FUNKY Large Retro Toaster, Extra Wide & Deep Slots, 4 Slice, Chrome (FT-01-CHROME)

Product Information

The two wide toasting slots were more than big enough to cope with doorstop slices carved from a whole farmhouse loaf, as well as standard supermarket medium pre-cut bread. For a gorgeous-looking toaster if your budget is a bit bigger, look no further. You heard that right - the technology within this toaster is automatically monitoring the toasting time of your slice, so that it never overdoes it. And once you've got to optimal toastiness, you can save your settings for the next round. A defrost setting is useful for frozen bread. First, it defrosts bread then switches to the toasting cycle. Each model is different: on some models, you need to press the defrost button before you push the bread carriage down, while others are pushed once you’ve activated the toaster. The results were impressive: toast was evenly done, and it’s faster and more power-efficient than anything we’ve seen at this price. The slots are really wide, too, so getting bigger items to fit isn’t a problem. Speaking of which, there’s a bagel mode so you can get them crunchy on the outside and doughy on the inside – as nature intended. There’s no automatic pop-up, although it does have lovely wide slots, you just lower your toast in manually using the lever at the front then turn the browning control to the desired setting and it starts to count down.

During testing, the Elegancy performed well. We were able to achieve a nice even brownness using all the settings for the most part, although sometimes the level of browness did vary – something we see a lot on mid-price toasters. The defrost setting works best on a lower setting and doesn’t dry out bread too much. What’s more, we found it very easy to clean thanks to crumb trays that are easy to remove. All in all, this is a nifty little toaster with some great functions at a decent price. While a new toaster isn't the most costly appliance you need to invest in for your home, the best on the market aren't exactly cheap. That's why we've put all of the toasters in this guide to the test - so that you know whether they are worth your cash before you part with it. A bagel setting is handy for anything, like bagels or English muffins, that you want to toast on just one side. We think timing is important too, which is why we assess how long single slices take to toast using the same setting on every model, again for testing consistency. Once all the toasting and tasting is done, we look at build quality and style, and whether these reflect a model’s price tag. Your toaster should be as functional as it is stylish, which is why our testing takes everything into consideration. It browned faster and more evenly than most other models on test, producing perfectly browned bread in a little over a minute and a half. Most others took more than two minutes and while 30 seconds might not seem much, if you’re rushing to get the kids to school, that could make all the difference.Next, you can tip your toaster on its side and take a look at the internals. Using a pastry brush or toothbrush, gently give the elements inside a scrub to dislodge any remaining crumbs. Do not put your fingers inside the toaster or use anything metal to clean the interior. It’s also easy to clean, but it’s better suited to standard-sized loaves, so probably not your best bet if you use homemade bread. And the shiny look shows up every mark.

Hand-built in the UK since 1945, this is the toaster to buy if you don't want to fork out for another one for many years to come. It's a steep investment, yes, but the price reflects the fact that its makers believe it’s a toaster that will last a lifetime.

Although it’s not huge, it does everything you need it to, and it does it all well. There are six browning functions; we opted for mid-way but noticed that once the toaster was warmed up, we could dial it down a bit. It also has a defrost button so there aren’t any ‘Oh no, I forgot to take the bread out of the freezer’ moments, while the one side toasting function is good for bagels and the reheat perfect for those of us that sometimes get distracted and leave the toast to cool. While a two-slice toaster will only have a single browning control (timer), on a four-slice model you may be provided with one or two such controls. A single control means the timer is set for all four slots, which is fine if you all want your toast done the same way. Two timers means you can set each pair of slots separately so you can toast, say, crumpets on one side while doing toast on the other, or have “his and hers” slots set to your personal preferences. What features should I look out for in a toaster? It’s also available as a four-slice model, which should perform similarly to this one and has the advantage of two great big slots (rather than the more common four smaller slots) so that you can toast longer items with ease.

Now it’s time to clean the outside. Using a damp sponge or microfiber cloth with some dish soap, give the outside a scrub. This will shift any unsightly fingerprints or splatters. Then rinse away the soap with a damp microfiber cloth and buff. The Cuisinart Style Collection 4 Slot Toaster is the perfect choice for bagel lovers. It's a more common feature in American toasters to have a bagel setting, which will toast the inside of the bagel while leaving the outside nice and chewy, but because Cuisinart is an American classic brand, we got to experience the joys of a bagel setting for ourselves. One thing to note is that you should place the bagel with the outside facing in if you want the inside to be toasted on the bagel setting. Perfect for smaller and solo households, the catch is that it only comes in white with a grey panel, so colour fans will have to look elsewhere.Carry your toaster (with the crumb tray removed) to your trash can or sink and gently invert and shake it to remove any other crumbs caught inside. We also think the De'Longhi Ballerina Toaster is reasonably priced for how luxe it feels to use. Its design was noticeably sturdy during testing and the toast comes out with far fewer lines on the bread. High lift saves you from burning your fingers by pushing the slots up so you can retrieve your toast safely.