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class="next-head"/><meta property="fb:app_id" content="441494522611849" class="next-head"/><title class="next-head">The Best Toaster for 2019: Reviews by Wirecutter | A New York Times Company</title><meta name="description" content="We spent dozens of hours toasting sliced bread and bagels in 23 toasters. Take a look at what we think are the best." class="next-head"/><link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/"/><link rel="amphtml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/amp/" class="next-head"/><meta property="twitter:title" content="The Best Toaster for 2019" class="next-head"/><meta property="twitter:description" content="We spent dozens of hours toasting sliced bread and bagels in 23 toasters. Take a look at what we think are the best." class="next-head"/><meta property="twitter:image" content="https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0041-570x380.jpg" class="next-head"/><meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/" class="next-head"/><meta property="og:title" content="The Best Toaster for 2019" class="next-head"/><meta property="og:description" content="We spent dozens of hours toasting sliced bread and bagels in 23 toasters. Take a look at what we think are the best." class="next-head"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0041-570x380.jpg" class="next-head"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4270.jpg" class="next-head"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4703.jpg" class="next-head"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/toaster-2x1-fullres-4788-1024x512.jpg" class="next-head"/><script type="application/ld+json">{"@type":"Article","@context":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://schema.org","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/","mainEntityOfPage":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/","image":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041.jpg","name":"The Best Toaster","headline":"The Best Toaster","alternativeHeadline":"The Best Toaster for 2019","articleBody":"After toasting over a dozen loaves of bread, as well as piles of bagels, English muffins, and frozen Eggo waffles in 23 toasters over the years, we think the Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster is the best for most people. With slots wide enough to accommodate the puffiest bagels and deep enough to toast taller slices of bread, it browns bread as evenly as toasters five times the price. If you want a four-slice toaster, we recommend the Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster, a larger version of our top pick.\nOur pick\nCuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster\nThe best two-slot toaster\nThis inexpensive toaster browned bread more evenly than almost anything else we tested, and looks attractive on any countertop.\nBuying Options\n$25 from Walmart\n$40 from Home Depot\n\nOur pick\nCuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster\nThe best four-slot toaster\nBatch after batch, this four-slot toaster browned bread as evenly as its two-slot counterpart.\nBuying Options\n$40 from Amazon\n$40 from Walmart\n$25 from Home Depot\n\nThe Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster and its four-slot version, the Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster, both produced some of the finest, evenly browned bread of all the toasters we tested. The Cuisinarts offer a wide range of settings and easy-to-use controls, and remained cool to the touch even after toasting multiple batches. These toasters are also covered under a three-year warranty, which is exceptional compared with the one-year warranty that comes with most toasters.\nRunner-up\nCuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster\nA surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster\nThis futuristic glass-walled toaster has touch-screen buttons and browns bread almost as evenly as our top pick.\nBuying Options\n$13* from Home Depot\n$60 from Walmart \nMay be out of stock\nBuy from Amazon\n*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.\nIf you want the luxury of watching your bread brown while it toasts, we recommend the Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster. It toasts more evenly than its $250 glass-walled look-alike, the Magimix Vision Toaster, and features convenient touch-screen controls that, unlike the labels on the controls on our main pick, likely won’t rub off over time. But it’s not our main pick because it takes up more space on a countertop and costs over twice as much. With buttons instead of a dial, it also has less nuanced toast shade settings: For example, you can set it to 3 or 4, but not anything in between. Like our top pick, the Cuisinart ViewPro also has an exceptionally long three-year warranty.\nUpgrade pick\nBreville BTA720XL\nPricier with more features\nThough it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.\nBuying Options\n$80 from Amazon\n\nThe stainless steel two-slot Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice), along with our four-slice upgrade pick, produced the most consistent toast of any toaster—golden brown all over with no white patches or lines—even after several back-to-back batches. It also offers a toast-saving “A Bit More” button that allows you to add a little more time to an underdone slice, and a “Lift & Look” lever that allows you to peek at the doneness of your slice without interrupting the toasting cycle. But this toaster costs almost $60 more than our top pick, making it a bit of a splurge.\nUpgrade pick\nBreville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster\nA four-slot cream of the crop toaster\nThough it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.\nBuying Options\n$176* from Amazon\n*At the time of publishing, the price was $180.\nThe Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster is hands down the best toaster that we tested. It has the same functionality as our two-slot Breville pick, the Bit More, as well as a button that automatically lifts and lowers your toast. In the Breville Smart Toaster, the “lift and look” feature is its own button. While the Bit More’s “lift and look” feature requires you to raise a lever, the Breville Smart Toaster lets you check for doneness with the touch of a button. We preferred this toaster over the four-slice version of the Breville Bit More (the BTA730XL), which has two long slots that did not toast as evenly. The Smart Toaster is more expensive and will take up a considerable chunk of your countertop, but it’s built like a tank and offers more features than any other two- or four-slot model we considered.\n\nWhy you should trust us\nTo narrow our selection of toasters to test, we interviewed experts like acclaimed baker and cookbook author Peter Reinhart and master toaster-refurbisher Michael Sheafe. We also spoke to product managers at some prominent toaster manufacturers, and additionally, we read editorial reviews from sites such as Cook’s Illustrated (subscription required), Consumer Reports (subscription required), and Good Housekeeping. We also looked at user reviews from online stores such as Amazon, Walmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Finally, we conducted a reader survey to help us figure out what most people look for in a toaster.\nFor the original version of this guide, Brendan Nystedt spent 30 hours researching and testing toasters (he also spent 20 hours doing the same for our toaster oven guide). Wirecutter kitchen writer Michael Sullivan tested six four-slot toasters for our 2016 update, and in the process ate more toast, bagels, and frozen waffles than he’d care to admit. Wirecutter junior staff writer Sabrina Imbler tested 14 two-slot and four-slot toasters for our 2018 update and suffered a similar fate.\nWho should buy this\nYou’re probably looking for a new toaster because your old one bit the dust. Or maybe it toasts unevenly, burns bread too easily, or can’t accommodate bagels. Toaster ovens can dry out your bread, so switching to the intense, direct heat of a toaster can give you a nice char while keeping the bread’s texture intact.\nA toaster oven, which can handle some of the tasks that a full-size oven can tackle, such as roasting vegetables or pizza bagels, is a more versatile and capable appliance than a two-slot toaster. But if you don’t have room for a large toaster oven, four-slot toasters are the way to go. With double the capacity, four-slot toasters allow you to produce more toast fast, which is nice for feeding a large family.\nHow we picked\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n Our three two-slice picks (from left to right): the Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro, the Cuisinart CPT-122 Toaster, and the Breville BTA720XL Bit More.\nToasters haven’t changed much in the last century or so. Although they now have new features such as bagel modes or settings for frozen bread, the science behind the heating hardware is basically the same. That’s because, when it comes down to it, the ideal toaster should simply toast bread evenly and consistently without a whole lot of fuss. Every slot should give you similar performance, and you should be able to toast breads of different types and shapes, which means having a big enough slot to handle thick bagels plus a way to retrieve small English muffins without jamming utensils (or your fingers) into the slots.\nTo find that ideal toaster, we scanned dozens of best-selling models on Amazon and kitchenware sites. For the 2018 update we tested eight new toasters against our previous picks. Though the technology is simple, many small factors go into making a toaster that’s pleasant to use and churns out evenly browned bread every single time. In our research and testing, here’s what we looked for:\n\nEven toasting is the most crucial task of a toaster. It should produce consistently crisped bread with no white spots or burnt edges. Most toasters generate heat with nichrome wires, while some (like the Magimix or Cuisinart ViewPro) rely on more expensive quartz elements, which heat up faster than nichrome. But our testing showed that even toasting was more a product of the toaster’s design than of its specific heating elements.\nIt should have accurate toasting settings, so that setting the dial to medium will give you neither ghost-white bread nor a singed black square, but rather golden brown perfection—or something like it.\nIt should toast consistently from batch to batch, regulating its temperature so that subsequent rounds of toast don’t come out entirely singed. But even the best toasters heat up a bit after one round of toasting, so we recommend turning the dial down slightly when making a second batch.\nWide, deep slots can accommodate everything from a simple slice of Wonder bread to a fluffy New York bagel. At the same time, small English muffins shouldn’t get swallowed in slots that are too deep. We looked into long-slot toasters, which can hold larger slices of bread, such as sourdough, or two pieces of toast side by side. But in testing, these models produced bread with raw corners and burnt centers, so we focused on traditional two- and four-slice models.\nA manual lever can help lift toast out of the slot as well as lower it. You shouldn’t have to fish your toast out of the slots with utensils or your fingers.\nIt should remain cool to the touch even after toasting, so that you don’t burn your fingers by accidentally touching the toaster.\nRemovable crumb trays will make cleaning the toaster much, much easier.\nUseful buttons will make toasting easier. For example, a cancel button will allow you to stop toasting before you smell smoke. And a bagel button can help preserve chewiness by dialing back the heat on the outer part of the bagel while warming the cut side with more intense heat.\nIt should toast quickly. Though no model we tested took eons to brown bread, the best ones produced golden toast more than twice as fast as the worst performers.\nA toaster should be compact. Because it’s a single-use kitchen appliance that will most likely stay on the counter, you don’t want it to take up too much space.\nPrice should not be prohibitive, because a toaster, unlike a toaster oven, can be used for only one purpose. In our research, we found that many of the high-end toasters that cost upwards of $100 don’t offer much more than those costing less than half the price.\nIt should hold up to repeat use, so that you’re not in the market for a new toaster within the year. Some flimsier toasters we tested had wobbly plastic levers or labels printed on top of buttons that would likely rub off quickly.\n\nThere are also some attributes that we found helpful, but not necessary.\n\nGlass walls allow you to watch your toast browning, and, if necessary, eject it before it becomes too done. But these toasters tend to be more expensive, and aren’t necessarily better at actually toasting.\nMotorized levers can lift and lower your toast at the press of a button, which is spiffy, but the process takes longer than just manually pressing down a lever.\nA defrost mode is meant to help in handling frozen breads by extending the toasting cycle, giving the bread some time to thaw before toasting. In our tests, we found little difference between heating up an Eggo waffle on the frozen and normal toast settings. But every single toaster we tested had a defrost setting, so it never came up as a dealbreaker.\nWe liked extra features such as Breville’s “lift and look” button/lever, which allows you to peek on the doneness of your toast and pop it back in if it’s not quite ready, and “A Bit More” button, which gently darkens your toast without the chance of burning it to a crisp.\n\nThere’s one thing you can’t expect any toaster to do: Put out perfect toast without supervision. Even the good toasters need help. Acclaimed baker Peter Reinhart told us even he has to babysit his toaster. “I have to push the lever down twice and sort of accept that,” he says. “It’s a cliche. We don’t expect them to be perfect. You can accept and move on or get angry at the toaster,” he said. It appears that toaster makers agree: All our finalists had a cancel button.\nHow we tested\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n We tested toasters using Murray’s bagels, which are the puffiest in New York.\nTo see how each toaster handled breads of different shapes and sizes, we toasted dozens of loaves of basic white bread, bagels, frozen waffles, and English muffins. For our white bread test, we toasted three back-to-back rounds of Wonder bread slices to see how consistent the toast was from model to model and batch to batch. These multiple batches showed us how well each toaster could regulate its temperature after heating up.