Hamilton Beach 31199R Countertop 1.1-Cubic-Foot Convection Oven with Rotisserie
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Hamilton Beach 31199R Countertop 1.1-Cubic-Foot Convection Oven with Rotisserie
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband bought me this just a few days ago. I had been wanting one for some time, after a bad experience with a different brand. I thought I would give this one a chance, since it had the size I was looking for. Most of the available toaster ovens are considerably smaller, so I held out for this one. Hamilton Beach is a name I have trusted for years, and it is because they are good quality products for a good price. I really love this little oven. For two people it is perfect, and it would be perfect even for larger families. When the kids come home for the holidays, I will use my double oven range, and probably use this one too. It is a godsend during the hot summer months. Wouldn't we all bake more if we could do it without turning the house into the waiting room for the sun?! This is also a great size for my tiny kitchen - I stack it on top of the microwave which of course, I don't use at the same time. I am currently baking some blueberry muffins which smell wonderful, and best of all there is not a lot of heat blasting around the kitchen and dining room. This is also a great price, since the stores that stocked it charged more. This is probably one of the best investments my husband ever made, because he will get more homemade goodies and we won't suffer because of it. If you are interested in baking small batches of things, I highly recommend "Small-Batch Baking" by Debbie Maugans Nakos. There are outstanding recipes for tiny cakes, and small batches of cookies and brownies. If I were giving a gift to anyone who loves to bake, I would give them this oven and the book to go with it. My muffins just came out of the oven, and are nicely browned. Fantastic job! The only problem I had was in getting the muffin pan out, because with hot pads, you canonly pull it so far before then it slides back in! I would recommend using something to move the pan far enough out that you can remove it without burning yourself. I hooked it on one side with the rotisserie lift because it was handy. That worked fine, but I think next time I'll use a fork or a skewer. Alternately you could place the other pan on the little baking trays that come with the oven.Customer Review: I love this oven
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying this particular oven, I read as many product reviews as could be found. They were for a similar Hamilton Beach Oven but not this exact one. And many were quite negative. But it seemed to be just what I wanted. This would be my third countertop oven. The first one lasted over 25 years. The second one, only about 8 years. It arrived earlier than predicted, always a plus. I burned every single thing I put in it for the first week. Not the oven's fault. I'm laughing as I write this. It is so efficient and works so well and I forgot the times on the previous oven were due to it's "dying" process. So, didn't think to compensate for a "new" oven. Well, now I'm doing much better and things are marvelous from this little jewel. Cookies, main dishes, heating up sauces quickly, (I just moved, gave away my microwave and decided not to buy another), sandwiches, even toast from atisan breads are perfectly cooked. So all the burnt foods were obviously "operator error".
At first, I worried what oven ware would fit into it but no worries. I now have a very tall stack of things that will fit comfortably in this oven including several 12-inch glass baking dishes for pizza and cookies. I only had to buy cookie sheets as all the rest (bread pans, muffin tins, springform cake pan, angelfood cake pan, etc) all fit inside very nicely. And best of all, the really large and oversized items can be given away, taking up less storage space in a space-challenged apt.
I would buy this oven again and again. It's the best. Oh, yes, the "bell" rings at the completion of cooking times and I can hear it in the most distant places of this apt. We've had really hot weather this summer and I've so appreciated only having to heat the kitchen for very few minutes to cook meals then a very quick cool down afterwards. I've not even turned on the large stove/oven that is built in to this apt. And I don't plan to, either. This oven is all I need. Oh, yes, I've been using it since the end of July 2007 - slightly under a month and with daily usage.
Customer Review: One of the best purchases I've made lately!
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to buy a toaster oven for two reasons: 1) I didn't feel like heating up the house when it's 100F outside and 2) I really hate my regular oven (always have a problem with getting the things baked evenly as the source of the heat is on the bottom, and you don't really want to broil your cake to get a nice brown crust). So I was looking for something compact, yet large enough to serve most of my baking/roasting needs. I also wanted it to have a convection and rotisserie options. Having researched dozens of toaster ovens, my husband and I chose this one, and I can tell you that we're very happy with our choice. It has all those things I was looking for, and the price is unbeatable (especially with free shipping).
