Burnt, patchy, underdone: the quest for a decent slice of toast

My Russell Hobbs gave me 14 years of faithful service
and with adjustable settings gave me toasts the degree
of browning/doneness that I want almost all of the time.
Almost because with frozen sliced bread never white, it
sometimes lost its sense of timing and bread popped
up when not quite done.

Those cheapy budget ‘Made in China’ ones are not
good at all. Also prone to breakdown.

Dualit toasters much in use in boarding schools
and uni halls of residence/student hostels and they
were quite/very robust.

I was given a toaster recently after my own went bang, turned the lights out and frightened my niece.

We have to prise the slices out and the tea cakes out and it is really annoying. It just doesn’t seem to have enough spring.

I’d always want one that I can toast a variety of things in including pitta bread.

If I didn’t have that initial problem with it I might notice how even the tanning was!

I’m keeping my 14-year-old Moulinex toaster until the day it dies, which hopefully will be a long time in the future. I will NEVER buy any of these modern toasters because they are all made in China or some other low-wage country, even Dualit toasters apparently have Chinese parts – despite the label on some Dualit models claiming the toaster is made in the UK!! None of these new toasters last long and are appalling flimsily made. The older toasters last decades.

If I have to replace my toaster, I will buy an old second hand toaster that will outlast the modern ones. I don’t use my toaster everyday and I have to turn the slices sideways to brown evenly, but at least it works properly and it’s made in Spain to a decent standard.

I keep it clean inside and out. Fingers crossed I don’t have to replace it for a very long time.

Toaster makers should talk to bread maker manufacturers. We’re going round the shops with a cardboard cutout of a slice of bread from a bread maker. As one of your other commenters says, only long 4 slice toaster will fit.

I find it very strange that no-one has ranted about the dials on toasters which invariably only allow for dark brown to on fire toasting. As far as I can tell with mine the numbers on the dial refer to minutes. Why on earth would I toast bread for 6 minutes??
I seem to spend my time hovering over the top of my toaster sniffing for that perfect toasty smell or for any hint of burn.
I have to admit I hadn’t given much thought to having to turn my toast the other way up to get it all toasted. I’d put it down to me being particular (obsessive). I fell better knowing that the man with the cardboard cutout of a slice of toast is far more particular than me.

Whilst the toasters I’ve tried have all of the faults mentioned, my main gripe is that after using any new toaster for a very short while, they take longer and longer to make a decent slice of toast. Unfortunately I can’t use the grill in the top of my electric oven because it smokes the house out and yes it is cleaned to within an inch of its life! And, the grill in your ‘Best Buy’ Cookworks oven is worse than useless after 3 months!

Fussy? We should be! Which has the place and the space for all to respond with their quick reports of what they have bought and what is right and wrong with it. The manufacturers will soon have to change if even one manufacturer made something which worked perfectly at the same price as the ‘tat’.
Back on the toast front, why can’t we have proper heat to TOAST instead of the slow drying out period we have now? Another one would be colour-controlled pop-up! Light-brown? Certainly, here you go. ‘When I were a lad’, I could drop down the front of the coal grate and pop a slice of toast onto a toasting fork and- as if by magic (physics) the toast was toasted perfectly in about 5 seconds per side; crumpets were about 20 seconds. Cracking job, Gromit! If only we could have 7kw toasters, hmm?

Not strictly a toaster, I know, but my Aga makes perfect toast

While I agree with all the complaints about toasters that have already been given my real hate is the fact that the crumb catchers are so absolutely inadequate and even if you empty it the toaster is still full of crumbs. Why is it that the toaster is 4 inches wide but the tray is only 2.
I live alone and do not wish or want to buy a four slice toaster so that I may turn it into a two slice because the bread can only fit sideways.I think that the real problem lays with the designers not knowing the size of a British sliced loaf the rest of Europe do not have the large slices that we have in a precut loaf.

Our Dualit toaster has been durable. The clockwork timer is easy to use. It is possible to set it to toast or four slices.

However, the two centre slots toast faster then the outside slots. It toasts unevenly and we now stop halfway and turn slices round both vertically and horizontally to ensure an even finish. The ejection control is by a manual lever which has its benefits but, because it is hinged on one side of the slot, it can make extracting small slices diffiicult. The mechanism can also crush or crumple slices of bread making intact extraction impossible.

It looks good though!

Why waste kitchen space with a toaster if you have a cooker with grill?
The toast is visible, so its easy to get the result you like.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5771780.html

http://www.freshpatents.com/Electric-toaster-dt20081113ptan20080279998.php

Actually there are many people patenting “improved” toasters over the years – the above being samples rather than a list of all. Unfortunately hi-tech costs and there is little guarantee that people would pay sufficient when it came to the crunch.

Most of us would not wish to invest a minimum of a couple of hundred thousand pounds, three years of our lives, and go through regulatory tests on the basis we can sell sufficient toasters at £200+ a pop. Oops I forgot I have to build the factory or pay a manufacturer, oh and the 100% store mark-up, and the advertising ………

However it is an interesting insight into the economics of replacing something that is relatively cheap and works reasonably well! Our only hope is a petition to Dyson … though cheap it won’t be.