\nIn each round, we timed each toaster to see which could brown bread fastest. We judged toast itself on its top-to-bottom and side-to-side evenness, and evaluated the accuracy of the shade settings—would most breakfast eaters consider these results medium, or were they too light or too burned? We also bit into the toast to evaluate its texture and taste, looking for slices that had a lightly charred and crispy exterior and a warm interior that didn’t feel too dried out or stiff.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n Our five toaster picks consistently produced golden-brown toast in three back-to-back batches.\nWe tried each toaster’s bagel mode on everything bagels fresh from Murray’s, which we chose because they’re fluffier and thicker than traditional New York-style bagels and would show us where the toasters’ slot widths hit their limit. We wanted the results to resemble what you get in a deli conveyor belt—lightly toasted on the rounded side and nicely browned on the cut side. We tested the frozen modes on the toasters using blueberry Eggo waffles. The waffles, we hoped, would come out crispy and brown but not scorched or soggy. We toasted English muffins to see which toasters made it easiest to retrieve the small items without sticking our fingers in the heated slots. We also emptied each model’s crumb tray and noted how easy each was to clean, and we took a look at the size of each model relative to others in its class.\nThe best toasters: Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice and CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toasters\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n \nOur pick\nCuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster\nThe best two-slot toaster\nThis inexpensive toaster browned bread more evenly than almost anything else we tested, and looks attractive on any countertop.\nBuying Options\n$25 from Walmart\n$40 from Home Depot\n\nOur pick\nCuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster\nThe best four-slot toaster\nBatch after batch, this four-slot toaster browned bread as evenly as its two-slot counterpart.\nBuying Options\n$40 from Amazon\n$40 from Walmart\n$25 from Home Depot\n\nThe two-slot Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster and its four-slot counterpart, the CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster offer the best toast for your money, hands down. These inexpensive toasters browned bread, bagels, and waffles better than all of the competition in their price range. Unlike other cheap toasters, the Cuisinarts have slots that are wide enough to fit thick, hand-cut bagels without requiring you to push them down yourself. The plastic controls offer a wide range of toasting settings and feel sturdier than the plastic dials and knobs on some other toasters we tested. The two-slot Cuisinart is also one of the tiniest, most attractive toasters we tested, making it ideal for kitchens with limited counter space.\nBoth Cuisinarts toasted evenly from top to bottom and slot to slot, even after multiple batches. They beautifully browned the entire slice of Wonder bread, while other toasters, like the Osters or Hamilton Beaches we tested, left unappetizing raw halos on top. When filled in every slot, the four-slot model made slightly lighter toast than the two-slot, but you can easily fix this by turning up the toasting dial. In comparison, all other similarly priced toasters and even some pricier machines left bread even whiter and patchier.\nIn three successive batches, both Cuisinarts produced toast in pretty similar shades of brown, which is a rare feat for a toaster under $50. The medium setting on both Cuisinarts also popped out a fully done piece of toast after 1 minute, 20 seconds, almost half the time of previous top pick Oster Jelly Bean’s 2 minute, 20 second toast time.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n The Cuisinart toasted the entire slice of Wonder bread while our previous pick, the Oster Jelly Bean, left raw stripes and tops.\nEach toaster evenly browned a thick bagel without burning sesame seeds. Some models, such as the Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster and Hamilton Beach Cool Touch left bagels pale white on either side. And both Cuisinarts’ defrost setting gave us Eggo waffles that were crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside.\nThe Cuisinarts’ slots were wider and deeper than those on most other toasters we tested. The slots in the Cuisinarts easily accommodated the puffiest Murray’s bagels and didn’t require us to force each half down into the machine, as we had to do with many other toasters. And the machines’ “high lift” feature on the lever allows you to lift smaller items like English muffins out of the slots without burning your fingertips.\nThe Cuisinarts’ buttons sit next to printed labels, which means you’re unlikely to rub the labels off with your fingers.\nPhoto: Michael Hession\nThe slots of the Cuisinarts are considerably deeper than the Oster Jelly Bean’s and leave no white tops.\nPhoto: Michael Hession\nThe four-slice Cuisinart features a helpful label that indicates which slot should hold a single slice of bread.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\nThe controls on both Cuisinarts are simple, featuring a knob that adjusts the darkness of the toast (from 1 to 7) and buttons that allow you to select the mode or cancel the toast cycle. The knob’s settings are accurate, meaning that setting the dial to 3 will produce toast that’s not too dark and not too light. They also have buttons to reheat and defrost your toast, as well as a bagel setting. All the parts you touch and twist on the Cuisinart stay cool, and they also feel sturdier than the moving parts of other toasters. We didn’t like that you could really wiggle the dial of the Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome 2 Slice Toaster or the Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster. And neither Cuisinart felt hot to the touch, even after multiple rounds of toasting, as opposed to some of the metal toasters we tested.\nCuisinart’s stylish, boxy design means the two-slot version takes up less space than some of the flashier toasters we tested, such as our runner-up, the space-inefficient Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster. So if you have a small kitchen and your counter space is at a premium, the Cuisinart two-slice is the way to go. Between the Cuisinarts, the four-slice version is just four inches wider than the two-slice. And the four-slice Cuisinart is an inch smaller on all sides than our four-slot upgrade pick, the Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster, making it a better choice for cramped counters.\nCleaning and maintaining both Cuisinarts is as simple as sliding out the removable crumb tray and wiping it clean, similar to other models we tested. The Cuisinarts come with a limited three-year warranty, which only the Magimix matches for the longest warranty of any toaster we tested. Our previous pick, the Oster Jelly Bean, and our current two-slice and four-slice upgrade picks from Breville, all have a one-year warranty.\nWe’ve been using the Cuisinart CPT-122 in our Wirecutter test kitchen since March 2018, and although that probably adds up to less use than it would get at home, the toaster has held up well so far. All of the printing is still intact, and none of the labels show any signs of wearing off.\nFlaws but not dealbreakers\nThe two Cuisinart toasters have virtually no flaws in toasting, aside from occasionally leaving slim pale lines around the edges. But though you can see these pale edges, they’re so small that you won’t notice any difference in crunch when eating your toast.\nAs an inexpensive plastic toaster, the Cuisinarts’ mechanics seemed less sturdy than our upgrade picks’. Its plastic levers may be less durable than metal over time, but most stainless-steel-bodied toasters we tested also had plastic levers. The labels printed next to Cuisinarts’ buttons may wear away over time, but most toasters we looked at had a similar issue. And the labels should last longer than the ones printed directly on the buttons of other toasters (such as the Oster Jelly Bean or the Hamilton Beach Keep Warm), which are far easier to wear off with buttery fingers.\nUnlike on the higher-end Brevilles, the Cuisinarts’ bagel setting just adds extra time to the toasting cycle without lowering the heat on the outside of the bagel. Although this setting browns a bagel better than a regular toasting cycle, the Brevilles’ thoughtfully designed, side-specific bagel setting produces a better bagel with a crisp cut edge and a chewy middle.\nAnd though the Cuisinarts’ toasting intensity remained impressively consistent across multiple batches of bread, we still recommend adjusting the settings to compensate for the inevitable buildup of heat. When the second batch starts, turn the heat down a half level from your normal setting. The only toasters that came close to fully compensating for this were our two Breville picks, which produced almost identical pieces of toast from the first to third batch.\nRunner-up: Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n \nRunner-up\nCuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster\nA surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster\nThis futuristic glass-walled toaster has touch-screen buttons and browns bread almost as evenly as our top pick.\nBuying Options\n$13* from Home Depot\n$60 from Walmart \nMay be out of stock\nBuy from Amazon\n*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.\nThe Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster browns bread consistently and offers a few premium features. It’s almost twice as expensive as our main pick, but the glass walls and durable touch-screen buttons make it feel like a toaster that would cost even more. The Cuisinart ViewPro churned out toast that had no raw tops or borders. It’s an impressive, statement toaster for a surprisingly affordable price, and its glass walls ensure you can pull your toast out at just the right moment.\nIf you like the look of the luxurious, glass-sided Magimix, the Cuisinart toasted more evenly for a quarter of the price. When toasting two pieces of bread at once, the Cuisinart’s two short slots browned more evenly than the Magimix’s single long slot, which left raw-looking columns on the sides of the bread that touched while toasting.\nThe ViewPro is not our top pick because it costs twice as much as our main pick. It also doesn’t produce the all-around consistent toast of the Cuisinart 2-Slice, leaving behind some uneven, dark corners and a few thin raw bars in each piece of bread. The ViewPro is also 2 inches wider than our main pick, making it a bit big for small kitchens. But it does offer extra features that toast fanatics might prefer. Watching your bread toast allows you to hit cancel at the exact right moment, and the soft glow of the heating elements makes toasting seem like an occasion. The touch-screen buttons mean there are no painted-on labels to wear off over time, unlike on most of the other toasters we tested.\nThe Cuisinart ViewPro’s glass walls let you watch your toast brown in real time, in case you want to pull a slice out early.\nPhoto: Michael Hession\nThe ViewPro produced toast browned from top to bottom, but there was always a thin white line on one side of the bread.\nPhoto: Michael Hession\nThe Cuisinart ViewPro did have a bit of a wonky lever, which we needed to press down hard to lock it into place and actually start the toast. In our tests, we often had to push it down twice. And having touch-screen controls rather than a dial means that you can toast only at each level, with no room for gradation. For example, you can toast a piece of bread at settings 2 or 3, but not at 2.5 or somewhere else in the middle, which you can do with a more traditional dial.\nUpgrade pick: Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n \nUpgrade pick\nBreville BTA720XL\nPricier with more features\nThough it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.\nBuying Options\n$80 from Amazon\n\nThe Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice) is a handsome, sturdy machine that toasts better than any other model we tested—with the exception of our four-slice upgrade pick from Breville. Though it’s over twice the price of our main pick, we found that the Breville toasts bread and bagels more evenly, with no traces of pale edges. The Breville also offers more flexible toasting options than our main pick. It allows you to check the degree of doneness mid-toasting, and has the option to add 30 seconds more to the toasting cycle. Also, its steel casing has a classic look that would fit the aesthetic of almost any kitchen.\nThe Breville toasts more evenly than our top pick, the Cuisinart Compact Plastic Toaster, with uniform browning from top to bottom. While the Cuisinart would occasionally turn out toast with pale borders, the Breville’s toast emerged an even, golden brown from crust to center. Its more advanced bagel setting (PDF) toasts a better bagel than the Cuisinart by increasing the heat to the inner heating elements, which ensures the bagel will have a nicely darkened sliced side and a round side that’s warmed but not overdone. It also has a helpful printed icon on the top of the toaster to show you which direction to insert a sliced bagel. With the Cuisinart, it doesn’t matter which way you point the slices, as its bagel setting simply extends the toasting time. The Bit More also stays cool to the touch even after multiple rounds of toasting, unlike the steel toasters from Oster or Hamilton Beach.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n The Breville Bit More’s thoughtful toasting buttons make it easy to brown a perfect bagel or pop a nearly done slice back in for 30 more seconds.\nBeyond the good performance you’d expect, spending the extra money for the Breville buys you two features the other toasters in our tests didn’t have: Breville markets them as the “Lift & Look” lever and the “A Bit More” button. They’re accurately named. “Lift & Look” lets you raise the lever to pull the bread all the way up to peek at your slice without interrupting the toasting cycle. If it’s not done to your satisfaction, the heat stays on and you can lower the lever to finish toasting. The second one, the toaster’s namesake “A Bit More” button, lets you add a 30-second follow-up round to finish any underdone toast. The Breville also beeps to alert you when your toast is ready. (You can adjust the volume or mute this feature by following the directions in the user manual.)