I've had it for about a month, and have used it extensively for all kinds of things: roasted potatoes, two pizzas at once (note: when you bake two pizzas or anything else using 2 racks at a time, it's a good idea to rotate the baking sheets halfway through the cooking time, which is what I did with pizzas and two sheets of roasted potatoes), numerous batches of blueberry muffins (to my surprise, I could fit 16 muffin cups on a baking sheet that came with this oven - a full batch of muffins!), chicken, a chocolate cake...I absolutely love this thing! It's bigger than it looks because it's quite deep, yet it fits nicely on my counter under one of the cabinets. While the exterior does warm up when it's working, I didn't need to move it from underneath the cabinet (although I do take away a basket of tomatoes that normally "lives" near this oven when I use it).I love the convection feature a lot - it saves time and - finally - allows even baking. I haven't used the rotisserie option yet, but am certainly planning to. The only thing I don't use it for is actually toasting of bread - we have a regular wide slot toaster and are happy with the way it works, so no reason to.
I don't think I'll be going back to my regular oven until Thanksgiving - too bad I can't cook a turkey in this one!
Customer Review: Save your money!
Summary: 1 Stars
We purchased this product from an brick and mortar store on 2/14/08. It is not as it was advertised from the manufacturers. We purchased it for the main use of a rotisserie.
First of all, it takes apx. 2.5 hours to broil a 7 lb chicken. If you can successfully get the chicken in the oven and it remains on the spit for the full time. I don't know how many times we had to remove the chicken to re-tie it and re-insert it into the oven.
Second, the tines/forks are very flimsy. They start to bend and flex with the movement of the spit. They will not stay in the chicken. The wing nuts that screw into the tines will not stay snug on the rod. They even got stripped over a period of a few months usage. (Mind you, we would only use the rotisserie feature once a month)
Third, the lowest shelf for the rack sits too close so that as the chicken rotates, it rubs against the tray and often prevents the chicken from rotating.
Fourth, the tray often would warp, and rise on one end or the other, thereby causing the juices to run off of the tray.
After all of that, after a year of using it about once a month, it will not rotate the chicken completly, but does a half rotate, browning only one side of the bird.
I guess if you buy this for the other features, it may be ok. But why would you want such a large countertop oven that takes up so much of its space! Especially if you can't use all of its features.
What a waste of time, space, and money! Save these precious things and look elsewhere!
Customer Review: Works great while the parts are functioning....
Summary: 4 Stars
My husband and I used this oven for all our baking needs for almost exactly two years until one of the bottom heating elements died and was not available for replacement.
UPSIDES...Its baking capability is tremendous. It heats up very quickly and bakes very evenly. We often cooked pizza in it, which always turned out crisp, as well as cookies, breads, potatoes, etc. The double shelves are great for taller pots. I also love the baking pans that come with the oven and are the perfect size.
DOWNSIDES...It is an oven for two people and not great for baking for a crowd or making a large batch of anything (I could not fit more than two 8x8 bread pans in the oven). We did not use the convection option, which from the tinny fan sound seemed somewhat underpowered, so I do not know whether or not foods would be scorched if placed so close to the burner elements when using this option.
While it worked we were completely pleased, but we have been very disappointed that Hamilton Beach does not make replacement elements available for the countertop ovens. We tried the customer call line, local parts shops, as well as Sears supply store for possible retrofit of pieces, but all to no avail. According to a parts sales person who used to (5 years back) sell replacement Hamilton Beach elements the ovens are considered "throw away" once a simple part breaks. I would like to replace this oven and would buy another one, but I do not feel justified purchasing another short-life product that is ready for the scrap heap after only two years of service.