The Best Toasters | gastroback
After several hours in the kitchen (and a few blown fuses), here are my final picks for the best toaster across several categories. And if you’re looking for more appliances to make your life easier, check out our lists for the best blenders, best air fryers and best toaster ovens as well. If you’re just looking for an appliance to crisp up a slice of sandwich bread, it may not be worth your money, counter space, and mental clarity to have a field of extra buttons to squint at in the morning. When choosing what you need, consider how frequently you make toast and how much you like to make. If you’re consistently cooking breakfast for four and only have a toaster that can accommodate two slices of bread, the process will be time-consuming.
- Its simple controls include a control dial that lets you select one of 7 browning shades and special settings for bagels and defrosting frozen food.
- The Calphalon Precision Air Fry Convection Oven didn’t toast as well as our picks and it didn’t evenly melt the cheese on Bagel Bites.
- When it came time to toast bagels and waffles, the results had a good texture balance of chewy and crunchy.
- It is a little bulky given its 15-inch length, but the concealed cord housing makes stowing it both convenient and easy.
- The stone makes a crunchy golden-brown pizza crust and is also great for baking bread and pies.
Size is also an important consideration if you want to toast more than just supermarket-style sliced bread. For example, toasters with longer and/or wider slots are likelier to fit thick artisan bread—like sourdough, baguette, ciabatta, focaccia, and brioche. You’ll have to build up the muscle memory to know how long it takes for this toaster to toast bread to your preferred doneness level, or stay in the room while it’s working.
Amazon Basics 2-Slice Toaster
It’s not the most attractive kitchen appliance; it definitely has a space-age feel, but that’s par for the course for a smart appliance. The touchscreen was a pure delight, and my kids loved using it to make their own toast and bagels. Just touch the picture of the food you want to toast, select your preferred brownness level, watch the toaster pull down your food, and the countdown (literally, on the touchscreen) begins. While the conventional toaster oven can do a lot, there’s nothing like the convenience of popping in a few slices of pumpernickel, pressing the lever down, and preparing for your breakfast. While budget toasters are a dime a dozen, the best toasters have even heating and features that make for a better slice.
Test 2: Frozen White Bagel
Having previously worked as an appliance reviews editor, he’s no stranger to kitchen appliances. To clean a toaster oven, unplug it, remove and wash racks or trays if they’re dirty, and shake the oven to remove crumbs from the interior. You can also mix up a quick cleaning solution and apply it to a sponge or cloth to wipe off the interior and exterior. Cleaning your toaster is important if you want your appliance to last as long as possible.
Krups Breakfast Set Four-Slice Toaster
If you have a small kitchen and limited space on your countertops, the best toaster may not be a top priority. Or in a skillet—which some people even prefer, particularly when said skillet is slicked in butter. But there are times when there is simply no replacement for a toaster’s convenience, times when the thought of turning on the oven or dirtying a pan is too much to bear. The display panel is intuitive to navigate, with simple pictographs on the front for choosing the desired browning level, plus other special features like toast from frozen. In our tests, we liked the high-lift lever, which safely popped the toast up well above the heating element. The waffles, however, were hands-down the best of all the toasters I tried.