Hamilton Beach 2 Slice Toaster with Extra Wide Slots, Shade Selector, Auto-Shutoff, Cancel Button and Toast Boost, Red

This is my second purchase to replace the previous toaster which I gave to a friend. I had been using it for 5 years and it was still going strong! I like appliances that aren't too high tech and this one fit the bill. It looks pretty on my kitchen counter, has wide slots for bagels, a cancel button to pop up your toast early if you want, the tray at the bottom opens easily to shake out the crumbs, and it is easy to operate. What more do you want? It tended to toast a little darker as the toaster aged, but that's what the shade selector is for, right? I was thrilled that it still came in red, and the price didn't break the bank.

The media could not be loaded. For years and years, we had used our toaster oven to toast bread and muffins, and although our toaster oven is sufficient for baking and broiling, it really does not make ‘toast’. Although the bread would warm, it did not brown at all, until suddenly the bread would blacken and burn within seconds. Unfortunately, since the glass window in the toaster oven does not reach the bottom, we were never sure when the bread would start burning until we smelled it. Therefore we had two options, either eat warmed, untoasted bread, or take the chance and with any luck the bread would turn out very dark brown (not quite black), but unfortunately it usually would burn.Since we have enough kitchen appliances crowding our kitchen counter, I wanted a small 2- slice pop-up toaster, and without any extra ‘bells and whistles’.General Description:This Hamilton 2-slice pop-up toaster is perfect. It’s a lightweight compact toaster and it only measures 11” x 6”, with a 7 ¼” height, therefore it takes up very little space. In addition, since this toaster weighs less than 2 lbs. (1 lb. and 14 oz.), it’s not heavy, and I can easily put it away in a cabinet. It has a 30” electrical cord with a 2-prong plug.The color is a high gloss bright cherry red on the front and back, with a chrome finish on the top and sides. The spring loaded toaster slots are 5 ¼” long, x 1 ¼ “wide (to accommodate the thickness), and with a depth to fit and toast a 4” slice of bread, muffin, a sliced bagel or a sliced roll.This pop-up toaster has the cord storage area on the end and the cord remains coiled up securely and out of the way.The other end has the controls, which consists of a lever that is so easy to operate that I can use my pinky finger to push it down. A dial with a range of 1 – 7 controls the browning level, and there are segments between each number for a very precise toasting crunch and color. In addition there is a ‘cancel’ press button, to stop the toasting cycle and pop the slice up to the top.On the bottom is an attached crumb catcher tray that slides to the side for easy emptying and cleaning.Performance:There are 7 main settings for toast color and crunch, with the lightest at the number #1 and the toasting gets progressively darker and crispier as the dial adjustment moves to #7. I prefer the #4 toasting level for a light brown color and a mild crunch. This takes approximately 1 ½ - 2 minutes in the toaster, and the chrome sides remain comfortable to the touch. My toast cooks evenly in both slots and both sides of each slice have the identical crunch and color.We are very pleased with this Hamilton 2-slice pop-up toaster. It’s lightweight, fast and efficient, and it browns both sides of the bread evenly. We use it for bread, sliced bagels, hamburger buns, and English muffins, it is exactly what we needed.

Does what it's supposed to. Gives an even toast. Very cheaply made, so I don't expect it to last very long, but you get what you pay for. 🤷🏾

Needed to upgrade my toaster from the 70's. (It still worked, but the knob on the lever fell off, and I didn't want to mess with trying to re-attach it.) My recent purchases of a coffee pot, and later, a can opener, led me to look at Hamilton Beach toasters. I'm glad I did.Just wanted a basic, 'getterdone' toaster, and found this 2-slice toaster with the perk of being able to toast bagels, if I wanted to. Haven't tried a bagel yet, but confident it will be perfectly toasted, when I do.I love Brownberry brand bread, and the loaves tend to be shorter, but wider than standard bread loaves, although the slice sizes are the same width as regular bread. This toaster accommodates the wider length slices nicely.On first use, I thought the appliance might be defective, as pressing the lever to make the bread descend into the toaster took the slices down, but there appeared to be no action. Pressed the lever a little farther down, and voila! the toaster engaged. To my surprise and delight, there are little 'cages' inside the toaster that close in on the bread, and keep it from curling while toasting. Didn't expect that, but what beautiful results it yielded.I'm very happy with my purchase, especially since it was at a reasonable price. Highly recommend this toaster if you are looking for a simple, efficient, and sensibly designed 2-slice toaster.

Works well, and made a perfect and attractive Christmas present...

Don't get me wrong, if you want a super basic, low cost toaster, that's what you'll get with this. That being said, you get what you pay for. The dial and push lever feel cheap and you have to push a little harder than you expect to get it to stay down. It absolutely toasts, but the two sides don't toast evenly. It's better if you toast two things at the same time but if you're toasting only one piece of bread the outside will be much darker than the inside. I'm sure the inside heaters are weaker then the outside ones so you don't get the opposite effect where the inside is super black when you toast two things, but it's just another instance of cheap make.3 stars is about right. It's a low cost and it definitely shows. But that's just fine if cost is the determining factor and you know what to expect.