\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n Although the Cuisinart CPT-122 made nearly perfect toast with the occasional white spot or edge, the Breville left no room for error.\nSome of our testers liked that the two-slice Breville still has a mechanical lever to raise and lower bread into the slots. Our four-slice upgrade pick, the Breville Smart Toaster, has an automated lever that lifts and lowers your toast at the press of a button, which feels more luxurious but also takes longer.\nThe Breville is covered by a one-year limited warranty standard for most toasters, which is not quite as long as the three-year warranties covering the Cuisinarts. It’s also around an inch wider and longer than our main pick. It does cost significantly more than our main pick, but it’s close to a perfect toaster.\nStaff writers Signe Brewster and Michael Sullivan have used the Breville toaster in their homes since about October 2018 and March 2018, respectively, and both report that it’s still working well. Signe said, “It’s easy to clean, looks great, and has well-designed buttons. I also really love that the plug has a hole in it for easy grabbing—a nice touch when you plug/unplug it once a day.” Both wish that the toaster offered a bit more lift, but as a solution, Michael recommends mini tongs to rescue stuck pieces of toast. Wirecutter editor Jen Hunter also likes her Breville, but joked that it may be haunted: “It occasionally just randomly comes on, or won’t turn off after the toast is done.” It’s a minor bother though, and she points out that there are other features to make up for this: “I really enjoy that the toast slowly rolls up out of the machine when it’s ready (rather than the traditional pop). It makes the whole experience feel like an upgrade should.”\nUpgrade pick: Breville BTW840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n \nUpgrade pick\nBreville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster\nA four-slot cream of the crop toaster\nThough it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.\nBuying Options\n$176* from Amazon\n*At the time of publishing, the price was $180.\nIf you want a four-slot toaster that makes perfect toast, offers flexible features, and is built like a burnished steel tank, we love the Breville BTA840XL 4-Slice Smart Toaster. Though it’s pricier and takes up more space than our top-pick four-slot toaster, the Breville offers more features than any other two- or four-slot model we tested. Unlike the other toasters we recommend, the Breville Smart Toaster doesn’t have a mechanical lever and lowers bread automatically into the slots when you push the “Toast” button. The “Lift and Look” button automatically raises the toast just long enough for you to check the doneness, and the “A Bit More” option adds 30 seconds more to the toasting time.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n Though the four-slice Breville Smart Toaster is a gorgeous industrial tank, the four-slice Cuisinart takes up a little less space on your countertop.\nAlthough our top pick for two-slice and four-slice toasters are two sizes of the same toaster, the Breville Smart Toaster is not a larger version of the Breville Bit More (our two-slot upgrade pick). The four-slice version of the Bit More is a long-slot toaster that can fit four slices of bread in its two slots. We tested this toaster last year and found it browned bread unevenly. It burned single slices of bread and left pale outer edges when filled with two slices of bread, so we don’t recommend it. Similarly, we don’t recommend the two-slot version of the Smart Toaster. It costs significantly more than our two-slice upgrade pick and doesn’t offer many additional features.\nLike the Bit More, the Smart Toaster has lights that indicate the temperature setting (the lights also count down so you can gauge when the toast will be done). A single beep conveniently alerts you once the toasting cycle is complete, and you can also adjust the volume or mute this feature.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n The Breville Smart Toaster offers a helpful “Lift and Look” button that allows you to peek at your bread before ending the toasting cycle.\nAlso like the Bit More, the surface of the Breville Smart Toaster stays cooler than that of the other stainless steel models we tested, which is especially great if you have children in the house. Like most models we tested, however, you’ll need to increase the heat setting for bagels and English muffins.\nKeep in mind that this toaster is a tank—it’s almost the size of our favorite small toaster oven, the Panasonic FlashXpress. But it has none of the versatility of a toaster oven, being unable to roast a squash, bake cookies, or make pizza bagels. Its automatic lever also lowers bread into the slot more slowly than all the manual levers we tested. If your counter is running out of space, you may prefer an appliance that can do more than just toast. But if you have a capacious kitchen or if toast is your thing, you can’t find a better toaster for the price.\nThe competition\nTwo-slot toasters\nAlthough our previous two-slot pick, the Oster Jelly Bean, still browned bread better than most other budget toasters, it paled in comparison with the Cuisinart. Despite having slots deeper than those of the Black + Decker and Hamilton Beach toasters we tested, the Jelly Bean still left pure white crowns on otherwise nicely toasted bread. These white tops get even bigger if you forget to push the bread down as far as it will go in the slot, which we found irritating and hard to remember.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n The bulky Dualit NewGen had a limited toasting dial that produced toast that was either too dark or too light.\nThough in past years we avoided models that cost more than $200, we tested two popular luxury toasters for our 2018 update to see what all the hype was about. The Dualit 2 Slot NewGen Toaster looked like a steely fortress that could toast well beyond the average human life span, but its limited, analog settings made it difficult and unwieldy to use. The Dualit’s toasting dial has just four levels, but in our tests we couldn’t find one setting that made golden brown toast. We wished it had more browning options. You have to manually retrieve toast from the Dualit—it will not pop up on its own, and there’s no timer noise. It also took up almost twice as much counter space as some of the smaller toasters.\n\nPhoto: Michael Hession\n The glass-paneled Magimix by Robot Coupe toasted less evenly than our glass-sided pick, the Cuisinart ViewPro, leaving large white patches and burnt edges.\nWe also tested the $250 Magimix by Robot Coupe, which has glass sides that allow you to watch your bread turn to toast. Like the Dualit, the Magimix is inconveniently large for a two-slice toaster. The Magimix did produce a mostly even toast, but each piece had a few white streaks around the top and bottom—an inevitability, it seems, with any glass-sided toaster. When filled with two slices, the Magimix’s long-slot design produced toast with white edges and patchy, overly toasted centers. If you do want a glass-sided toaster, we recommend the Cuisinart.\nThe Oster TSSTTRWF2S Brushed Stainless Steel 2-Slice Toaster browned bread evenly between batches, but all pieces came out with a raw, white top. When we peeked inside the slots, we saw the toaster had crooked heating elements that stopped partway up the walls of the toaster, which may explain why. The toaster also became too hot to touch after multiple rounds of toasting.\nWe liked how the exterior of the Hamilton Beach 2 Slice Cool Touch (22121) didn’t get hot to the touch after multiple rounds of toasting. However, it left bagels first looking pale, and then a bit too dark in our back-to-back toast tests.\nThough a company best-seller, the Hamilton Beach Keep Warm 2-Slice Toaster (22811) gave us pale bagels and streaky toast with white tops. The toaster also beeps loudly three times before your toast pops up, which gets annoying fast.\nWhile toasting on a middle setting, Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome 2 Slice Toaster (22790) left white tops and burnt bottoms, especially in the second and third round of back-to-back toasts.\nThe Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster left slices of toast soft and pallid. Even at darker heating levels, the toaster didn’t reach the top of the bread, leaving doughy white crowns.\nThe Krups KH732D Breakfast Set did poorly in just about all of our tests. Our testers discovered its chrome exterior is wrapped around a cheap, lightweight interior frame that doesn’t sit securely on a countertop. If you push the lever to bring the toast up to the top, it tips over.\nAccording to Cuisinart, the CPT-420 Touch to Toast has the same internal components as the CPT-440 (minus two slots and accompanying electronics, all from the same factory), so we were able to dismiss it.\nFour-slot toasters\nThe four-slice, long-slot Breville The Bit More BTA730XL was one of the few that we tried that was able to swallow an entire oval slice of rustic sourdough without any of the bread sticking out of the slot. Unfortunately, it overcooked white bread on its middle setting.\nThe Breville BTA830XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Long Slot Smart Toaster toasted evenly, but it left the bottom of the lower corners of some pieces untoasted. Because it’s expensive, we expected more from this model.\nThe Oster TSSTTRWF4S-SHP 4-Slice Toaster, our former four-slice pick, toasted bread even more irregularly than its two-slice cousin. After toasting two rounds of bread on the same setting, the second batch inexplicably turned out lighter than the first.\nThe Cuisinart CPT-180 4-Slice Metal Classic Toaster toasted bread unevenly from batch to batch, leaving some pieces pale golden brown and other pieces burned.\nThe left lever on the Cuisinart CPT-640 4-Slice Toaster we tested was faulty. It couldn’t keep the bread in the slot without popping it up.\nThe Oster TSSTTR6330-NP 4-Slice Long-Slot Toaster toasted bread very inconsistently. Some pieces had hot spots or were burned while others remained pale.\nThough the Cuisinart CPT-440 Touch to Toast Leverless 4 Slice Toaster has motorized slots, individual LCD panels, and countdown timers, it didn’t toast anywhere near what its steep price tag might suggest. In our tests, it toasted bread inconsistently from slot to slot.\nThe Frigidaire Professional four-slot toaster performed admirably in our tests, but Eggo waffles came out squished by the toaster’s racks along their bottom edge. The right and left sides also toasted inconsistently from one another.\n","description":"We spent dozens of hours toasting sliced bread and bagels in 23 toasters. Take a look at what we think are the best.","datePublished":"2015-10-02","dateModified":"2019-03-25","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Imbler"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Sullivan"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Brendan Nystedt"}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wirecutter","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/","sameAs":["https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.facebook.com/thewirecutter/","https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.instagram.com/wirecutter/","https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://twitter.com/wirecutter/"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/logo-for-amp.png","width":266,"height":60}}}</script><script 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toasters.","offers":[{"@type":"Offer","name":"Breville BTA720XL","price":"79.95","priceCurrency":"USD","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626","offeredBy":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amazon"}}]}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"Product","name":"Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/#callout-intro-callouts-4-3","image":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16399/Breville-BTA840XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-Smart-Toaster_20180227-165650_full.jpg","description":"Though it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.","offers":[{"@type":"Offer","name":"Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster","price":"175.95","priceCurrency":"USD","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629","offeredBy":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amazon"}}]}}]}</script><link rel="preload" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB/pages/review.js" as="script"/><link rel="preload" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB/pages/_app.js" as="script"/><link rel="preload" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB/pages/_error.js" as="script"/><link rel="preload" 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When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. <a href="/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/about/" data-gtm-trigger="ftc_link">Learn more</a></p></div></aside></header><main id="main" class="_773cab7d" aria-live="assertive" tabindex="-1"><div class="_18f54f5f"><article class="d3e4fa6f"><header class="_83a9d33e" tabindex="0"><figure class="_033b73b6"><div class="_830ba4d7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041-320x160.jpg" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041.jpg 1024w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041-600x300.jpg 600w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-2x1-0041-320x160.jpg 320w" data-sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 1024px,(min-width: 480px) 600px,320px" alt="The Best Toaster" class="af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" role="presentation"/><figcaption class="c7dfd59e"><span class="ad3aba03">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></div></figure><div class="a4ee69ab"><ol class="f0a83867" data-scp="breadcrumb"><li class="_4d36c3f3"><a href="/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/kitchen-dining/" class="_24526931">Kitchen & Dining</a></li><li class="_4d36c3f3"><a href="/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/kitchen-dining/small-appliances/" class="_24526931">Small Appliances</a></li></ol><h1 class="_8c5c423a" data-e2e="post-heading" data-scp="title">The Best Toaster</h1><div id="updates-box" class="_10fc7a43 da7c4487 " data-scp="updates"><p class="d7bc8da5"><time class="_84a53ed2" datetime="2019-03-25"><span class="_6182b302">Updated </span>March 25, 2019</time></p><ul class="_22655782"><li aria-hidden="false"><p>We’ve added long-term test notes for our <a href="#cuisinart-cpt-ltt">top pick</a> and <a href="#breville-ltt">two-slot pick with more features</a>.