Hamilton Beach 31156 2-in-1 Oven and Toaster

Consumer Reports' top toast scores, plus light baking

The Hamilton Beach 31156 solves a problem the other four picks don't: oven-style toasting is slow and uneven, so the 31156 puts an actual long-slot pop-up toaster on top of a small bake/broil oven. The result, per Consumer Reports, is the best toast in the category — it was "the only model in our ratings to receive top-notch scores in all of our tests for toast," with excellent full-batch and toasting-time results. Hamilton Beach claims it toasts up to 40% faster than a typical toaster oven, and the pop-up slots deliver more consistent browning than radiant oven elements.

The oven half handles light baking and broiling. HGTV's long-term reviewer, replacing a beloved 13-year-old Hamilton Beach combo, reported the 31156 "lives up to its predecessor" and noted "the oven can fit a 9-inch pizza, yet the overall size of the entire unit is not that much bigger." It is a quick-toast-plus-occasional-bake machine, and within that lane it's excellent.

The 2-in-1 Design

The defining feature is the dual form factor: a two-slice long-slot toaster with a five-shade selector sits above a 16.5-liter oven, and a slide lever switches which one is active. For a small kitchen that wants both appliances without two separate boxes, this is genuinely clever.

Controls are simple analog dials plus the mode lever, with a 60-minute timer and auto shutoff on the oven side. There's no learning curve and no digital menus — a deliberate contrast to the preset-driven Breville and Ninja.

Build Quality and Value

The 31156 is one of the budget picks here, and the stainless finish looks tidier than its price. It is a 1450-watt unit with a one-year warranty, standard for the segment. The value proposition is narrow but real: you get class-leading toast plus a usable small oven for less than a third of what the Breville costs. For a dorm, a small apartment, or a household that toasts daily and bakes only occasionally, that's a strong deal.

Tops out at a 9-inch pizza, no convection

The 31156's limits are versatility and oven evenness. The oven cavity is small — a 9-inch pizza is the ceiling — and there's no convection, no air fry, and no digital presets, so it can't roast a chicken or crisp fries the way the other four can. Some owners report toast occasionally sticking in the pop-up slots, requiring a nudge, and a few note the bottom of oven-baked items can overcook before the top browns. These are the trade-offs of a budget toast-first design, not deal-breakers for its intended use.

Faster toast than any oven-style rival here

The 31156 is the odd one out — a toast specialist among multi-function ovens. It makes better, faster toast than the oven-only browning of the Breville Smart Oven Compact BOV670, Cuisinart TOA-60, Ninja Foodi SP101, or Toshiba AC25CEW, but it's far less capable for everything else: no air fry, no convection, no rotisserie, and the smallest oven. If toast is your priority and baking is occasional, it wins; if you want a true do-everything countertop oven, any of the higher-ranked picks is a better fit.

A toast-first pick for dorms and small households

Buy the 31156 if you toast every day and want pop-up-toaster speed and consistency plus a small oven for the occasional pizza or melt, all for under $100 and in a compact footprint. It's ideal for small households, dorms, and anyone who finds oven-style toasting too slow. Skip it if you want air fry (the Cuisinart TOA-60 or Ninja SP101), even multi-rack baking and roasting (the Breville BOV670 or Toshiba AC25CEW), or the capacity to cook a whole chicken — this is a toast-first machine and proudly so.