COMFEE CFO-BB101 vs Hamilton Beach 31127D Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
COMFEE CFO-BB101 vs Hamilton Beach 31127D Toaster Oven. A comparison between two simple and cheap toaster ovens, one small and the other medium-sized.
Specifications
Design
While being compact, the Comfee CFO-BB101 has a good capacity compared to the similar-sized Hamilton Beach 31401. Moreover, it still has all the standard exterior features, plus a neat detachable crumb tray. However, it’s very lacking in terms of the interior even though it uses quartz heating elements. Its overall construction also leaves a lot to be desired.
The design of the Hamilton Beach 31127D is basic with a simple stainless steel exterior. The oven has a similar capacity as other medium-sized toaster ovens, with greater length and width but less height. Its roll-top door is a unique feature that we found useful.
Usability Comparison
The Comfee CFO-BB101 doesn’t have anything strong going for it in terms of usability. The simple control has some drawbacks and doesn’t provide much convenience. However, a detachable crumb tray makes it easier to clean the oven, especially if the oven is of this size.
Although the Hamilton Beach 31127D doesn’t invest much in convenience, it also doesn't pose any problems. You may not be able to select an exact time and temperature with the analog control knobs, but realistically, you don’t lose much precision.
Performance Test
The Comfee CFO-BB101 has only two heating elements, and this often resulted in uneven coloring on our test dishes. Our speculation was that the low power output hinders the oven’s performance in test dishes that require a high temperature (> 400°F), including pizza and fries. One solution could be to decrease the amount of food compared to what we used for our test amount.
In addition, it was hard to input an exact temperature and time due to the limited settings on the control knob, especially for making toast. A small unit that doesn’t have temperature and control problems is the Breville BOV450XL.
The Hamilton Beach 31127D did a good job at making toast but struggled with french fries. We suspect its 1400 W power draw isn’t sufficient for its capacity, so it couldn’t quite maintain high temperatures. Of course, the lack of a convection system didn’t help either. A more preferable but still affordable choice could be the Toshiba AC25CEW-BS.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Extra-small size
- Energy-saving
- Quartz heating elements have safeguards
- Cool-touch door handle
- Stay-on feature
- Detachable crumb tray
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Roll-top door
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Spacious interior
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
Conclusion
The COMFEE CFO-BB101 Compact Countertop Toaster Oven is slightly cheaper than the already inexpensive Hamilton Beach 31127D 6-Slice Toaster Oven. However, the former is smaller and has lower scores in every aspect including design, usability, and especially performance.
The Hamilton did better in baking pizza, french fries, and toasting bread. The oven’s higher power draw allowed it to better maintain high temperatures (≥ 400°F), and its four nichrome heating elements helped with the heat distribution.
The Comfee had only two quartz heating elements and a lower power draw, which normally wouldn’t result in its higher roasted whole chicken score. However, while it took longer to cook the chicken, the chicken was cooked all the way through, unlike the Hamilton’s. In an amusing turn of events, the Comfee’s chicken was so close to the upper heating element due to a lack of space and, thus, had better skin browning.
The Comfee has a neat detachable crumb tray. However, its casing didn’t have as thick stainless steel and its build wasn’t very sturdy compared to the Hamilton’s.
While both toaster ovens had simple analog control, the Hamilton’s dials were more precise. In addition, the Hamilton having a bigger cooking chamber reduced the chance of a mess when cooking and made it easier to clean.
Overall, the Comfee CFO-BB101 serves its functions, doesn’t use much energy, and saves kitchen space. Meanwhile, the Hamilton Beach 31127D is suitable for anyone looking for a sturdy, inexpensive, medium-sized unit.
Behind the Comparison
Anh Ngo is a writer with 9 years experience at different media outlets, covering from public news and events to product testing and analysis. At HealthyKitchen101, she works across different departments, communicating closely with its network of writers, editors, and health, tech, and search engine experts to provide a meaningful and pleasant reading experience for visitors.
Tuyet Pham is an award-winning Saigonese chef passionate about delicious and healthful foods. At HealthyKitchen101, she develops recipes and collaborates with our Research, Testing, and Review lab to evaluate the performance of cooking appliances. Her assessments add a strong authoritative voice to our product scoring process.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
