. The profile is wonderful.. it looks great on the counter but it is a waste of money! I will be putting mine in next year's yard sale.