</p></li></ul></div></div></header><div class="a10f411b"><aside class="bced23db"><p class="_919cfa92" data-scp="author_label">Your guides</p><ul class="_2c6cf679" data-scp="author_list"><li class="_065e8272"><img class="_286545cd" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/sabrina-imbler-migration-50x50.jpg" alt="Sabrina Imbler"/><p class="_31d48dc1" data-scp="author_name">Sabrina Imbler</p></li><li class="_065e8272"><img class="_286545cd" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/michael-sullivan-migration-50x50.jpg" alt="Michael Sullivan"/><p class="_31d48dc1" data-scp="author_name">Michael Sullivan</p></li><li class="_065e8272"><img class="_286545cd" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/brendan-nystedt-migration-50x50.jpg" alt="Brendan Nystedt"/><p class="_31d48dc1" data-scp="author_name">Brendan Nystedt</p></li></ul></aside><div class="_7cd041c7" tabindex="0"><section class="_5e906221" data-gtm-element="lede"><p>After toasting over a dozen loaves of bread, as well as piles of bagels, English muffins, and frozen Eggo waffles in 23 toasters over the years, we think the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/0/4/73631/?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/0/4/73631/?merchant=Walmart">Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a> is the best for most people. With slots wide enough to accommodate the puffiest bagels and deep enough to toast taller slices of bread, it browns bread as evenly as toasters five times the price. If you want a four-slice toaster, we recommend the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/0/4/73633/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/0/4/73633/?merchant=Amazon">Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a>, a larger version of our top pick.</p></section><section class="_8b4221ec" data-scp="social"><ul class="_86904c23"><li class="_30833561"><a class=" _18bc443c" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-toaster/" target="_blank" aria-haspopup="true" data-gtm-trigger="share_facebook"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 44 44" class="_8a84e3ed _5665fd69"><g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><rect width="44" height="44" fill="#d7d7d7" rx="22" class="c18d749d 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data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/25159/Cuisinart-CPT-122-2-Slice-Compact-Plastic-Toaster_20180227-165603_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The best two-slot toaster" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">The best two-slot toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">This inexpensive toaster browned bread more evenly than almost anything else we tested, and looks attractive on any countertop.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$25</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/153033/4/73625?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/153033/4/73625?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="callout-intro-1-2" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/25160/Cuisinart-CPT-142-4-Slice-Compact-Plastic-Toaster_20180227-165614_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The best four-slot toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">The best four-slot toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Batch after batch, this four-slot toaster browned bread as evenly as its two-slot counterpart.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/152494/4/73627?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/152494/4/73627?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-2" data-source-id-order="2" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/153034/4/73627?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/153034/4/73627?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$25</span> from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/0/4/73631/?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/0/4/73631/?merchant=Walmart">Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a> and its four-slot version, the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/0/4/73633/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/0/4/73633/?merchant=Amazon">Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a>, both produced some of the finest, evenly browned bread of all the toasters we tested. The Cuisinarts offer a wide range of settings and easy-to-use controls, and remained cool to the touch even after toasting multiple batches. These toasters are also covered under a three-year warranty, which is exceptional compared with the one-year warranty that comes with most toasters.</p><div class="e4bafd09" data-ad-element="outer_ad_container" data-scp="ad"><div class="_2beba8d2"><p class="ffd67555">Advertisement</p><div id="div-gpt-ad-1524661673579-0" class="_33420964"></div></div></div><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa _452bc6fd" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Runner-up</h4><div id="callout-intro-2-1" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16401/Cuisinart-CPT-3000-ViewPro-Glass-2-Slice-Toaster_20180227-165626_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">This futuristic glass-walled toaster has touch-screen buttons and browns bread almost as evenly as our top pick.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$13</span>* from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$60</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a><p class="cf4ddcef">May be out of stock</p></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-2" data-source-id-order="2" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button">Buy from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><p class="a45c773f" data-scp="callout_disclaimer">*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><p>If you want the luxury of watching your bread brown while it toasts, we recommend the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond">Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster</a>. It toasts more evenly than its $250 glass-walled look-alike, <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25161/0/4/73637/?merchant=Williams-Sonoma" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Williams-Sonoma" data-vars-store="Williams-Sonoma" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25161/0/4/73637/?merchant=Williams-Sonoma">the Magimix Vision Toaster</a>, and features convenient touch-screen controls that, unlike the labels on the controls on our main pick, likely won’t rub off over time. But it’s not our main pick because it takes up more space on a countertop and costs over twice as much. With buttons instead of a dial, it also has less nuanced toast shade settings: For example, you can set it to 3 or 4, but not anything in between. Like our top pick, the Cuisinart ViewPro also has an exceptionally long three-year warranty.</p><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa _452bc6fd" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Upgrade pick</h4><div id="callout-intro-4-2" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Breville BTA720XL" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/10989/Breville-BTA720XL_20180308-215505_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Breville BTA720XL" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Breville BTA720XL</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Pricier with more features" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">Pricier with more features</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Though it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$80</span> from <span>Amazon</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><p>The stainless steel two-slot <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Breville" data-vars-store="Breville" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville">Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)</a>, along with our four-slice upgrade pick, produced the most consistent toast of any toaster—golden brown all over with no white patches or lines—even after several back-to-back batches. It also offers a toast-saving “A Bit More” button that allows you to add a little more time to an underdone slice, and a “Lift & Look” lever that allows you to peek at the doneness of your slice without interrupting the toasting cycle. But this toaster costs almost $60 more than our top pick, making it a bit of a splurge.</p><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa _452bc6fd" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Upgrade pick</h4><div id="callout-intro-4-3" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16399/Breville-BTA840XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-Smart-Toaster_20180227-165650_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A four-slot cream of the crop toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">A four-slot cream of the crop toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Though it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$176</span>* from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><p class="a45c773f" data-scp="callout_disclaimer">*At the time of publishing, the price was $180.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Breville" data-vars-store="Breville" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville">Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a> is hands down the best toaster that we tested. It has the same functionality as our two-slot Breville pick, the Bit More, as well as a button that automatically lifts and lowers your toast. In the Breville Smart Toaster, the “lift and look” feature is its own button. While the Bit More’s “lift and look” feature requires you to raise a lever, the Breville Smart Toaster lets you check for doneness with the touch of a button. We preferred this toaster over the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon">four-slice version</a> of the Breville Bit More (the BTA730XL), which has two long slots that did not toast as evenly. The Smart Toaster is more expensive and will take up a considerable chunk of your countertop, but it’s built like a tank and offers more features than any other two- or four-slot model we considered.</p></section><div class="_7342a970" data-scp="sbs_callout"><h3 id="everything-we-recommend" class="_8bd8bebe">Everything we recommend</h3><div class="_45aeb62d" data-gtm-element="sbs_callouts"><div class="cc2d881f global-cob ec5a3f2b _67b83b97 b89f58eb _7b2d5fc0" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Our pick</h4><div id="callout-intro-callouts-1-1" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/25159/Cuisinart-CPT-122-2-Slice-Compact-Plastic-Toaster_20180227-165603_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The best two-slot toaster" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">The best two-slot toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">This inexpensive toaster browned bread more evenly than almost anything else we tested, and looks attractive on any countertop.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$25</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/153033/4/73625?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/153033/4/73625?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="callout-intro-callouts-1-2" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/25160/Cuisinart-CPT-142-4-Slice-Compact-Plastic-Toaster_20180227-165614_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The best four-slot toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">The best four-slot toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Batch after batch, this four-slot toaster browned bread as evenly as its two-slot counterpart.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/152494/4/73627?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/152494/4/73627?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-2" data-source-id-order="2" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/153034/4/73627?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/153034/4/73627?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$25</span> from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa _7b2d5fc0" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Runner-up</h4><div id="callout-intro-callouts-2-1" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16401/Cuisinart-CPT-3000-ViewPro-Glass-2-Slice-Toaster_20180227-165626_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">This futuristic glass-walled toaster has touch-screen buttons and browns bread almost as evenly as our top pick.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$13</span>* from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$60</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a><p class="cf4ddcef">May be out of stock</p></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-2" data-source-id-order="2" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button">Buy from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><p class="a45c773f" data-scp="callout_disclaimer">*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa _7b2d5fc0" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Upgrade pick</h4><div id="callout-intro-callouts-4-2" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Breville BTA720XL" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/10989/Breville-BTA720XL_20180308-215505_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Breville BTA720XL" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Breville BTA720XL</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Pricier with more features" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">Pricier with more features</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Though it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$80</span> from <span>Amazon</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa _7b2d5fc0" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Upgrade pick</h4><div id="callout-intro-callouts-4-3" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16399/Breville-BTA840XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-Smart-Toaster_20180227-165650_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A four-slot cream of the crop toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">A four-slot cream of the crop toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Though it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$176</span>* from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><p class="a45c773f" data-scp="callout_disclaimer">*At the time of publishing, the price was $180.