Cuisinart TOA-60 vs Hamilton Beach 31127D Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Cuisinart TOA-60 vs Hamilton Beach 31127D Toaster Oven. When a good budget medium-sized countertop toaster oven isn’t the best same-sized choice possible.
Specifications
Design
Where the Cuisinart TOA-60 Air Fryer Toaster Oven shines most is in its simplistic design. Even though it only offers a few features, it does them all justice.
The oven features a powerful top-mounted convection fan and six nichrome heating elements, all powered with 1800 W. From our understanding, these two are the main factors behind the oven’s excellent performance.
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
Due to its simplistic approach, the Cuisinart TOA-60 Air Fryer Toaster Oven doesn’t offer many usability features. However, it also doesn’t pose any problems.
For example, the oven lacks the automatic features and the ability to precisely adjust time and temperature that most digital units otherwise have. Nonetheless, its cooking performance is more than worth these minor inconveniences.
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
All of the Cuisinart TOA-60 Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer’s results are in the top tier among our collected data. A big win for the oven’s performance is its steady and stable temperature. Combined with the fact that the convection fan is always deployed, it consistently produced excellent test dishes. Even though it doesn’t have a rotisserie kit for our Whole Roasted Chicken test, it still performed in a splendid manner.
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
- Simple and straight-to-the-point control knobs
- Sturdy design and durable material
- Convection fan is all-applicable
- Electrical safety feature for the door
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Plenty of recipes included in the user manual
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Roll-top door
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Spacious interior
- Opening the door also turns off the light
- A bit heavier and taller than other same-type ovens
- Not very budget-friendly
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
Conclusion
With its consistently excellent results, the Cuisinart TOA-60 triumphed in the battle of performance. Despite being reasonably good at making toast, the Hamilton Beach 31127D was only acceptable at baking a pizza and roasting a whole chicken. The baking french fries test, however, was where it suffered the biggest defeat.
With both having a relatively simple design, the weaknesses of the Hamilton are made all the more evident when placed next to the Cuisinart. Although the same size, the Hamilton has a lower power output and no convection system. While both feature nichrome heating elements, the Cuisinart has 6 while the Hamilton has 4.
In terms of convenience features, they score quite evenly: The Cuisinart has a slide-out crumb tray and an interior light whereas the Hamilton has a handy roll-top door and stay-on feature.
Both ovens have a 100% analog control which is simple and straightforward to use. While this means you may not be able to select an exact time and temperature, it doesn’t affect each oven’s overall performance.
The Cuisinart TOA-60 Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer is a robust, effective, and lasting unit suitable for seasoned home cooks with some money to spare. On the other hand, the Hamilton Beach 31127D 6-Slice Toaster Oven of the same size is an inexpensive unit that does its job well.
Behind the Comparison
Alan Nguyen is a writer and product reviewer at HealthyKitchen101. His major in English language teaching taught him to present concise information. In addition to his cooking hobby, he values the practical aspects of household appliances.
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.
