Hamilton Beach Gourmet 2 Slice Slot Toaster with Extra Long & Wide Slots, Sure-Toast Technology, Shade Selector, Bagel Setting, Matte Black and Stainless Steel (22996) Reviews

The Hamilton Beach® Gourmet 2 Slice Toaster has Sure-Toast™ 1 slice technology to evenly toast both sides of bread every time. The longer 6.5″ slots easily fit artisan, homemade and bakery breads. Includes 3 settings, 7 shade dial and crumb tray.
EVENLY TOAST BOTH SIDES OF BREAD: For evenly toasted, perfectly browned bread, the Hamilton Beach toaster is the best choice. Its Sure-Toast 1 slice technology provides balanced browning and color on both sides, even when you’re only toasting one slice.
CONVENIENTLY TOAST LONGER SLICES: Tired of toaster slots that don’t fit today’s longer slices? The longer 6.5-inch slots of this long slot toaster solve that problem since they easily fit long slices — no more cutting bread to fit or turning it over to finish toasting.
7 BROWNING LEVELS: The 7 shade selector dial adjusts to suit everyone’s taste and makes it easy to create a crispy, delicious backdrop for a wide variety of recipes.
TOAST THICKER BREADS: Wider than the slots on many 2 slice toasters, the perfectly proportioned extra-wide slots easily fit thicker breads such as bagels and Texas toast.
EASILY RETRIEVE SMALLER BREADS: Toast Boost lifts smaller breads like English muffins so they’re easier to retrieve after toasting.

Reviewer: JimH
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Toaster – Really Short Cord
Review: Toaster works very well. Toasts evenly, fairly quick. Slot size is perfect, case sides and bottom don’t get hot or even really warm. I love almost everything.Cord is really short, about 2 1/2ft, and is set up to exit the toaster toward the front. So, if you reroute it through the handy cord keeper, on the bottom, to exit the back, you lose about a foot.The cord almost got me to give a lower rating, but I really like this toaster. I’ll just buy a really short extension cord to match the really short toaster cord.

Reviewer: Rhonda
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best toaster I’ve ever owned
Review: It has all the features that are important to me: *Sides of toaster do not get hot (top will as it toasts but it has not melted any of the exterior), and the hard plastic body is a nice ‘flat black’ color. It is no larger than a ‘standard-sized’ toaster and fits easily where I want it on my counter. *Toasts bread evenly. It takes 1.5 to 2 minutes to get 1 slice of bread lightly to medium toasted (level 2 or 3 on adjustable dial). *It has a “1 Slice” button that will adjust the center heating unit so that a lone slice will not burn as toasting. The “Bagel” button also allows for well toasted bagels. *It will easily hold a big bagel cut in half to toast, or wide bread- even a standard hot dog bun will lay sideways (no more standing up a bun and then turning it over and flushing twice!). *And, as an extra feature, the handle is designed to allow you to lift the bread higher out of the toaster to make it easier to retrieve a short piece (like if a piece broke off, or a half of a hot dog bun). Only thing missing is a “defrost” button, but that’s OK- just turn dial to 1 higher level of browning.I would definitely recommend this Hamilton Beach Gourmet 2 Slice toaster.

Reviewer: Katja
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I’ll keep it.
Review: After 30+ years, my beloved Sunbeam toaster is toast 🙁 I had hoped to find a vintage version for sale somewhere, but no such luck. This is an OK toaster, and does a decent job of toasting both sides fairly evenly. However, as others have commented, it IS slow, and both slots heat up, even when selecting the “single slice” option. Sometimes, the bread doesn’t stay down on the first try, but may need 1-2 additional tries before it does. The slots are wide and long – perfect for my homemade bread (a major selling point for me). It has a “tinnier” feel than my old toaster – lighter in weight and not as solid-feeling, but I do like the matte-finish sides that don’t show finger marks (the ends are shiny metal, though). The cord is on the short side, as others have mentioned, but not a problem for my situation. I just hope this one lasts half as long as my older one.

Reviewer: Jazzy’s mom
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: It’s a great toaster!
Review: It’s a great toaster. I have the black and chrome. What I really love is the extra long and extra wide slots. I use the artisan bread, not your normal sandwich bread. It’s even able to toast bagels. So far it’s a superb toaster!

Reviewer: S. A. Wolff
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Works great
Review: This Hamilton Beach Gourmet 2 Slice Slot Toaster with Extra Long & Wide Slots, Sure-Toast Technology, Shade Selector, Bagel Setting, Matte Black and Stainless Steel (22996) works great for me in my small kitchen. I wanted a two-slice toaster that would not take up too much space, but would toast anything from a small naan to a sliced bagel. This toaster meets all my needs and wants. I also like that this stays cool on the exterior and it is easy to clean the crumb tray. Looks nice, to boot.

Reviewer: Fall girl
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Perfect
Review: Toasts evenly on both sides of bread . When using the one slice feature it takes a minute for the middle element to turn off for even browning and it does brown evenly! As far as looks go it looks way better in person nice streamlined look with pretty matte black finish . I’m happy with this toaster it’s sturdy too. The lever pushes down smoothly also.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Deceptive advertising; one slice button is a useless gimmick, and still wastes ½ of the wattage
Review: Deceptive advertising; one slice button is a useless gimmick, and still wastes ½ of the wattage by keeping the elements of the unused slot on almost all of the toasting time.This is not a good choice if you are looking for a toaster that will toast one piece of bread without wasting energy. There are two toast slots. From the ad, I expected it to evenly toast one slice of bread in one slot, and turn off the other slot rather than wasting ½ of the energy for an empty slot. Instead, if you put one slice in and push the “ONE SLICE” button, all four sets of elements are lit, and near the end of the cycle it shuts off the two inside sets of elements and only the outside elements stay on. It continues to toast one side of the one piece of toast, and wastes the energy of the other outside element. It does not give the even results as advertised, and makes this statement: “EVENLY TOAST BOTH SIDES OF BREAD: For evenly toasted, perfectly browned bread, the Hamilton Beach toaster is the best choice. Its Sure-Toast 1 slice technology provides balanced browning and color on both sides, even when you’re only toasting one slice.”The toaster is overpriced for what it offers, since it does not toast a single slice without wasting more than half of the wattage and giving uneven results. The chord is much too short.On the positive side it looks good and has nice sized openings. When used normally with two slices or one slice with all the elements on, it does give even results.

Reviewer: Marctwane
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good for toasting large items
Review: I have tried two or three toasters recently, only to be dissatisfied and then returning them. The main reasons were uneven toasting, small slots, and or cheap construction. This toaster has no major issues. I can toast larger artisan bread or bagels. The slots are 6 1/2″ by 1 1/4″ wide. It toasts reasonably even on each side. I believe the darkness control is continuously variable, so you can fine tune the amount of toasting. The bagel setting works perfectly. I’m not sure what difference the “single slice” control setting makes. Both sides still heat up when it’s activated. I measured the cord and it is over 30″ from the plug to where it enters the toaster. The body stays cool when in use. Overall I am quite satisfied with my purchase.