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Hamilton Beach 31401 Countertop vs Instant Omni Plus 18L Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Our Verdict
- Performance (50%)5.1/10
- Design (25%)3.6/10
- Usability (25%)4.6/10
- Performance (50%)8.1/10
- Design (25%)9.7/10
- Usability (25%)8.4/10
In most of our performance tests, the Hamilton Beach 31401 left a lot to be desired against the consistently great results of the Instant Omni Plus 18L. However, in an interesting upset, the Hamilton won in toasting bread.
Despite both using quartz heating elements, the Instant has four of them plus an additional swirl nichrome heating element while the Hamilton only has two. The Instant also has a power output of 1800 W as opposed to 1200 W of the Hamilton.
These could be the reasons behind the Hamilton’s low scores in dishes that require a long cooking time and/or a high temperature. Of course, the lack of a convection system compared to the Instant doesn’t help. In actual use, however, you can cook less food than our test amounts for better results.
The Hamilton has a basic design and three simple control dials with a stay-on function. On the other hand, the Instant has an LCD touchscreen with smart programs, audio cues, toggles, and cooking presets. It’s also equipped with a slide-out crumb tray, interior light, and tray-level indicators on the glass door.
The Instant Omni Plus 18L is the winner thanks to its convenient features of design and usability as well as overall efficiency. Nonetheless, the Hamilton can still have a place in your kitchen as a lightweight, small-sized, and energy-saving appliance.
Hamilton Beach 4-Slice Toaster Oven Performance
- Toast (40%)7.7/10
- Pizza (25%)5.5/10
- Whole Roasted Chicken (25%)1.0/10
- Baked French Fries (10%)4.0/10
- Toast (40%)7.3/10
- Pizza (25%)8.6/10
- Whole Roasted Chicken (25%)8.4/10
- Baked French Fries (10%)9.3/10
Toast
- Function: Toast
- Number Of Slices: 4
- Toast Level: Medium
- Cooking Time: 4m 15s
- Second Batch: 4m 15s
- Convection: No
With our Toast test, we determined the best option was right at the position of the Toast icon—around 4 minutes 15 seconds on the timer, scoring a 7.7/10. Turning the knob halfway down would result in no color and turning it halfway up nearly burnt the toast.
With 4m 15s, the Hamilton Beach produced 4 pieces with a light golden brown color on the top and golden on the bottom. Although that was great, the top and the bottom were quite different and they were both only about 80% even throughout. Thus, we gave it a 7.5/10.
The first batch of toast had a nice balance of crispiness on the outside and softness on the inside, deserving an 8/10 for taste. Our head chef Tuyet Pham determined it would go well with pretty much everything including eggs benedict, omelet, and especially sandwiches. It wasn’t as suitable for soup but the second batch was.
The second batch got crispier and more even in color. However, it also became browner so we gave it a 7.3/10 for consecutive usability. If you want the second batch to be the same as the first, remember to only turn the knob to ¾ to Medium—around 3 minutes 40 seconds.
- Function: Toast
- Number Of Slices: 4
- Toast Level: 2/5
- Cooking Time: 5m 25s
- Second Batch: 4m 1s
- Convection: No
Using the steps of our Toast test, we determined that level 2—5 minutes 25 seconds on the timer—was the best option scoring a 7.3/10. In comparison, the level 1 and 3 had a more uneven while being lighter and darker surface color respectively.
The Toast Level 2 of the Instant Omni Plus 18L produced four pieces with an 85% even golden brown color. Since the fan couldn’t be deployed, the toast had some darker spots and lighter areas resulting in a 6/10.
The first batch of toast was nicely crispy while still soft and moist inside and we gave it an 8/10 for taste. Our head chef Tuyet Pham determined it would be excellent with omelet and eggs benedict but not so good for sandwiches or soup.
