Hamilton Beach 31401 vs Mueller 4 Slice Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison

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.

For our Toast test, we started off by trying the Medium Toast setting which was around 3 minutes 5 seconds on the timer. The four pieces of bread on the upper tray level came out only lightly toasted on top except for one golden brown piece. We then cranked it up to the Dark Toast setting—around 4 minutes 50 seconds on the timer—which, unfortunately, burnt the toast a bit.

Finally, we opted for the middle ground which was 4 minutes on the timer—⅓ of the rotation from Medium to Dark. This setting was tricky to get right on the time dial, so we used an external timer. It gave us the best possible toast results from this oven scoring a 7.5/10 in total.

After 4 minutes of toasting, the four pieces of toast had pretty good surface color. However, the colors varied from light golden to golden brown on both the top and the bottom, so we could only give a 7/10.

Luckily, the varied colors partially meant varied textures which were all good and deserving an 8/10. The golden brown areas had a more crispy outside while the light golden areas had a softer inside. Our head chef Tuyet Pham determined that it would go great with omelets, eggs benedict, and sandwiches but not so much with soup.

After taking out the first batch, we immediately put four more pieces inside to test the oven’s consecutive usability which ended up at 7/10. Also under the identical toasting time, the four pieces of bread became brown with an increased evenness from the first batch. While the color was a bit darker than ideal, the extra crispiness made the second batch more suitable for soups.

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.

For its low power draw, the Mueller did pretty well in our Pizza test with a score of 7.6/10.

The oven took 9 minutes to bake a 9-inch thick-crust meat pizza which was slightly faster than the label’s recommended 10 minutes. However, compared to our tested toaster ovens, it could only be a 6/10.

The crust had a golden color all the way through and the inside was still moist. If only the crust was a bit more crispy, it would’ve gotten higher than an 8/10.

The toppings were also caramelized quite evenly from the meat and veggies to the cheese, worthy of another 8/10. The cheese was nicely melted but the areas closer to the back of the cooking chamber were more caramelized compared to the rest.

With both the crust and the toppings being 8/10, our chef had no reason to give the pizza one final 8/10 for taste.

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.

The Mueller could barely fit a 3 lb chicken for our Whole Roasted Chicken test. Nonetheless, the result was quite decent at 7/10 in total. If you were to purchase this oven and use it to roast a whole chicken, we recommend cutting it open or chopping it into pieces beforehand.

We first placed the chicken backside down on the baking pan. When we slid the pan in, the top of the chicken breast grazed the upper heating element’s guard and was seared.

After the first 40 minutes, we flipped the chicken to find out that parts of the skin on the back got stuck to the baking pan. Then, when we reinsert the pan, the same problem with the breast happened to the back. Luckily, they weren’t burnt.

However, even after 1 hour and 20 minutes, most of the chicken skin still hasn’t reached a desirable color. The chicken, for the most part, looked like it was steamed and not roasted, so we gave the skin a 5.5/10.

Nonetheless, our chef decided to stop the roasting as the color wouldn’t improve anyway and to avoid overcooking the meat. This cooking time was the equivalent of a 6/10 according to our data.

With such a long cooking time, the meat had no pink spots. However, the chicken’s internal temperature was 185°F-192°F, higher than the USDA recommended 165°F-180°F. Thus, we gave it an 8.7/ for doneness.

While not the most appetizing looking, the meat was very juicy. That, combined with the slight caramelization on the skin, was enough for a 7.5/10 for taste from our chef.

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.

Our Baked French Fries test brought out the Mueller’s weakness of not being able to maintain a high temperature due to its low power draw. Its even heat distribution couldn’t help much if the temperature wasn’t high enough, so the final score was 3.6/10.

We stopped the baking after 27 minutes as the fries weren’t getting any more colors. This, nonetheless, was over our time limit of 25 minutes, so it was a 0/10.

The fries had no significant color change and barely enough for a 4.5/10. We ended up with 12 oz of frozen fries that were more similar to being dried in an oven than being baked, so we gave them another 4.5/10 for texture.

Fortunately, the fries were cooked through and not soggy, so our chef could give them a 4.5/10 for taste and not a zero.