De'Longhi Distinta Flair 4 slot toaster, reheat, defrost, one-side bagel & 6 browning settings, matte metallic design, CTI4003.R, Red

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Also the De’Longhi’s lever doesn’t pop the toast up terribly high: you can only just reach a crumpet when it’s pushed up. It has four different slots for you to place whatever you want. They evenly brown each slice of toast, regardless of it coming from the freezer or not. The dial is also pretty easy to read, so you may have to play with it to get the right level. The sliding crumb tray on the side also makes it pretty easy to clean. It is an excellent first stop when it comes to looking for a cost-effective toaster with premium features. If you’d like the very best results from a four-slice toaster I’d recommend the Dualit Brushed Architect Four-Slice Toaster, which is cheaper than the De’Longhi. And if you’d just like a bargain then the Hotpoint TT44EAX0 won’t disappoint. Verdict The bagel setting was OK: results were fairly even, with one end browner than the other. But it wasn’t a patch on the Dualit Brushed Architect Four-Slice Toaster’s excellent bagel setting which leaves the undersides warm but beautifully soft.

It has two toasting levers with multiple browning controls. It allows you greater control over what parts of your bread are toasted. If you are looking for a premium option in the toasting world, look no further than the KitchenAid Artisan. A reheat button will automatically turn the browning down or reduce the time when you re-insert your toast. This setting is for keeping your bread warm as opposed to re-toasting it. You can turn down the browning for the same effect, but all models do come with this in some capacity. Audible Toast Alert There are also buttons for bagel, defrosting/toasting bread straight from frozen and for reheating toast that’s gone cold. And there’s a cancel button that stops toasting – which means that you can lift the levers at the front to lift the toast and inspect progress.The KitchenAid Artisan is our first step into the world of premium toasters. Regardless of it being premium, it does still have a couple of problems with the more complicated types of bread. However, this bread toaster is on the other end of the spectrum. It can handle crumpets.

It weakens a little bit with a single slice, which is typical given that there is typically too much heat to one slice. If you want to use the more complicated bread with several seeds (such as Burgen Bread), you may also run into some complications.

Breville The Bit More Plus 4 Slice Toaster BTA440BSS: No bagel setting, but included crumpet setting Typically speaking, a four-slot toaster crams two toasters together into one unit. It means that it will have four separate slots but two separate control areas. Each side should be considered a different toaster. The Kambrook Perfect Fit 2 Slice is our first stop on this toaster adventure. As expected, it does have a setting to defrost frozen bread, which the Perfect Fit is pretty good at doing. As far as standard bread, you can imagine it is just as good at handling that. Whether you’ve accidentally left your toast in a bit too long, need to defrost a slice or two straight from the freezer, or want to reheat some toast that’s gone cold, the integrated controls will make it easy. With its sophisticated metallic grey finish and chrome detailing, this De’Longhi Distinta 4-Slice Toaster already has a lot going for it. But when you add in the fact that it makes slice after slice of perfectly browned toast (there are six shades to choose from), we’re sure you’ll be able to find space for it in your kitchen, preferably alongside the matching kettle.

The handy extra lift position makes it simple to retrieve smaller slices of bread or crumpets without the risk of burnt fingers. Founded in the early twentieth century in Treviso, De’Longhi are an Italian engineering company famous for their stylish and high-quality home appliances. They have a simple ethos: ‘A De’Longhi product will always turn the everyday into something special.’Each toaster has a tolerance level for the smaller items it can take. Some of them have specific settings for bagels or crumpets. We will list them out below. The KitchenAid is the only model that comes with an audible toast alert. You have one when your toaster comes with a mechanical lift. While that might seem needless, there is always a chance that your toaster may pop the toast into your open hand or a low hanging cabinet. Toasting Smaller Items A toast defrost setting allows you to place frozen pieces of toast directly in your toaster. It adds an extra period of heat to account for melting the ice from the toast. All of the models we reviewed today include this feature. Reheating Toast Offering six shades of brown via the progressive browning controls, everyone’s toast can be done just how they like it – and because the controls can be adjusted independently of each other, you can toast two different shades at once. If you know your household will not eat four pieces of toast, bagels, or crumpets, adding another toaster to your toaster is pretty needless. Make that decision based on how much you are willing to spend. The KitchenAid toaster is the only four-slot model. Toast Defrost Setting

Each pair of slots has its own removable crumb tray. Just slide them out and tip excess crumbs into the bin to keep your toaster clean and mess-free. It has a brushed metal exterior that doesn’t end up covered in fingerprints and then chrome on top around the slots. If you are willing to tolerate some finagling with this, it is an easy-to-use and effective toaster at your basics. It has a high-lift level so you can see your bread as it progresses. You can even stop the process with a button right upfront. Love it or loathe it, at least you won’t find the De’Longhi’s design boring. The styling is so overengineered that the controls look less like a toaster and more like the dashboard of a vintage car. With our review out of the way, we can confidently say that the DeLonghi Distinta Flair CTI2003 has won this competition for the best toast NZ has available. It is the only reasonably priced toaster that combines all of the features we have discussed throughout this. It is only missing an audible beep and a mechanical lift.

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