This is one of the few ovens with a smart program that automatically deducts time to reach certain temperatures when the oven’s already hot. Thus, the surface color of the toasts was quite consistent throughout multiple batches. In addition, due to its extra crispiness, the second batch was determined to be good enough for soup.
If you want the second batch to be similar to the first, remember to lower it by one level. Overall, the score for consecutive usability was 7/10.
Pizza
- Function: Bake
- Temperature: 450°F
- Cooking Time: 10m 30s
- Convection: No
The Hamilton didn’t perform well in baking a 9-inch thick-crust meat pizza scoring a 5.6/10.
Compared to the recommended 10 minutes on the label, the oven took only a tad bit longer at 10m 30s. However, this meant that it failed the cooking time criterion with 10 minutes being the time limit for our Pizza test.
For the most part, the crust didn’t have a good toasted coloring and was soft so it got a 6/10. The toppings had pretty good caramelization but some darkened areas of the cheese lowered the score to 7.5/10. After tasting the pizza, our chef gave it a 7/10.
- Function: Bake
- Temperature: 450°F
- Cooking Time: 3m 50s
- Convection: High
The Instant Omni Plus, having a very strong convection system, did not seem ideal for baking a 9-inch thick-crust meat pizza resulting in an 8.6/10.
A cooking time of only 3m 50s was extremely fast compared to the recommended 10 minutes on the label. After comparing it to other toaster ovens in our Pizza test, it was more than enough for a 10/10.
The crust, although golden brown, was a little soft with some lighter and darker areas due to the short cooking time plus strong fan. It got an 8/10.
The entire surface was a little too dry due to all the convection. In addition, while the cheese was nicely melted, caramelization wasn’t even due to the short cooking time. Thus, the final score for the toppings was 8.2/10.
Our chef gave the pizza an 8.5/10 for taste.
Whole Roasted Chicken
- Function: Rotisserie
- Temperature: 350°F
- Cooking Time: 1h 30m
- Convection: No
This was one of the rare occasions where an oven failed the entirety of our Whole Roasted Chicken test. Our speculations concerned the instability of the heating elements and the fact that the chicken grazed the upper safeguard during cooking.
After 1h 30m—our time limit, the oven wasn’t able to roast the chicken to a desirable outcome and failed the first criterion. After roasting, the skin had no noticeable caramelization and barely enough for a 5/10.
The chicken reached an internal temperature of 176°F which was quite good. However, the meat itself was undercooked and still pink in a lot of areas. Thus, it was another failure. Due to the meat being undercooked, our chef couldn’t taste it to give a score.
- Function: Roast
- Temperature: 350°F
- Cooking Time: 50 minutes
- Convection: Yes
Following our Whole Roasted Chicken test, we chose a 3 lb chicken and it fit without a problem scoring an 8.4/10.
However, cleaning up was a big hassle as there wasn’t enough space below to use the drip pan. Worse still, during cooking fat splashed everywhere inside the oven causing the heating elements to smoke.
The roasting time was 50 minutes which was shorter than average and worthy of a 9/10.
The rotisserie kit and high convection together produced perfectly golden brown crispy skin deserving a 9.8/10. One thing to note is that due to the meat being considerably moist, the skin lost its crispiness in a relatively short time span.
The smooth rotation and high convection also allowed the whole chicken to be thoroughly cooked without any pink spots in just 50 minutes. The internal temperature was only a little higher than the USDA recommended 165°F-180°F at 178-190°F, so it got a 9/10.
The meat was almost fall-off-the-bone. Unfortunately, with it being so moist—to the point of softening the skin, our chef could only give it a 7 for taste.
Baked French Fries
- Function: Bake
- Temperature: 400°F
- Cooking Time: 30 m
- Convection: No
The Hamilton Beach wasn’t suitable for baking 12 oz of french fries scoring only a 4/10.
There were no noticeable changes to the fries after 30 minutes of baking in this oven. Due to our time limit of 25 minutes, this constituted a failure in the cooking time section of our Baked French Fries test.
