Hamilton Beach Gourmet 2-Slice with Extra-Long Slots
Marketed on the length of its slots, at 6.5 inches. Included as the clearest example of what the phrase does not guarantee.
The measurements
- Brand
- Hamilton Beach
- Model number
- 22996
- Slots
- 2
- Slice capacity
- 2
- Controls
- Shade selector, seven levels
- Lift
- Toast Boost
- Functions
Best for Ordinary sandwich bread. It is a good short-slot toaster
Watch out for It is sold as an extra-long slot and it is 6.5 inches, well under the bar for the category
Published figure, not independently checked. Source: Manufacturer listing. Manufacturer slot figures are usually taken at the widest point of the opening; an independent measurement is usually taken where the bread has to pass.
Hamilton Beach is straightforward about the number: the slots are 6.5 inches, and the listing says so plainly. There is no deception here. The problem is the phrase “extra long”, which is not defined by anybody and does not mean the same thing as long slot.
Six and a half inches will take a longer supermarket slice without turning it over halfway through, and that is a genuine convenience. What it will not do is take two slices side by side, or a slice off a bakery batard, which is what somebody searching for a long slot toaster is usually trying to solve.
It is in this index as the control case. Every other model here is at or above ten inches on the axis that gets published. This one is not, and it is described in shop listings with the same vocabulary. If you take one thing from the site, take this: read the number, not the adjective.
Judged as what it actually is, a well-specified conventional toaster with seven shade levels, a bagel setting and a boost for short items, it is fine.
What this slot takes
Judged on length alone, against the slot figure on record. Width and depth decide whether a thick or tall slice clears, and where those are blank we cannot answer for them.
- Sandwich slice4.5″ Fits A standard supermarket slice, laid flat.
- Two slices, side by side9.5″ Too short The reason the shape exists. Needs about 10 inches with room to load.
- Bagel half4.5″ Fits Length is easy. Bagels fail on width, not length.
- Sourdough round slice8″ Too short A slice off a large boule, cut across the widest point.
- Bakery batard slice10.5″ Too short The slice that defeats almost everything on the market.
Have a figure we are missing, or one you think is wrong? Send it to us and we will publish it with the source named.