The Hamilton Beach Toastation is a fantastic, almost retro-looking dual toaster, killing two birds with one stone by acting as both a compact toaster and a mini oven. This 2-in-1 appliance comes in extremely handy in the kitchen in terms of space saving and usability, as it can sit neatly on the countertop and attend to most of your cooking needs. The Toastation is extremely easy to use, so whether you’re getting the morning toast ready or preparing your evening meal, this toaster oven can do both through the slide of a lever. Priced between $40 and $50, it’s also one of the more affordable toaster ovens available to buy, which is excellent news considering Hamilton Beach is a well-known and reliable brand in manufacturing small kitchen appliances.

The compact design of the Hamilton Beach Toastation makes it a popular model of toaster oven to buy because it can fit on the countertop of smaller kitchens and not take up all of the room. This toaster oven measures 17.4 x 10 x 9.3 inches and weighs just over 9.6 pounds, so it’s undoubtedly one of the smaller toaster ovens on the market. But don’t let that put you off, the small size of the Toastation makes it a perfect additional appliance to have, especially as you won’t need extra room for a regular toaster as this mini oven is efficient at toasting bread as well as cooking meals. Although the overall material is plastic, it’s incredibly durable, and the quality of the product is not compromised. The Toastation comes in a black finish, with retro-style dials and an old school feel about it. This Toastation is the 22708 model, which adopts the more old-fashioned look that many customers love.

The Hamilton Beach Toastation is powered by 1300 watts to bring you a powerful and robust appliance to help with your cooking needs. One of the great features it has is a power indicator light which, although a simple function, makes it so much easier to identify if the toaster oven is on or off. This can save you energy in the long run as many other toaster ovens don’t have this feature so you could have left it on for hours without even realizing! But that’s not the case with the Toastation as Hamilton Beach have taken this into account. Furthermore, this toaster oven comes with a top slot that can be used as a traditional 2-slice toaster. It’s a shame that it can only toast a maximum of 2 slices of bread at a time, but with such a compact frame this is the compromise. Having said that, the toasting option comes with a toast shade selector of up to 6 different shade settings, so you can toast the slices of toast exactly how you like them.

The way the dual function works on this toaster oven is by simply sliding a lever along on the top right-hand side of the front of the Toastation to change the service from either toasting or cooking. The oven setting gives you the flexibility to cook many different items of food such as pizzas, chicken nuggets or fries in a quick and efficient time. The toaster option has extra wide bread slots in order to fit items such as bagels and English muffins as well as regular sized bread slices. What’s more, when you’re finished toasting or cooking your food, the rack automatically slides out when the door is open to make it easier and safer for you to take your food out.

Usability is one of the main things Hamilton Beach focus on when selling appliances to their customers, so it’s no surprise this Toastation model is straightforward to use and familiarise yourself with. There are two dials on the front of the toaster oven, one is to select the shade of toast you want and the other is to adjust the temperature setting of the oven. The only thing to remember is to check which side the lever is on, as you’ll be disappointed if you try and cook something when it’s on the toaster setting! Although customers have stated that this is a very compact toaster oven, it does mean that it’s so much easier to clean. 

The removable oven rack and baking pan that are included in the purchase are both dishwasher safe, and the sleek exterior is easy to wipe clean. The Toastation also comes with a removable crumb tray which makes clean up less messy and more convenient. Although this toaster oven can only fit slices of pizza in as opposed to a full-sized pizza, it must be said that this toaster oven uses 73% less energy than a regular convection oven. So, while you can use your usual wall oven for more substantial meals, this is a handy tool to use if you require to cook a small amount of food quickly, saving you energy and money in the long run.

Overall, the Hamilton Beach Toastation is a useful and affordable toaster oven, with a cool design and durable quality. It’s an ideal space saver and with such a low price tag for a toaster oven, it’s an excellent investment. Although it’s not suitable for larger meals and probably wouldn’t be welcome in the morning food rush, it is a useful appliance if you need to cook snacks quickly without using as much energy as a regular oven. It comes with a 1-year warranty from Hamilton Beach which probably reflects their view that this is a toaster oven that has been built to last and fit perfectly into any sized kitchen. If you’re looking for a toaster oven that can save space and money at the same time, you’ve found it in the Hamilton Beach Toastation.