There was no change in the fries’ color so they received a 5/10. The oven basically thawed and heated the fries so they were very soggy scoring another 5/10. Our chef could only give the fries a minimal score of 5/10 for taste.
- Function: Air Fry
- Temperature: 400°F.
- Cooking Time: 15m
- Convection: High
The Instant Omni Plus was excellent at baking 12 oz of french fries with a score of 9.3/10.
After performing our Baked French Fries test on different toaster ovens, we came to the conclusion that the ideal cooking time for baked french fries was 15 minutes. However, it wasn’t the fastest one on our list so it scored a 9/10.
The strong convection combined with the air fryer basket produced evenly golden fries worthy of a 9.8/10 for color.
What helped the color also baked perfectly crispy fries while retaining a nice amount of moisture. This earned the oven another 9.8/10 for the texture of baked french fries.
Our chef gave the fries a 9/10 for taste.
Hamilton Beach Stainless Steel Toaster Oven Design
- Exterior (20%)4.0/10
- Interior (30%)1.0/10
- Build Quality (50%)5.0/10
- Exterior (25%)9.5/10
- Interior (30%)9.5/10
- Build Quality (50%)9.0/10
In the Hamilton Beach Countertop Toaster Oven Box
- Model: 31401
- Warranty: 1-year limited in the US and 5-year limited in Canada
- User Manual
- Baking Rack
- Baking Pan
- Removable Crumb Tray
Inside the packaging are the Hamilton Beach oven, a baking rack, a baking pan, a removable crumb tray, and a simple user manual.
- Model: 140-4002-01
- Warranty: 1 year (US and Canada only)
- User Manual
- Baking Rack
- Baking Pan
- Rotisserie Kit and Lifter
- Air Fryer Basket
Besides keeping all the accessories in place, the packaging also has interesting illustrations for the key information on the Instant Omni Plus 18L. You can quickly access the download page for the Instant Pot App thanks to the QR code on the package and the user manual.
Their website provides the full manual, how-to videos, FAQs, and more. You’ll also need to go there to register your product and activate your warranty.
Exterior
- Weight:5.4 lbs (2.4 kg)
- Length:15.0" (38.0 cm)
- Width:12.2" (31.0 cm)
- Height:8.5" (21.6 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Color:Silver
- Door Handle:cool-touch
- Tray Indicators:No
- Crumb Tray:Removable
The Hamilton Beach has a stainless steel exterior, a back buffer to prevent the oven from being too close to the wall, and a cool-touch door handle. However, the back buffer isn’t designed to wrap the power cord around, unlike many other toaster ovens.
- Weight:25.4 oz (721 g)
- Length:16.5" (42.0 cm)
- Width:15.8" (40.0 cm)
- Height:13.9" (35.3 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Color:Silver
- Door Handle:cool-touch
- Tray Indicators:Yes
- Crumb Tray:Yes
An example of the Instant Omni Plus 18L’s clever design is the slide-out crumb tray not to mention its two strong base stands as well as air ventilation on two sides and the back. For safety, it has two buffers on the back to prevent the oven from sitting too close to the wall and a cool-touch door handle.
To accommodate its many cooking functions, there are tray-level indicators on the glass door. Our measurements of the oven’s footprint of 16.54" x 15.75" x 13.90" were quite different from the manufacturer’s 12" x 12" x 13.89" in terms of length and width.
We could explain that the difference in width was because we also took the dial and the back buffers into account but not the difference in length. Nonetheless, we didn’t find this to be a problem.
Control Panel
- Type:3 control knobs
- Temperature:100°F - 450°F
- Timer:1 minute - 30 minutes + stay-on
- Indicator Light:Yes
- Status Bar:No
- Light Toggle:No
- Convection Toggle:No
- Rotation Toggle:No
- Automatic Preheat:No
- Audio Cues:No
The Hamilton Beach has three simple control knobs for Temperature, Function, and Timer. Even though the timer is only from 1 minute to 30 minutes, it has a stay-on position. 1 minute to 30 minutes, it has a stay-on position.
