Hamilton Beach 31401 Countertop vs Oster TSSTTVMNDG-SHP-2 Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Hamilton Beach 31401 vs Oster TSSTTVMNDG-SHP-2 Toaster Oven. Compare a small, analog, conventional toaster oven to a large, digital, convection unit.
Specifications
Design
With a basic design, the Hamilton Beach 31401 doesn’t have any exterior feature that stands out. It makes up a little for this with its interior having quartz heating elements with safeguards.
The Oster TSSTTVMNDG-SHP-2 has a simple and sturdy design, plus a convenient slide-out crumb tray. The large interior houses a togglable lightbulb and convection system. A consistent disadvantage that this oven has is its low wattage compared to something like the Ninja DT201.
Usability Comparison
While the Hamilton Beach 31401 doesn’t offer much in terms of usability, it also doesn’t cause any inconvenience. Although the analog control knobs can make it difficult to pinpoint an exact time and temperature, it wasn’t a big problem.
While the digital control panel of the Oster TSSTTVMNDG-SHP-2 is straightforward and easy to use, its buttons can be more responsive. In addition to that, having to press Cancel before changing functions can get annoying.
The convection fan isn’t all-applicable, but it’s not a problem. On the other hand, the oven’s design features, including its accessories, make cleaning an effortless exercise.
Performance Test
Our test results showed that the Hamilton Beach 31401 did a good job of making toast. However, it didn’t perform well in dishes that require a long cooking time and/or a high temperature, including pizza, whole roasted chicken, and baked french fries.
Our resulting test dishes were also mostly lacking in color, except for the toast. This was possibly due to the oven’s low power output in addition to having only two heating elements, unlike the Breville BOV450XL. One solution could be to decrease the amount of food compared to our test amount.
The strongest performance aspect of the Oster TSSTTVMNDG-SHP-2 was the even coloring on our test dishes, thanks to its convection system. However, it didn’t meet the mark in baking frozen french fries.
This was probably due to the low power output combined with the large capacity, unlike the picks on our best toaster oven list. Moreover, having only two tray positions made it tricky to get the toast done right on both sides.
Overall Scores
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
- Large capacity
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- High-contrast digital display
- Internal lighting available
- Extra functions
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Convection fan isn’t all-applicable
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Buttons not reliably responsive
Conclusion
Though not the best, the Oster TSSTTVMNDG-SHP-2 Digital Convection Toaster Oven mopped the floor with the Hamilton Beach 31401 4-Slice Toaster Oven in almost every test. The former costs around twice as much as the latter but is more than twice as large.
The Oster was significantly better than the Hamilton in baking pizza, french fries, and especially roasting a whole chicken. While the Oster’s power draw was only slightly higher than the Hamilton’s, having a convection system really gave the Oster all the necessary advantages in terms of quick and even heat distribution.
The Hamilton did earn a small victory in toasting bread, though, and the score was quite impressive. We believed the Oster could’ve scored higher if its toast presets were designed with better times.
The Oster was easier to use thanks to its LCD, control buttons, and interior light. However, its LCD was quite janky and its flat buttons required quite a bit of force to register. In this instance, we preferred the basic analog dials of the Hamilton.
On the other hand, the Oster’s spacious interior was significantly easier to clean than the Hamilton’s.
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.
