The 8 Best Toasters of 2024, Tested by Food…
The 8 Best Toasters of 2024, Tested by Food & Wine | gastroback
At $90, it strikes the right balance when it comes to price versus performance, design, and build quality. Because slot toasters only perform one task, it’s essential they perform that task well. Slot toasters should reliably and evenly toast multiple types of bread to different levels of doneness without burning or under-toasting. If they have additional features, like a defrost function, the features should be effective.
- It may not work as well for extra-long artisanal slices, but it handles standard sandwich bread and bagels beautifully.
- Slot toasters should reliably and evenly toast multiple types of bread to different levels of doneness without burning or under-toasting.
- After letting the toaster cool fully, we repeated the test with medium and dark settings, took photos, and recorded observations.
- Nicole (she/her) is the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she has overseen content and testing related to kitchen and cooking appliances, tools and gear since 2019.
- The drop-down crumb tray is not as convenient as those that slide out, but at least it has something.
If our other picks have more features than you need, we recommend the inexpensive, no-frills Hamilton Beach 4 Slice Toaster Oven. It toasted bread faster and more evenly than any other oven we’ve tested that’s under $100, and its small footprint is ideal for kitchens with limited counter space. Most toaster ovens get hotter with every batch of toast you make, resulting in charred pieces of bread.
Q: Do I need to do anything before using a new toaster?
The display panel is entirely digitized, all accessed through a touchscreen. When not in use, it displays either a digital or analog clock, a handy feature we appreciate. It’s easy to dial in the settings for your perfect piece of toast — or bagel, waffle, etc. — and we noted that this would be a smart buy for families with picky eaters. Tanya Christian joined Consumer Reports as a multimedia content creator in 2021, bringing with her more than a decade of experience in the home and lifestyle space.
Motorized or High Lift
Just keep this in mind when deciding whether to spend more on the Breville. The Cuisinarts offer a wide range of settings and easy-to-use controls, and they remain cool to the touch batch after batch. That said, we know from research we commissioned that the heating element wires in modern toasters are not as strong as they could be, making them more susceptible to breakage over time. That said, none of these issues are unique to Cuisinart toasters—most competing models seem to be similar, even the more expensive ones. And the Cuisinarts are covered by a generous three-year warranty (versus the one-year warranty that comes with most other toasters), so you have the option to return yours if you end up getting a lemon. This super sleek toaster from Zwilling features two long slots perfect for toasting up to four slices of sandwich bread or two long slices of sourdough bread.
Test 2: Frozen White Bagel
Paired with the 3100’s self-centering guides, you’re guaranteed perfect toasting for every slice. There’s even a quick reheating function for getting your bagels warm without crisping them further. Once you’ve decided how many slots you want out of your toaster, the next characteristic to consider is the size of those slots.