- Type:black LCD digital touchscreen + one master-control knob
- Temperature:150°F - 450°F
- Timer:1 - 60 minutes
- Indicator Light:Yes
- Status Bar:No
- Light Toggle:Yes
- Convection Toggle:Yes
- Rotation Toggle:Yes
- Automatic Preheat:Yes
- Audio Cues:Yes
This oven has a black LCD digital touchscreen and one master-control knob. The display includes the cooking status bar, functions, and toggles for Light, Convection, and Rotation. Besides the automatic oven preheat feature, it features an audio cue to turn food halfway through the input cooking time.
Audio cues include the beeps when you plug in the oven, select a function as well as adjust time and temperature, and when the oven finishes cooking. According to some reviews we’ve seen, they can be a bit loud, especially for households with children and/or pets. However, they can be turned off by pressing and holding the control knobs for 5 seconds until the screen displays S OFF.
Cooking Functions of the Hamilton Beach 31401 Toaster Oven
- Toast
- Bake
- Broil
If you know your way around the kitchen, the bake and broil functions will be all you need. The temperature knob has a Min setting which can act as Keep Warm and maintain the oven at around 100°F.
- Air fry (180°F - 450°F)
- Broil (350°F - 450°F)
- Bake (180°F - 450°F)
- Roast (180°F - 450°F)
- Dehydrate (85°F - 175°F)
- Reheat (120°F - 360°F)
- Warm (170°F - 300°F)
- Toast (level 1-5)
Even though there’s no Rotisserie function, the oven comes with a tailored rotisserie kit and a Rotation Toggle. Besides making dried fruits, herbs, and meat jerky, the Dehydrate function is also ideal for proofing bread dough at 85°F and Low Convect.
Interior
- Heating Elements:2 quartz
- Convection Fan:No
- Lighting:No
- Tray Levels:2
- Rotisserie:No
- Safety Hook:No
The 31401 has 2 quartz heating elements that cook food using infrared light. To avoid direct contact with baking pans and trays, each one has its own safety guard.
Compared to the more common nichrome heating elements, they produce more heat and cool down faster. In addition, they’re easier to clean and more energy-efficient but not as durable. However, if grease splashes onto the heating elements while cooking, it’ll leave permanent stains.
Nonetheless, the oven suffers from a lack of internal lighting and a convection system, similar to most small units like the Mueller MT-175. Moreover, having only two heating elements may not distribute heat evenly as having four.
- Heating Elements:4 quartz and 1 nichrome
- Convection Fan:Yes
- Lighting:Yes
- Tray Levels:4
- Rotisserie:Yes
- Safety Hook:No
The Instant Omni Plus has four golden quartz heating elements. These pipes use infrared light to cook, which produces more heat and also cools down faster.
They are also easier to clean and more energy-efficient but don’t last as long in terms of durability. However, if grease splashes onto the heating elements while cooking, it’ll leave permanent stains.
Featuring safety guards, the heating elements are kept out of direct contact with baking pans and trays. The oven even includes a coil nichrome heating element at the top, specifically for broiling.
To top it off, this oven has a powerful and not noisy convection system as an interior light. In addition to 4 tray levels, you can make use of the baking rack with its rack-up and down positions.
Capacity
- Length:10.9" (27.8 cm)
- Width:9.4" (24.0 cm)
- Height:7.1" (18.0 cm)
The Hamilton Beach, with only two tray levels, can accommodate 4 slices of toast, a 9-inch pizza, or barely a 3 lb chicken. We measured the cooking chamber’s volume to be roughly 12 liters which coincided with the manufacturer’s stated capacity.