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_6e4cfd2d" data-scp="callout_pointer"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="_234cfd50"><section id="table-of-contents" class="_651c506e" data-scp="toc"><header class="c964128b"><h2 class="_23ec70ae" tabindex="0">The research</h2><button class="b2d6b8da" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="true" aria-haspopup="true">Collapse all</button></header><ul class="_421585a2" data-gtm-element="review_toc_list"><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#why-you-should-trust-us" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Why you should trust us</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#who-should-buy-this" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Who should buy this</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#how-we-picked" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">How we picked</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#how-we-tested" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">How we tested</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#the-best-toasters-cuisinart-cpt-122-2-slice-and-cpt-142-4-slice-compact-plastic-toasters" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">The best toasters: Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice and CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toasters</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#flaws-but-not-dealbreakers" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Flaws but not dealbreakers</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#runner-up-cuisinart-cpt-3000-viewpro-glass-2-slice-toaster" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Runner-up: Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#upgrade-pick-breville-bta720xl-bit-more-toaster-2-slice" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Upgrade pick: Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#upgrade-pick-breville-btw840xl-die-cast-4-slice-smart-toaster" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Upgrade pick: Breville BTW840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#the-competition" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">The competition</a></li><li class="_6b1f4fda"><a href="#sources" data-gtm-element="review_toc_link">Sources</a></li></ul></section><div aria-multiselectable="true" role="tablist"><section class="_561033be" id="why-you-should-trust-us"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="why-you-should-trust-us-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Why you should trust us</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="why-you-should-trust-us-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="why-you-should-trust-us" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><p>To narrow our selection of toasters to test, we interviewed experts like acclaimed baker and cookbook author <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Peter Reinhart</a> and master toaster-refurbisher <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.toastercentral.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Michael Sheafe</a>. We also spoke to product managers at some prominent toaster manufacturers, and additionally, we read editorial reviews from sites such as <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1421-two-slice-toasters?extcode=MASCZ00L0&ref=search_results_2" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Cook’s Illustrated</a> (subscription required), <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/toasters.htm?searchToken=toasters" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Consumer Reports</a> (subscription required), and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/toaster-reviews/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Good Housekeeping</a>. We also looked at user reviews from online stores such as Amazon, Walmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Finally, we conducted a reader survey to help us figure out what most people look for in a toaster.</p><p>For the original version of this guide, Brendan Nystedt spent 30 hours researching and testing toasters (he also spent 20 hours doing the same for our <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/">toaster oven guide</a>). Wirecutter kitchen writer Michael Sullivan tested six four-slot toasters for our 2016 update, and in the process ate more toast, bagels, and frozen waffles than he’d care to admit. Wirecutter junior staff writer Sabrina Imbler tested 14 two-slot and four-slot toasters for our 2018 update and suffered a similar fate.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="who-should-buy-this"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="who-should-buy-this-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Who should buy this</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="who-should-buy-this-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="who-should-buy-this" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><p>You’re probably looking for a new toaster because your old one bit the dust. Or maybe it toasts unevenly, burns bread too easily, or can’t accommodate bagels. Toaster ovens can dry out your bread, so switching to the intense, direct heat of a toaster can give you a nice char while keeping the bread’s texture intact.</p><p>A <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/">toaster oven</a>, which can handle some of the tasks that a full-size oven can tackle, such as roasting vegetables or pizza bagels, is a more versatile and capable appliance than a two-slot toaster. But if you don’t have room for a large toaster oven, four-slot toasters are the way to go. With double the capacity, four-slot toasters allow you to produce more toast fast, which is nice for feeding a large family.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="how-we-picked"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="how-we-picked-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">How we picked</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="how-we-picked-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="how-we-picked" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><figure id="attachment_37616" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Three of our picks for best toaster sitting on a kitchen counter. The center toaster has two pieces of toast in it." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37616" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> Our three two-slice picks (from left to right): the Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro, the Cuisinart CPT-122 Toaster, and the Breville BTA720XL Bit More. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Toasters haven’t changed much in the last century or so. Although they now have new features such as bagel modes or settings for frozen bread, the science behind the heating hardware is basically the same. That’s because, when it comes down to it, the ideal toaster should simply toast bread evenly and consistently without a whole lot of fuss. Every slot should give you similar performance, and you should be able to toast breads of different types and shapes, which means having a big enough slot to handle thick bagels plus a way to retrieve small English muffins without jamming utensils (or your fingers) into the slots.</p><p>To find that ideal toaster, we scanned dozens of best-selling models on Amazon and kitchenware sites. For the 2018 update we tested eight new toasters against our previous picks. Though the technology is simple, many small factors go into making a toaster that’s pleasant to use and churns out evenly browned bread every single time. In our research and testing, here’s what we looked for:</p><ul><li><strong>Even toasting </strong>is the most crucial task of a toaster. It should produce consistently crisped bread with no white spots or burnt edges. Most toasters generate heat with nichrome wires, while some (like the Magimix or Cuisinart ViewPro) rely on more expensive quartz elements, which heat up faster than nichrome. But our testing showed that even toasting was more a product of the toaster’s design than of its specific heating elements.</li><li>It should have <strong>accurate toasting settings,</strong> so that setting the dial to medium will give you neither ghost-white bread nor a singed black square, but rather golden brown perfection—or something like it.</li><li>It should <strong>toast consistently </strong>from batch to batch, regulating its temperature so that subsequent rounds of toast don’t come out entirely singed. But even the best toasters heat up a bit after one round of toasting, so we recommend turning the dial down slightly when making a second batch.</li><li><strong>Wide, deep slots </strong>can accommodate everything from a simple slice of Wonder bread to a fluffy New York bagel. At the same time, small English muffins shouldn’t get swallowed in slots that are too deep. We looked into long-slot toasters, which can hold larger slices of bread, such as sourdough, or two pieces of toast side by side. But in testing, these models produced bread with raw corners and burnt centers, so we focused on traditional two- and four-slice models.</li><li><strong>A manual lever </strong>can help lift toast out of the slot as well as lower it. You shouldn’t have to fish your toast out of the slots with utensils or your fingers.</li><li>It should <strong>remain cool to the touch</strong> even after toasting, so that you don’t burn your fingers by accidentally touching the toaster.</li><li><strong>Removable crumb trays</strong> will make cleaning the toaster much, much easier.</li><li><strong>Useful buttons </strong>will make toasting easier. For example, a cancel button will allow you to stop toasting before you smell smoke. And a bagel button can help preserve chewiness by dialing back the heat on the outer part of the bagel while warming the cut side with more intense heat.</li><li>It should <strong>toast quickly</strong>. Though no model we tested took eons to brown bread, the best ones produced golden toast more than twice as fast as the worst performers.</li><li>A toaster should be <strong>compact. </strong>Because it’s a single-use kitchen appliance that will most likely stay on the counter, you don’t want it to take up too much space.</li><li><strong>Price </strong>should not be prohibitive, because a toaster, unlike a toaster oven, can be used for only one purpose. In our research, we found that many of the high-end toasters that cost upwards of $100 don’t offer much more than those costing less than half the price.</li><li>It should <strong>hold up to repeat use, </strong>so that you’re not in the market for a new toaster within the year. Some flimsier toasters we tested had wobbly plastic levers or labels printed on top of buttons that would likely rub off quickly.</li></ul><p>There are also some attributes that we found helpful, but not necessary.</p><ul><li><strong>Glass walls</strong> allow you to watch your toast browning, and, if necessary, eject it before it becomes too done. But these toasters tend to be more expensive, and aren’t necessarily better at actually toasting.</li><li><strong>Motorized levers</strong> can lift and lower your toast at the press of a button, which is spiffy, but the process takes longer than just manually pressing down a lever.</li><li>A <strong>defrost mode</strong> is meant to help in handling frozen breads by extending the toasting cycle, giving the bread some time to thaw before toasting. In our tests, we found little difference between heating up an Eggo waffle on the frozen and normal toast settings. But every single toaster we tested had a defrost setting, so it never came up as a dealbreaker.</li><li>We liked <strong>extra features</strong> such as Breville’s “lift and look” button/lever, which allows you to peek on the doneness of your toast and pop it back in if it’s not quite ready, and “A Bit More” button, which gently darkens your toast without the chance of burning it to a crisp.</li></ul><p>There’s one thing you can’t expect any toaster to do: Put out perfect toast without supervision. Even the good toasters need help. Acclaimed baker <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Peter Reinhart</a> told us even he has to babysit his toaster. “I have to push the lever down twice and sort of accept that,” he says. “It’s a cliche. We don’t expect them to be perfect. You can accept and move on or get angry at the toaster,” he said. It appears that toaster makers agree: All our finalists had a cancel button.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="how-we-tested"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="how-we-tested-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">How we tested</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="how-we-tested-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="how-we-tested" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><figure id="attachment_37637" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Two dozen bagel halves toasted to varying degrees and laid out on baking sheets, labeled with blue sticky notes that say which toaster they were toasted in." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37637" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> We tested toasters using Murray’s bagels, which are the puffiest in New York. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>To see how each toaster handled breads of different shapes and sizes, we toasted dozens of loaves of basic white bread, bagels, frozen waffles, and English muffins. For our white bread test, we toasted three back-to-back rounds of Wonder bread slices to see how consistent the toast was from model to model and batch to batch. These multiple batches showed us how well each toaster could regulate its temperature after heating up.