All I want is a toaster that has long, deep, slots that can take and adjust to all sizes of bread slices from the very small to the largest door step, and which can accomodate buns, crumpets etc as required.

A toaster that is easy to clean, remove the crumbs from, and has easy to use controls that feel solid and not made out flimsy thermoplastic.

Most importantly of course is the essential no-nonsense requirement to produce evenly toasted bread, time after time, that one can be assured to enjoy, and not ever be disappointed by.

Why oh why don’t toaster manufacturers actually ask consumers what they really want from a toaster, and then produce the toasters that do the required job well, and that consumers actually want to buy.

I live in hope!

Have the Russell Hobbs one slot recommended toaster. It is slow, larger slices poke out of the top when two slices inserted. One slice you can lay it on it’s side. It’s main positive is that it browns the toast more evenly than any other toaster I have had..

The reason why a lot of toasters are not big enough for a slice of bread from a normal size British loaf is that they have been designed to sell in mainland Europe where the standard loaves tend to be of square section. These toasters are imported cheaply into the UK because they are mass produced for a larger market. You can buy toasters designed for the British size of loaf, but you’ll probably pay more for it. I havn’t checked the Which? reports lately, but they used to include this in the specifications.

It’s highly unlikely any manufacturer now will make a solid and reliable toaster that: has a 10 year guarantee, is repairable, is made outside of China and deep/wide enough to properly accommodate 2 or 4 slices of British sized bread! Anyway, would people have the worktop space for a larger toaster?

If my 14 year old toaster breaks, I might just use my grill and not buy another toaster. The grill may be the slower option, but at least you can wash away all the crumbs from the grill pan or place it in the dishwasher. Every toaster seems to leave crumbs everywhere, even those with crumb trays! My own toaster has a crumb tray, but I still have to clean the toaster and its surroundings of crumbs regularly.

If you try the grill, it’s best to switch on the grill and let it warm up first while you get out the bread, butter, make coffee etc. If I make cheese on toast – then obviously I can’t use the toaster and must use the grill only. I know from experience that the grill toasts bread more evenly and much faster when the grill is hotter, so it’s a good idea to watch your bread so you can immediately remove the grill pan when the bread is toasted to your liking. Toasting the other side is very quick – by then the grill is nice and hot and the bread is already cooked on one side.

If you are only grilling 1 or 2 slices, your grill may allow you to use part of it to save energy. My electric grill allows me to use one half or both.

Last tip – make sure the bread is within the perimeter of the heating area. You’ll be surprised how evenly a grill toasts bread!

We have only had about 3 toasters during over 30 years of marriage but then we don’t make toast quite every day for breakfast. However, our priority is to have a toaster that takes buns, pitta bread and hand cut bread. We had two Tefel Think & Thin Toasters but they don’t seem to make them anymore so our present one is a silver Kenwood with one long slot on which you can adjust the width with a very simple lever. It has a lift out section to hold the bread so is really easy to use and it even has a reasonable size crumb tray. One visitor was so impressed she referred to it as a Rolls Royce of toasters!
I am hoping it has a long life as no doubt we will have trouble getting another.

I have been reading all the comments re: toasters and can concur with the majority that modern toasters these days are a huge disappointment and rarely last longer than a few years, do not toast evenly and will not take the size of a bloomer slice unless one has the one / two long slotted type. Our soft touch 2 long slotted Dualit which died on us a few months ago ( within its 3 year guarantee ) has never toasted our bread evenly and has not warranted it’s high cost ( despite its “chic” design ). As it is a soft touch model, we have been told that there no spare replacements for this type of model. Hence I too am surprised that Dualit has been rated highly by the Which toaster reviews. Perhaps the reviews should make readers aware that there can be huge differences between different models . As Dualit have discontinued the soft touch model ( I can understand the reasons !!! ) I am left with no other choice than to get a refund and blow it on very cheap models frequently as they “die” and add more carbon footprints to the environment 🙁

I also have a Tefal Avanti 4 slot toaster. It’s pretty good actually, even making a decent stab at toasting the unevenly cut door-wedges I throw at it!

The comment above about setting the grill to timer for perfect toast in the morning…. wow, you must be a disciplined lot, getting up at the same second of the same minute every day! That just sounds to me like a house-fire waiting to happen!

A grill should never be left unattended for any amount of time. Having it set on a timer is asking for a fire!!!!

An electric grill works best if it has been pre-heated for at least 3 minutes first, plenty of time in which to make a hot drink first then put the bread under the hot grill. I’m sure a gas grill will work better after about 1 minute of pre-heating?

Whether you use a grill or a toaster, I would NOT recommend leaving either of them unattended. Toast can get stuck and catch on fire – it has happened to me, luckily I was there to deal with the problem.

How can you get “perfect” toast by guesswork anyway? You must keep watching it as it cooks and browns to the level you want it.