- Length:13.8" (35.0 cm)
- Width:12.6" (32.0 cm)
- Height:8.7" (22.0 cm)
The Instant Omni Plus can comfortably fit a 12-inch pizza or a 4-pound chicken which is true to its description. However, it can’t quite fit 6 slices of toast. Moreover, when roasting only a 3-pound whole chicken with the rotisserie kit, there wasn’t enough space to fit a baking pan below. This wasn’t the case with a larger unit like the Cosori CO130-AO.
We measured the cooking chamber’s volume to be roughly 24.6 liters—a lot different from the manufacturer’s provided capacity of 18 liters. However, this could be because we measured from the cooking chamber’s walls to walls whereas the manufacturer stopped before reaching the heating elements.
Power Cord of the Hamilton Beach 31401 Countertop Toaster Oven
- Length:29.9" (76.0 cm)
- Type:2-prong plug
- Power:1200 W
- Rated Output:120 V ~ 60 Hz
The power cord is long enough for household use.
- Length:2.8 ft (0.9 m)
- Type:3-prong plug
- Power:1800 W
- Rated Output:120 V ~ 60 Hz
The power cord is roughly 33.46"—more than long enough for household use. However, the cord can’t fully wrap around the two back stands as they are too high up.
Accessories
- Length:10.9" (27.8 cm)
- Width:8.8" (22.3 cm)
- Height:0.9" (2.3 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The rack fits perfectly with the guide, which helps prevent accidents when placing your food in the oven. Unfortunately, by burning a batch of toast, we left some extremely stubborn burnt bits on some rods.
- Length:12.4" (31.5 cm)
- Width:11.4" (29.0 cm)
- Height:0.9" (2.4 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The rack fits perfectly with the guide which helps prevent accidents when placing your food in the oven.
Accessories
- Length:9.3" (23.5 cm)
- Width:8.1" (20.5 cm)
- Height:0.7" (1.8 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The baking pan rests on the supports of the baking rack to catch any drippings and meat juice, preventing any mess and the risk of fire from dirty heating elements. However, it doesn’t have a good coating and sustained permanent stains after our Baked French Fries and Whole Roasted Chicken test.
- Length:13.8" (35.0 cm)
- Width:12.4" (31.5 cm)
- Height:1.8" (4.6 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
Thanks to its perfect size, the baking pan does a great job of catching the meat juice and drippings from the air fryer basket. Thus, it helps prevent making a mess and avoid the danger of fire from dirty heating elements. Keep in mind that the dishwasher can damage the enamel coating.
Accessories
- Length:10.9" (27.8 cm)
- Width:8.1" (20.5 cm)
- Height:0.8" (2.0 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Not advisable
Without a tray, falling crumbs are quite a hassle to clean up. However, some can still fall to the bottom of the oven as you remove the tray.
- Length:13.4" (34.0 cm)
- Width:11.4" (29.0 cm)
- Height:0.9" (2.4 cm)
- Material:Stainless steel
- Dishwasher Safe:Yes
The rotisserie kit does a perfect job of securing a chicken thanks to the 4-pronged forks with adjustable angles.
The structure of the forks isn’t very strong so parts can get bended although not by much.
Build Quality
The Hamilton uses durable material but its construction isn’t very sturdy. Even though the control knobs turned smoothly, they felt a bit loose.
The Instant Omni Plus 18L is a well-built and intricate piece of equipment, to say the least. It provides a helpful cooking status bar, smart programs, and automatic features. The oven does consume a lot of electricity so make sure your outlet can provide and handle 1800 W.
The meticulous design shows in the bottom tray, safeguards for heating elements, and cooling fan for its mainboard. However, the bottom tray can easily slide out if you tilt the oven. Also, during our roasting of a whole chicken, the hot drippings created some oxidation on the crumb tray.
