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Hamilton Beach 31401 Countertop vs Cuisinart TOB-40N Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison

Overall Verdict
Between the two toaster ovens, the Hamilton Beach 31401 is the winner at making toast. However, the Cuisinart TOB-40N claims victory in baking pizza and roasting a whole chicken. Neither has a convection system, so uneven coloration on the food was a shared weakness between them.
The Hamilton is a small toaster oven with only two heating elements. It draws just 1200 watts, which may help you save energy.
However, those same factors turned out to be problematic; foods that needed long cooking times or high temperatures like pizza, whole chickens, and french fries, came out subpar. Fortunately, you can mitigate this disadvantage by cooking in 1-person portions—smaller than the amount in our tests.
The Cuisinart has a spacious interior for its medium size. Its 4 nichrome heating elements draw 1800 W of power which should be sufficient for most foods. However, the oven didn’t perform well when baking french fries.
While both ovens have simple designs, the Hamilton is lighter and the Cuisinart is more sturdy. The Cuisinart has a slide-out crumb tray as opposed to the removable crumb tray of the Hamilton.
Both of them use 100% analog controls which are easy to operate. Interestingly, they both have stay-on features, though they get there in different ways.
The Hamilton’s stay-on setting appears on its timer knob. Meanwhile, the Cuisinart has no timer. This means the oven will turn on when you rotate the function dial to a specific function and stay on until you rotate the dial back to Off.
Pros & Cons
- Lightweight and small size
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Quartz heating elements have safeguards
- Energy-saving
- Spacious and non-stick interior
- Auto-slide rack
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Slide-out crumb tray
- Cool-touch door handle
- Stay-on feature
- High power output
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
Key Specs
Where to Buy
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Analysis and Test Results
Performance
Toast








Pizza








Whole Roasted Chicken










Baked French Fries








Design
In the Box


Exterior












Control Panel


Cooking Functions


Interior






Power Cord


Accessories




Build Quality


Capacity


Usability
User Control
Ease of Use


Cleanability