</p><p>In each round, we timed each toaster to see which could brown bread fastest. We judged toast itself on its top-to-bottom and side-to-side evenness, and evaluated the accuracy of the shade settings—would most breakfast eaters consider these results medium, or were they too light or too burned? We also bit into the toast to evaluate its texture and taste, looking for slices that had a lightly charred and crispy exterior and a warm interior that didn’t feel too dried out or stiff.</p><figure id="attachment_37628" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Fifteen pieces of toast sorted in lines of three by which toaster they were made in. Each column has a blue sticky note with the name of the toaster at the bottom of it." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37628" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> Our five toaster picks consistently produced golden-brown toast in three back-to-back batches. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>We tried each toaster’s bagel mode on everything bagels fresh from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.murraysbagels.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Murray’s</a>, which we chose because they’re fluffier and thicker than traditional New York-style bagels and would show us where the toasters’ slot widths hit their limit. We wanted the results to resemble what you get in a deli conveyor belt—lightly toasted on the rounded side and nicely browned on the cut side. We tested the frozen modes on the toasters using blueberry Eggo waffles. The waffles, we hoped, would come out crispy and brown but not scorched or soggy. We toasted English muffins to see which toasters made it easiest to retrieve the small items without sticking our fingers in the heated slots. We also emptied each model’s crumb tray and noted how easy each was to clean, and we took a look at the size of each model relative to others in its class.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="the-best-toasters-cuisinart-cpt-122-2-slice-and-cpt-142-4-slice-compact-plastic-toasters"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="the-best-toasters-cuisinart-cpt-122-2-slice-and-cpt-142-4-slice-compact-plastic-toasters-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">The best toasters: Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice and CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toasters</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="the-best-toasters-cuisinart-cpt-122-2-slice-and-cpt-142-4-slice-compact-plastic-toasters-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="the-best-toasters-cuisinart-cpt-122-2-slice-and-cpt-142-4-slice-compact-plastic-toasters" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><figure id="attachment_37623" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Our pick for best toaster, a white Cuisinart CPT-122 2-slice toaster, with two slices of toast peaking out of it." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 alignnone size-full wp-image-37623" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">  <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><div class="cc2d881f global-cob ec5a3f2b _67b83b97 b89f58eb" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Our pick</h4><div id="callout-chapter-1-1" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/25159/Cuisinart-CPT-122-2-Slice-Compact-Plastic-Toaster_20180227-165603_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The best two-slot toaster" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">The best two-slot toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">This inexpensive toaster browned bread more evenly than almost anything else we tested, and looks attractive on any countertop.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/133964/4/73625?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$25</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/153033/4/73625?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/153033/4/73625?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="callout-chapter-1-2" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/25160/Cuisinart-CPT-142-4-Slice-Compact-Plastic-Toaster_20180227-165614_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The best four-slot toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">The best four-slot toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Batch after batch, this four-slot toaster browned bread as evenly as its two-slot counterpart.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/133912/4/73627?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/152494/4/73627?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/152494/4/73627?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$40</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-2" data-source-id-order="2" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/153034/4/73627?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/153034/4/73627?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$25</span> from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p>The two-slot <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25159/0/4/73631/?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25159/0/4/73631/?merchant=Walmart">Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a> and its four-slot counterpart, the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25160/0/4/73633/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25160/0/4/73633/?merchant=Amazon">CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster</a> offer the best toast for your money, hands down. These inexpensive toasters browned bread, bagels, and waffles better than all of the competition in their price range. Unlike other cheap toasters, the Cuisinarts have slots that are wide enough to fit thick, hand-cut bagels without requiring you to push them down yourself. The plastic controls offer a wide range of toasting settings and feel sturdier than the plastic dials and knobs on some other toasters we tested. The two-slot Cuisinart is also one of the tiniest, most attractive toasters we tested, making it ideal for kitchens with limited counter space.</p><p>Both Cuisinarts toasted evenly from top to bottom and slot to slot, even after multiple batches. They beautifully browned the entire slice of Wonder bread, while other toasters, like the Osters or Hamilton Beaches we tested, left unappetizing raw halos on top. When filled in every slot, the four-slot model made slightly lighter toast than the two-slot, but you can easily fix this by turning up the toasting dial. In comparison, all other similarly priced toasters and even some pricier machines left bread even whiter and patchier.</p><p>In three successive batches, both Cuisinarts produced toast in pretty similar shades of brown, which is a rare feat for a toaster under $50. The medium setting on both Cuisinarts also popped out a fully done piece of toast after 1 minute, 20 seconds, almost half the time of previous top pick Oster Jelly Bean’s 2 minute, 20 second toast time.</p><figure id="attachment_37629" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="A side by side comparison of two pieces of toast, one toasted in our current pick and one toasted in our previous pick. The one toasted in our previous pick is notably less toasted." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37629" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> The Cuisinart toasted the entire slice of Wonder bread while our previous pick, the Oster Jelly Bean, left raw stripes and tops. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Each toaster evenly browned a thick bagel without burning sesame seeds. Some models, such as the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon">Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster</a> and <a href="#the-competition">Hamilton Beach Cool Touch</a> left bagels pale white on either side. And both Cuisinarts’ defrost setting gave us Eggo waffles that were crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside.</p><p>The Cuisinarts’ slots were wider and deeper than those on most other toasters we tested. The slots in the Cuisinarts easily accommodated the puffiest Murray’s bagels and didn’t require us to force each half down into the machine, as we had to do with many other toasters. And the machines’ “high lift” feature on the lever allows you to lift smaller items like English muffins out of the slots without burning your fingertips.</p><figure class="f454da97" role="group"><div class="_95bed5fe"><div class="flex-viewport" style="overflow:hidden;position:relative"><ul class="bc24c823 f6bc831f" style="width:1000%;transition-duration:0s;transform:translate3d(-570px, 0px, 0px)" data-scp="inline_gallery"><li class="b82c230f" data-scp="inline_gallery_item_clone" aria-hidden="true" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0073" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The four-slice Cuisinart features a helpful label that indicates which slot should hold a single slice of bread. " data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The four-slice Cuisinart features a helpful label that indicates which slot should hold a single slice of bread.  <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li class="_466edb11" aria-hidden="false" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0076" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The Cuisinarts’ buttons sit next to printed labels, which means you’re unlikely to rub the labels off with your fingers." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The Cuisinarts’ buttons sit next to printed labels, which means you’re unlikely to rub the labels off with your fingers. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li aria-hidden="false" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0075" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The slots of the Cuisinarts are considerably deeper than the Oster Jelly Bean’s and leave no white tops." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The slots of the Cuisinarts are considerably deeper than the Oster Jelly Bean’s and leave no white tops. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li aria-hidden="false" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0073" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The four-slice Cuisinart features a helpful label that indicates which slot should hold a single slice of bread. " data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The four-slice Cuisinart features a helpful label that indicates which slot should hold a single slice of bread.  <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li class="b82c230f" data-scp="inline_gallery_item_clone" aria-hidden="true" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0076" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The Cuisinarts’ buttons sit next to printed labels, which means you’re unlikely to rub the labels off with your fingers." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The Cuisinarts’ buttons sit next to printed labels, which means you’re unlikely to rub the labels off with your fingers. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="_4ec42101" data-scp="gallery_meta"><div class="_4ac4be4c"><span class="current-slide">1</span> of 3</div><div class="b6ab1110"><span class="_07e52ea8"></span><span class="_31c7e5ab"></span></div></div></figure><p>The controls on both Cuisinarts are simple, featuring a knob that adjusts the darkness of the toast (from 1 to 7) and buttons that allow you to select the mode or cancel the toast cycle. The knob’s settings are accurate, meaning that setting the dial to 3 will produce toast that’s not too dark and not too light. They also have buttons to reheat and defrost your toast, as well as a bagel setting. All the parts you touch and twist on the Cuisinart stay cool, and they also feel sturdier than the moving parts of other toasters. We didn’t like that you could really wiggle the dial of the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon">Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome 2 Slice Toaster</a> or the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon">Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster</a>. And neither Cuisinart felt hot to the touch, even after multiple rounds of toasting, as opposed to some of the metal toasters we tested.</p><p>Cuisinart’s stylish, boxy design means the two-slot version takes up less space than some of the flashier toasters we tested, such as our runner-up, the space-inefficient <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond">Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster</a>. So if you have a small kitchen and your counter space is at a premium, the Cuisinart two-slice is the way to go. Between the Cuisinarts, the four-slice version is just four inches wider than the two-slice. And the four-slice Cuisinart is an inch smaller on all sides than our four-slot upgrade pick, the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Breville" data-vars-store="Breville" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville">Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a>, making it a better choice for cramped counters.</p><p>Cleaning and maintaining both Cuisinarts is as simple as sliding out the removable crumb tray and wiping it clean, similar to other models we tested. The Cuisinarts come with a limited three-year warranty, which only the Magimix matches for the longest warranty of any toaster we tested. Our previous pick, the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart">Oster Jelly Bean</a>, and our current two-slice and four-slice upgrade picks from Breville, all have a one-year warranty.</p><p><span id="cuisinart-cpt-ltt">We’ve</span> been using the Cuisinart CPT-122 in our Wirecutter test kitchen since March 2018, and although that probably adds up to less use than it would get at home, the toaster has held up well so far. All of the printing is still intact, and none of the labels show any signs of wearing off.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="flaws-but-not-dealbreakers"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="flaws-but-not-dealbreakers-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Flaws but not dealbreakers</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="flaws-but-not-dealbreakers-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="flaws-but-not-dealbreakers" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><p>The two Cuisinart toasters have virtually no flaws in toasting, aside from occasionally leaving slim pale lines around the edges. But though you can see these pale edges, they’re so small that you won’t notice any difference in crunch when eating your toast.