Hamilton Beach 31401 4-Slice Toaster Oven Usability Review
- User Control (30%)7.0/10
- Ease of Use (50%)3.0/10
- Cleanability (20%)5.0/10
- User Control (30%)9.9/10
- Ease of Use (50%)8.0/10
- Cleanability (20%)7.0/10
User Control
Even though the Hamilton Beach only has three simple control knobs, there are a few things to keep in mind. For the timer knob, when setting it to less than 10 minutes, always rotate past 10 minutes and then rotate back to the desired time.
It’s also tricky to precisely adjust time and temperature but we didn’t find this to be an issue. You can use an oven thermometer and an external timer to get familiar before eye-balling it.
The Instant Omni Plus 18L has 8 settings to choose from but can serve more than 10 functions. Although the LCD display could be improved with better contrast, it’s not a big problem.
The master-control knob can be confusing for first-timers but it should take little effort to get familiarized with it. The temperature can be adjusted in 1°F increments by turning the knob slowly and in 10°F increments by turning the knob fast. Also, the timer is specified by the minute.
If you want to readjust the setting during cooking, simply tap the feature and adjust it with the knob. Don’t tap Cancel as it will reset your inputs and repeat the automatic preheating.
The convection setting is applicable to almost all except for toast. One thing to note from the manual is that most recipes recommend reducing the temperature by 25°F when convection is on.
The convection fan speeds can toggle between high and low which is not very common for ovens, especially at the same price range. The two exceptions are Air Fry which always uses High Convect and Warm using Low Convect.
Ease of Use
With three control knobs, it’s very simple to readjust cooking settings. The cooking cycle finishes when the timer reaches Off. When this happens, the oven will ding once and shut off. As it has no digital display, you can freely leave this oven plugged in without worrying about power consumption.
It’s easy to keep the door partially open to let food cool down but be careful as the oven’s exterior gets hot to the touch quite quickly. However, opening the door doesn’t stop the oven, unlike some others.
When you adjust temperature and time for a function, the Instant Omni Plus saves your setting for next time use. After the oven finishes cooking, it will beep and automatically switch to Keep Warm mode until the display shows End.
After a period of no interaction, the digital display will show the word OFF similar to when you’ve just plugged it in. You’ll then need to push the knob once to turn it on. It’s advised to unplug the oven after you finish using it.
The light automatically turns off after 30 seconds of no interaction and turns on 30 seconds before finishing cooking. Opening the oven door pauses the cooking but the light stays on for another 30 seconds. Closing the oven door resumes the cooking but it will go into stand-by mode resetting all inputs after 5m30s.
Taking the rotisserie kit out of the oven can be a bit tricky even with the lifter. However, with a bit of practice, it’ll be no problem at all. The oven has good heat insulation, so the casing doesn’t get too hot to the touch at 350°F and 400°F but be careful at 450°F.
Cleanability
The Hamilton Beach oven’s exterior and interior were easy to clean following the steps of our toaster oven cleaning guide. Due to the chicken touching the upper safeguard during cooking, there were some caramelized bits stuck to it. Nonetheless, they were easy to remove with just dish soap and a sponge.
We accidentally burnt a batch of toast during our test and it caught fire which led to some discoloration on the oven’s exterior. Luckily, we were able to remove most of it with an all-purpose cleaner.
What surprised us the most, however, were the permanent stains left on the baking pan. Even after we applied a paste of baking soda and water and then scrubbed it with diluted vinegar, the stains didn’t budge at all.
We cleaned the Instant Omni Plus 18L following our toaster oven cleaning guide. Despite having an internal and external coating, it still wasn’t easy to clean due to some very tricky nooks and crannies. The small gaps between the heating elements and internal walls didn’t help either.
Most of the mess came from the considerable fat splatter from roasting a whole chicken. It left difficult stains on the heating elements and their safeguards which were already tricky to clean.
With the removable oven-bottom tray, cleaning up the crumbs was extremely easy but we still had to tilt the oven to get all of the crumbs out. On the bright side, having thought it would be difficult to clean caramelized bits of food from the air fryer basket due to the fishnet design, we were happy to find this wasn’t the case.