Finally, the exterior of the toaster remains cool to the touch even after making breakfast for the whole family, so you can scoot it across the counter or store it away in the cabinet without having to wait for it to cool down. The toaster also has a lift feature called “toast boost” that makes your toast easier to remove without burning your fingers. We also liked that the bagel setting cooks the inside of the bread without making the outside overly crispy. We were happy with how well the appliance toasted both sides of a regular piece of bread, leaving no area untoasted. There's also a keep-warm setting to maintain the perfect temperature for up to three minutes (it shuts off automatically after that). The easy-to-operate, illuminated buttons let you choose between regular toasting, a bagel setting, and defrosting, and a numbered dial allows you to choose your desired crispiness level.
This appliance is the standard for smaller households, and it performed well in all of our tests. For two-slice toasters, nothing beats the speed, quality, consistency, and ease of use of this Hamilton Beach model.