</p><p>As an inexpensive plastic toaster, the Cuisinarts’ mechanics seemed less sturdy than our upgrade picks’. Its plastic levers may be less durable than metal over time, but most stainless-steel-bodied toasters we tested also had plastic levers. The labels printed next to Cuisinarts’ buttons may wear away over time, but most toasters we looked at had a similar issue. And the labels should last longer than the ones printed directly on the buttons of other toasters (such as the Oster Jelly Bean or the Hamilton Beach Keep Warm), which are far easier to wear off with buttery fingers.</p><p>Unlike on the higher-end Brevilles, the Cuisinarts’ bagel setting just adds extra time to the toasting cycle without lowering the heat on the outside of the bagel. Although this setting browns a bagel better than a regular toasting cycle, the Brevilles’ thoughtfully designed, side-specific bagel setting produces a better bagel with a crisp cut edge and a chewy middle.</p><p>And though the Cuisinarts’ toasting intensity remained impressively consistent across multiple batches of bread, we still recommend adjusting the settings to compensate for the inevitable buildup of heat. When the second batch starts, turn the heat down a half level from your normal setting. The only toasters that came close to fully compensating for this were our two Breville picks, which produced almost identical pieces of toast from the first to third batch.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="runner-up-cuisinart-cpt-3000-viewpro-glass-2-slice-toaster"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="runner-up-cuisinart-cpt-3000-viewpro-glass-2-slice-toaster-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Runner-up: Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="runner-up-cuisinart-cpt-3000-viewpro-glass-2-slice-toaster-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="runner-up-cuisinart-cpt-3000-viewpro-glass-2-slice-toaster" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><figure id="attachment_37626" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Our runner-up pick with two pieces of toast in it and a stack of toast on a plate to its right." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 alignnone size-full wp-image-37626" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">  <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Runner-up</h4><div id="callout-chapter-2-1" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16401/Cuisinart-CPT-3000-ViewPro-Glass-2-Slice-Toaster_20180227-165626_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">This futuristic glass-walled toaster has touch-screen buttons and browns bread almost as evenly as our top pick.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Home Depot" data-vars-store="Home Depot" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628?merchant=Home%20Depot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$13</span>* from <span>Home Depot</span></a></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-1" data-source-id-order="1" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628?merchant=Walmart" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$60</span> from <span>Walmart</span></a><p class="cf4ddcef">May be out of stock</p></div><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-2" data-source-id-order="2" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button">Buy from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><p class="a45c773f" data-scp="callout_disclaimer">*At the time of publishing, the price was $50.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond">Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster</a> browns bread consistently and offers a few premium features. It’s almost twice as expensive as our main pick, but the glass walls and durable touch-screen buttons make it feel like a toaster that would cost even more. The Cuisinart ViewPro churned out toast that had no raw tops or borders. It’s an impressive, statement toaster for a surprisingly affordable price, and its glass walls ensure you can pull your toast out at just the right moment.</p><p>If you like the look of the luxurious, glass-sided <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25161/0/4/73637/?merchant=Williams-Sonoma" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Williams-Sonoma" data-vars-store="Williams-Sonoma" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25161/0/4/73637/?merchant=Williams-Sonoma">Magimix</a>, the Cuisinart toasted more evenly for a quarter of the price. When toasting two pieces of bread at once, the Cuisinart’s two short slots browned more evenly than the Magimix’s single long slot, which left raw-looking columns on the sides of the bread that touched while toasting.</p><p>The ViewPro is not our top pick because it costs twice as much as our main pick. It also doesn’t produce the all-around consistent toast of the Cuisinart 2-Slice, leaving behind some uneven, dark corners and a few thin raw bars in each piece of bread. The ViewPro is also 2 inches wider than our main pick, making it a bit big for small kitchens. But it does offer extra features that toast fanatics might prefer. Watching your bread toast allows you to hit cancel at the exact right moment, and the soft glow of the heating elements makes toasting seem like an occasion. The touch-screen buttons mean there are no painted-on labels to wear off over time, unlike on most of the other toasters we tested.</p><figure class="f454da97" role="group"><div class="_95bed5fe"><div class="flex-viewport" style="overflow:hidden;position:relative"><ul class="bc24c823 f6bc831f" style="width:800%;transition-duration:0s;transform:translate3d(-570px, 0px, 0px)" data-scp="inline_gallery"><li class="b82c230f" data-scp="inline_gallery_item_clone" aria-hidden="true" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0089" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The ViewPro produced toast browned from top to bottom, but there was always a thin white line on one side of the bread." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The ViewPro produced toast browned from top to bottom, but there was always a thin white line on one side of the bread. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li class="_466edb11" aria-hidden="false" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0084" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The Cuisinart ViewPro’s glass walls let you watch your toast brown in real time, in case you want to pull a slice out early." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The Cuisinart ViewPro’s glass walls let you watch your toast brown in real time, in case you want to pull a slice out early. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li aria-hidden="false" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0089" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The ViewPro produced toast browned from top to bottom, but there was always a thin white line on one side of the bread." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The ViewPro produced toast browned from top to bottom, but there was always a thin white line on one side of the bread. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li><li class="b82c230f" data-scp="inline_gallery_item_clone" aria-hidden="true" style="width:570px;margin-right:0;float:left;display:block"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="toasters-lowres-0084" class="_4d1277f6 af06a12c _7f210899" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-570x380.jpg" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-200x134.jpg 200w" data-caption="The Cuisinart ViewPro’s glass walls let you watch your toast brown in real time, in case you want to pull a slice out early." data-credit="Photo: Michael Hession" data-amp-layout="responsive" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-200x134.jpg"/></figure><p class="_8cddc2c4" data-scp="caption">The Cuisinart ViewPro’s glass walls let you watch your toast brown in real time, in case you want to pull a slice out early. <span class=" ">Photo: Michael Hession</span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="_4ec42101" data-scp="gallery_meta"><div class="_4ac4be4c"><span class="current-slide">1</span> of 2</div><div class="b6ab1110"><span class="_07e52ea8"></span><span class="_31c7e5ab"></span></div></div></figure><p>The Cuisinart ViewPro did have a bit of a wonky lever, which we needed to press down hard to lock it into place and actually start the toast. In our tests, we often had to push it down twice. And having touch-screen controls rather than a dial means that you can toast only at each level, with no room for gradation. For example, you can toast a piece of bread at settings 2 or 3, but not at 2.5 or somewhere else in the middle, which you can do with a more traditional dial.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="upgrade-pick-breville-bta720xl-bit-more-toaster-2-slice"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="upgrade-pick-breville-bta720xl-bit-more-toaster-2-slice-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Upgrade pick: Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="upgrade-pick-breville-bta720xl-bit-more-toaster-2-slice-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="upgrade-pick-breville-bta720xl-bit-more-toaster-2-slice" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><figure id="attachment_37656" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Our upgrade pick, the stainless steel Breville BTA720XL with two pieces of toast in it." width="630" height="420" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 alignnone size-full wp-image-37656" data-sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">  <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Upgrade pick</h4><div id="callout-chapter-4-2" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Breville BTA720XL" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/10989/Breville-BTA720XL_20180308-215505_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Breville BTA720XL" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Breville BTA720XL</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Pricier with more features" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">Pricier with more features</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Though it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$80</span> from <span>Amazon</span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Breville" data-vars-store="Breville" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville">Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)</a> is a handsome, sturdy machine that toasts better than any other model we tested—with the exception of our four-slice upgrade pick from Breville. Though it’s over twice the price of our main pick, we found that the Breville toasts bread and bagels more evenly, with no traces of pale edges. The Breville also offers more flexible toasting options than our main pick. It allows you to check the degree of doneness mid-toasting, and has the option to add 30 seconds more to the toasting cycle. Also, its steel casing has a classic look that would fit the aesthetic of almost any kitchen.</p><p>The Breville toasts more evenly than our top pick, the Cuisinart Compact Plastic Toaster, with uniform browning from top to bottom. While the Cuisinart would occasionally turn out toast with pale borders, the Breville’s toast emerged an even, golden brown from crust to center. Its more <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1896/3943/files/BTA720-730XL_USC_IB.pdf?4292309126219701933" rel="noopener" target="_blank">advanced bagel setting</a> (PDF) toasts a better bagel than the Cuisinart by increasing the heat to the inner heating elements, which ensures the bagel will have a nicely darkened sliced side and a round side that’s warmed but not overdone. It also has a helpful printed icon on the top of the toaster to show you which direction to insert a sliced bagel. With the Cuisinart, it doesn’t matter which way you point the slices, as its bagel setting simply extends the toasting time. The Bit More also stays cool to the touch even after multiple rounds of toasting, unlike the steel toasters from Oster or Hamilton Beach.</p><figure id="attachment_11016" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="A close up of the controls and buttons on the Breville Bit More toaster." width="630" height="420" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 wp-image-11016 size-full" data-sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> The Breville Bit More’s thoughtful toasting buttons make it easy to brown a perfect bagel or pop a nearly done slice back in for 30 more seconds. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Beyond the good performance you’d expect, spending the extra money for the Breville buys you two features the other toasters in our tests didn’t have: Breville markets them as the “Lift & Look” lever and the “A Bit More” button. They’re accurately named. “Lift & Look” lets you raise the lever to pull the bread all the way up to peek at your slice without interrupting the toasting cycle. If it’s not done to your satisfaction, the heat stays on and you can lower the lever to finish toasting. The second one, the toaster’s namesake “A Bit More” button, lets you add a 30-second follow-up round to finish any underdone toast. The Breville also beeps to alert you when your toast is ready. (You can adjust the volume or mute this feature by following the directions in the user manual.)</p><figure id="attachment_37631" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="A side by side comparison of two pieces of toast, one made in the Cuisinart 2-slice and one in the Breville Bit More. There are blue post-it notes under each piece of toast indicating which toaster it was made in." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37631" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> Although the Cuisinart CPT-122 made nearly perfect toast with the occasional white spot or edge, the Breville left no room for error. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Some of our testers liked that the two-slice Breville still has a mechanical lever to raise and lower bread into the slots. Our four-slice upgrade pick, the Breville Smart Toaster, has an automated lever that lifts and lowers your toast at the press of a button, which feels more luxurious but also takes longer.