Are you a pop-up toaster person or a toaster oven type of person? It’s actually often cause for debate in my house. I grew up with toaster ovens. They were a constant fixture in my house at breakfast time. From toasting bagels to reheating pizza, it had its’ place. When I got engaged, my grandmother bought me a simple pop-up toaster. I was pretty skeptical about it. My husband on the other hand, was firmly in the pop-up toaster camp. So we’ve lived with both kinds of toasters over the years.
So the fine folks at Hamilton Beach recently sent me this Easy Reach 4-Slice Toaster Oven to try out. I was definitely excited to check it out.
This unit has the traditional toaster oven features. You can time-cook it based on how well done you like your toast, you can set it on a timer set to temperature, or you can simply bake with it – set to a particular temperature. What’s different about this toaster is that it has a unique roll-top door to make it easier for you to take your food in and out of the oven without getting burned. The oven door really did open smoothly and it definitely allows better access to the food inside. It’s like a toaster garage!
When it came time to cook with it, I first surveyed my daughter as to what to cook and she suggested bagels. Well, I had to test it with something more than just bagels. The bagels did toast well – just how I like it, but I was curious as to how the baking feature worked.
I decided to bake some cookies in the oven. Sometimes I like to mix up some cookie dough ahead of time and then freeze it so I can bake as needed. I mean, who doesn’t love fresh baked cookies? Anyhow, I whipped up a batch of my favorite oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies. Don’t tell anyone my secret, but I have a special place in my heart for the oatmeal cookie recipe on the lid of the Quaker Oats can. Anyhow, I do a doctored up version of that recipe and it never fails.
I set the toaster oven to 350. It seemed to heat up very fast, which is great.
I scooped up the cookie dough on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet (which is included) and let it go.
The cookies cooked up nicely. I like to take them out a little earlier, since I like a chewier cookie.
Overall, I really like the way the toaster baked the cookies and toasted my daughter’s bagel. The only con I think of with this toaster is that I wish it had more space. Toaster ovens always seem to show what seems like big food items in their marketing photos. In this case, the box showed a pizza. Well, that must have been a personal sized pizza. But that’s ok. It’s a toaster oven. This is perfect for toasting your breakfast, heating up that leftover pizza and even the occasional small baking job.
Definitely worth checking out.
For a chance to get in on the toaster action, enter the giveaway below!
*Full disclosure: Hamilton Beach provided me with this toaster. All opinions are my own.
