Hamilton BeachCool-Touch 2 Slice Extra Wide Slot Toaster with Bagel & Defrost Settings, Shade Selector, Auto-Shutoff and Cancel Button, Black (22464)

It's hard to believe that such a simple appliance, which has been around for decades, could be created to fail at performing its intended simple task. However, Hamilton Beach has succeeded.I purchased this toaster to replace a 25 year old toaster that finally died. I was just looking for a simple, no-frills toaster. I saw that this Hamilton Beach model had received a lot of positive reviews, but my experience has been completely the opposite. In a nutshell, no matter what setting is used to make toast, the bread is never toasted evenly. One side is significantly darker than the other. It's not even close! I have uploaded 4 photos of 2 pieces of bread toasted using this appliance (1 photo for each side of toast).I have used the toaster for a couple of months hoping that it might get better... it hasn't. So I'm shopping again for another toaster and I'll be sure to steer clear of Hamilton Beach.

I bought this as a companion item for the Hamilton Beach coffee maker ( Hamilton Beach 49980A Single Serve Coffee Brewer and Full Pot Coffee Maker, 2-Way  that I also reviewed. The toaster looks really good next to its coffee maker brother. I was impressed with the defrost feature which works really well. It does exactly what it says it does, "defrosts" without toasting at all. The toaster is easy to clean due to the slide out crumb trays. Other toasters have a drop down "trap door" type crumb disposal system which leads to crumbs everywhere. The wide slots easy accommodate thicker slices as well as bagels. The bagel feature also works well if you just want to toast your bread on one side ( a habit we have in the UK). The toaster does not toast the bread evenly (hence the 4 star). This could be attributed to the spacing of the recessed heating elements. The price point is not bad so overall I do recommend this toaster.Britech Score out of 5:Looks - 5Function - 5Features - 5Toasting quality - 4Total score: 19/20

This arrived yesterday. We put in 4 slices of bread to try it out. Going left to right, the results were disappointing to be kind. Slice 1, left side, toasted perfectly, right side, no toasting at all except along one edge of the slice for about 1/2 inch! Slice 2, left side, no toasting noticeable, right side slight toasting on one half of slice. Slice 3, no noticeable toasting on either side. Slice 4, left side very slight toasting, right side very slight toasting. Slice 4 was the only slice even close to uniform toasting, but even at the same intensity setting as the left slices, it was barely toasted.We sent it back the next day. Several others have noted the extreme unevenness of the toasting of this model.

I've owned this for 9 months. We're a family of 4 and use it for bagels, toast and waffles. It gets almost daily use and it does the job. The exterior stays cool to the touch, even the metal area around the handles and dial. Of course the metal on the top around the slots gets very hot. The slots are defnitely wide and deep and will accommodate the largest bagel on the market. Unfortunately the averaage sized bagel sinks down quite low in the slots even before you push the lever down. I have to believe the photo with the bagles sitting halfway out of the toaster was achieved by putting something in the slots to support the bagel and make it stick out more. When our bagels or waffles "pop up" they are barely above the very hot metal frame of the slots. We use wooden tongs to get things out without burning our fingers. You can lift up on the lever to raise the bagel a little higher, but it's still risky trying to use your fingers to grab the edge of the bread. The other not so good thing is that it heats a bit unevenly. The outter slots are definitely hotter that the inner slots. If you leave your bread in long enough for the slice on the inside slot to be golden brown, then the slice on the outter slot gets burnt. That's when I use the "cancel" button to quickly pop up the toast before it burns too much. It actually works out well. I like my toast well-done and my daughter likes hers medium rare. So if we each just want one slice, we only need to use one half of the toaster to get the perfect toast for each of us!*UPDATE* at the 18th month mark of use about 2 to 3 times a week, the two inner slots no longer toast the side of bread facing the center of the toaster. And the other side of that piece that faces the outside of the toaster only gets toasted a little. The left outer slot gets hot enough and seems to work O.K. The right side outer slot will toast but it takes about twice as long.

This toaster looks nice and has a convenient way to remove crumbs from the bottom of the toaster (A pull out tray). It has 7 settings for darkness/lightness of toast/bagels. My problem is that the center slots do not toast as well as the outside slots. This means that if you use the two slots on one side of the toaster one of your bagels/toast will be darker than the other. I usually just just both of the outside slots to get an even darkness for both pieces, but this requires twice as much electricity as a 2 slot toaster because you are still heating up all 4 slots. It also makes it a pain if you want to toast 4 things at once which is the original reason I bought this toaster.

I don't know what it is about toasters. It's really a simple process - heat up enough to toast a piece of bread. It's their only job! I like this toaster because it toasts 4 pieces of bread and bagels fit in perfectly. There are plates in front of the coils so it works something like a infrared heater (like my outdoor barbecue grill). The plates heat up and you would think that they would distribute the heat evenly. It doesn't. Bread comes out overdone on one end and hardly toasted on the other. Can't tell you how many toasters do this. You don't know how a toaster will work when you buy it. Will probably go back to my trusty counter-top oven. It takes a lot longer to toast but at least you know what to expect.

useless toaster - ordered it once, toaster toasts on only on side of the bread. Thought it was defective. Ordered it again. Same problem. Asked for my money back. If this is a default in a toaster it is pretty disappointing. Very good return service from amazon though.

Excelente precio. El pan se puede tostar en varios niveles con claros grados de calor. Ranura ancha para todos tipos de pan. Me gusta también por robusto, lo que me hace esperar que dure más que otros que hemos tenido antes.

It is absolute crap, button is hard to stay down, then it never toasts the top of the bread. Really a piece of crap! Do not buy, I would return it if I could. Feels Cheap and is!

power hungry monster, make sure your house is equipped with the necessary power outlet to handle this load.

We just love this toaster. I recommend this toaster if you are searching for one. It is an excellent product