Toasters Buying Guide
A piece of toast can be the ultimate satisfying snack, whether it starts your day with breakfast toast topped with butter, or you like to load it with different spreads and fruit as a tasty afternoon or evening treat, the humble piece of toast is a staple in a lot of people’s everyday diets. But, of course, the easiest way to make it is with a toaster. From a two-slice toaster to a six-slice toaster, this device is an essential staple for every kitchen countertop. Here’s what features to look out for when you’re looking to choose the best toaster for your home.
Wide slot toaster
This will allow you to toast wide slices of bread, making for the most delicious breakfast of doorstop toast – the proper good stuff. Ideal if you bake your own bread or buy uncut loaves, so you can easily toast slices that you cut yourself of varying thicknesses.
Two-slice, four-slice or six-slice
Of course, this depends on how much toast you are going to make, and a mega toaster with slots for six slices at a time is ideal for feeding hungry families on busy weekday mornings. The good thing about this is that all the toast can be ready at the same time, so no cold toast if you’re making multiple breakfasts. Although many multi-slice toasters offer different settings per pair of slices, which is great for families that have different preferences. Four and six-slice toasters could also be ideal in a commercial kitchen. If you’re looking for a standard and cheap toaster, then a two-slice model will usually do the job just fine.
Independent slot function
The independent slot function available on some of the best toasters will mean that the slots will go down individually, so if you only want one piece of toast, the other slot won’t waste any energy. Genius.
Level of toastiness
This is essential for those who like their toast a certain way – from little more than warm bread to crispy and well-done, the adjusters available on toasters can help you determine what level of toastiness is just right for you and will therefore make the toast pop up when it’s ready to your standard. Perfect.
Removable tray
The most annoying thing about toast is probably the crumbs it leaves behind and you have more than likely found yourself googling ‘how to clean a toaster’ before now. A build-up of crumbs inside your toaster can also be a fire risk. Buying a toaster with a removable tray means you can clean the crumbs left behind quickly and easily.
Cool walls
If you have an older model of toaster, you’re probably familiar with how hot to the touch the outside can get when it’s in use. Choosing a toaster from the range of cool wall models available is beneficial particularly if you have children who could get burnt, but all in all they are just a much safer option if the toaster is going to sit on the kitchen counter.
Defrost setting
Freezing bread is a great way to stop wastage but when you want a quick piece of toast and there are only frozen slices, you’re only saving grace is a toaster with a ‘defrost’ setting – perfect toast even from the freezer. By pressing the defrost button, the toaster will cycle the heat rather than just cook it at full force, meaning it shouldn’t burn on the outside before it’s heated through.
Reheating setting
There’s nothing worse than a delicious piece of toast that’s been forgotten and gone cold. The reheat setting on toasters will re-heat the toast but not re-toast it and is now a common feature on several different brands of toaster.
Digital display
This is an easy way to see which setting your toaster is on and enables you to set a timer easily to prevent any burnt toast disasters. Smart toasters will often have a digital display and can also be controlled via an app on your phone.