</p><p>The Breville is covered by a one-year limited warranty standard for most toasters, which is not quite as long as the three-year warranties covering the Cuisinarts. It’s also around an inch wider and longer than our main pick. It does cost significantly more than our main pick, but it’s close to a perfect toaster.</p><p><span id="breville-ltt">Staff</span> writers Signe Brewster and Michael Sullivan have used the Breville toaster in their homes since about October 2018 and March 2018, respectively, and both report that it’s still working well. Signe said, “It’s easy to clean, looks great, and has well-designed buttons. I also really love that the plug has a hole in it for easy grabbing—a nice touch when you plug/unplug it once a day.” Both wish that the toaster offered a bit more lift, but as a solution, Michael recommends <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/31723/0/4/89486/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-store="Bed Bath & Beyond" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/31723/0/4/89486/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond">mini tongs</a> to rescue stuck pieces of toast. Wirecutter editor Jen Hunter also likes her Breville, but joked that it may be haunted: “It occasionally just randomly comes on, or won’t turn off after the toast is done.” It’s a minor bother though, and she points out that there are other features to make up for this: “I really enjoy that the toast slowly rolls up out of the machine when it’s ready (rather than the traditional pop). It makes the whole experience feel like an upgrade should.”</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="upgrade-pick-breville-btw840xl-die-cast-4-slice-smart-toaster"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="upgrade-pick-breville-btw840xl-die-cast-4-slice-smart-toaster-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Upgrade pick: Breville BTW840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="upgrade-pick-breville-btw840xl-die-cast-4-slice-smart-toaster-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="upgrade-pick-breville-btw840xl-die-cast-4-slice-smart-toaster" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><figure id="attachment_37619" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Our upgrade pick, the brushed metal Breville BTW840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster. A stack of toast on a plate is visible behind the toaster." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 alignnone size-full wp-image-37619" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">  <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><div class="cc2d881f global-cob _9b52caaa" data-scp="callout"><h4 class="_4b6f6bcc" data-scp="callout_label">Upgrade pick</h4><div id="callout-chapter-4-3" class="edad5eb9" data-gtm-element="callout" data-scp="callout_item"><span data-gtm-trigger="save_bookmark_test" class="_12008f29"><div class="d3781fe7"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/static/img/save-off.svg" alt="Save Bookmark Icon Filled"/></div></span><div class="c1c935f3"><div class="_32120187"><div class="a96546a3"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="_6bd65102 product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_image" data-scp="callout_image"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster" itemprop="image" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16399/Breville-BTA840XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-Smart-Toaster_20180227-165650_full.jpg" width="570" height="380" class="af06a12c _7f210899"/></figure></a></div><div class="_8f775295"><h3 class="b06e9ed6" data-optimizely="save_bookmark_test"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="product-link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_name" data-scp="callout_product">Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a></h3><h2 class="e776962b"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="product-merchant-link-button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="A four-slot cream of the crop toaster" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_title" data-scp="callout_title">A four-slot cream of the crop toaster</a></h2><p class="fa50422a" data-scp="callout_description">Though it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.</p><div data-scp="callout_sources"><h4 class="_617bce77">Buying Options</h4><div class="_57d9ff7d product-pricebox-0" data-source-id-order="0" data-country-code="US"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" class="_3d4d824c product-merchant-link-button" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="callout_product_link_button"><span>$176</span>* from <span>Amazon</span></a></div><p class="a45c773f" data-scp="callout_disclaimer">*At the time of publishing, the price was $180.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div><p>If you want a four-slot toaster that makes perfect toast, offers flexible features, and is built like a burnished steel tank, we love the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Breville" data-vars-store="Breville" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville">Breville BTA840XL 4-Slice Smart Toaster</a>. Though it’s pricier and takes up more space than our top-pick four-slot toaster, the Breville offers more features than any other two- or four-slot model we tested. Unlike the other toasters we recommend, the Breville Smart Toaster doesn’t have a mechanical lever and lowers bread automatically into the slots when you push the “Toast” button. The “Lift and Look” button automatically raises the toast just long enough for you to check the doneness, and the “A Bit More” option adds 30 seconds more to the toasting time.</p><figure id="attachment_37618" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="A side by side size comparison of the four-slice Breville Smart Toaster and the four-slice Cuisinart." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37618" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> Though the four-slice Breville Smart Toaster is a gorgeous industrial tank, the four-slice Cuisinart takes up a little less space on your countertop. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Although our top pick for two-slice and four-slice toasters are two sizes of the same toaster, the Breville Smart Toaster is not a larger version of the Breville Bit More (our two-slot upgrade pick). The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon">four-slice version</a> of the Bit More is a long-slot toaster that can fit four slices of bread in its two slots. We tested this toaster last year and found it browned bread unevenly. It burned single slices of bread and left pale outer edges when filled with two slices of bread, so we don’t recommend it. Similarly, we don’t recommend the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25164/0/4/73642/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25164/0/4/73642/?merchant=Amazon">two-slot version</a> of the Smart Toaster. It costs significantly more than our two-slice upgrade pick and doesn’t offer many additional features.</p><p>Like the Bit More, the Smart Toaster has lights that indicate the temperature setting (the lights also count down so you can gauge when the toast will be done). A single beep conveniently alerts you once the toasting cycle is complete, and you can also adjust the volume or mute this feature.</p><figure id="attachment_37658" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="Four pieces of toast in the Breville Smart Toaster." width="630" height="420" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37658" data-sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> The Breville Smart Toaster offers a helpful “Lift and Look” button that allows you to peek at your bread before ending the toasting cycle. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Also like the Bit More, the surface of the Breville Smart Toaster stays cooler than that of the other stainless steel models we tested, which is especially great if you have children in the house. Like most models we tested, however, you’ll need to increase the heat setting for bagels and English muffins.</p><p>Keep in mind that this toaster is a tank—it’s almost the size of our favorite small toaster oven, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/">the Panasonic FlashXpress</a>. But it has none of the versatility of a toaster oven, being unable to roast a squash, bake cookies, or make pizza bagels. Its automatic lever also lowers bread into the slot more slowly than all the manual levers we tested. If your counter is running out of space, you may prefer an appliance that can do more than just toast. But if you have a capacious kitchen or if toast is your thing, you can’t find a better toaster for the price.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="the-competition"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="the-competition-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">The competition</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="the-competition-panel" class="eef47d2f" aria-labelledby="the-competition" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><p><strong>Two-slot toasters</strong></p><p>Although our previous two-slot pick, the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Walmart" data-vars-store="Walmart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart">Oster Jelly Bean</a>, still browned bread better than most other budget toasters, it paled in comparison with the Cuisinart. Despite having slots deeper than those of the Black + Decker and Hamilton Beach toasters we tested, the Jelly Bean still left pure white crowns on otherwise nicely toasted bread. These white tops get even bigger if you forget to push the bread down as far as it will go in the slot, which we found irritating and hard to remember.</p><figure id="attachment_37635" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="The Dualit NewGen toaster next to two pieces of toast." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37635" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> The bulky Dualit NewGen had a limited toasting dial that produced toast that was either too dark or too light. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>Though in past years we avoided models that cost more than $200, we tested two popular luxury toasters for our 2018 update to see what all the hype was about. The<a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10998/0/4/58587/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10998/0/4/58587/?merchant=Amazon"> Dualit 2 Slot NewGen Toaster</a> looked like a steely fortress that could toast well beyond the average human life span, but its limited, analog settings made it difficult and unwieldy to use. The Dualit’s toasting dial has just four levels, but in our tests we couldn’t find one setting that made golden brown toast. We wished it had more browning options. You have to manually retrieve toast from the Dualit—it will not pop up on its own, and there’s no timer noise. It also took up almost twice as much counter space as some of the smaller toasters.</p><figure id="attachment_37633" class="wp-caption alignnone"><figure class="e4bd0732 global_chapter__arp_image"><img alt="The Magimix and the Cuisinart ViewPro side by side. Each has a plate with two pieces of toast in front of it." width="636" height="424" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-120x80.jpg" class="af06a12c _7f210899 size-full wp-image-37633" data-sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095.jpg 636w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-300x200.jpg 300w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-630x420.jpg 630w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-570x380.jpg 570w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-330x220.jpg 330w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-200x134.jpg 200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726im_/https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-120x80.jpg 120w"/></figure><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> The glass-paneled Magimix by Robot Coupe toasted less evenly than our glass-sided pick, the Cuisinart ViewPro, leaving large white patches and burnt edges. <span class="wp-caption-text wp-caption-credit">Photo: Michael Hession</span></figcaption></figure><p>We also tested the $250 <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10987/0/4/58588?merchant=Williams-Sonoma" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Williams-Sonoma" data-vars-store="Williams-Sonoma" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10987/0/4/58588?merchant=Williams-Sonoma">Magimix by Robot Coupe</a>, which has glass sides that allow you to watch your bread turn to toast. Like the Dualit, the Magimix is inconveniently large for a two-slice toaster. The Magimix did produce a mostly even toast, but each piece had a few white streaks around the top and bottom—an inevitability, it seems, with any glass-sided toaster. When filled with two slices, the Magimix’s long-slot design produced toast with white edges and patchy, overly toasted centers. If you do want a glass-sided toaster, we recommend the Cuisinart.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25165/0/4/73638/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25165/0/4/73638/?merchant=Amazon">Oster TSSTTRWF2S Brushed Stainless Steel 2-Slice Toaster</a> browned bread evenly between batches, but all pieces came out with a raw, white top. When we peeked inside the slots, we saw the toaster had crooked heating elements that stopped partway up the walls of the toaster, which may explain why. The toaster also became too hot to touch after multiple rounds of toasting.</p><p>We liked how the exterior of the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10994/0/4/58594/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10994/0/4/58594/?merchant=Amazon">Hamilton Beach 2 Slice Cool Touch (22121)</a> didn’t get hot to the touch after multiple rounds of toasting. However, it left bagels first looking pale, and then a bit too dark in our back-to-back toast tests.</p><p>Though a company best-seller, the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25166/0/4/73639/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25166/0/4/73639/?merchant=Amazon">Hamilton Beach Keep Warm 2-Slice Toaster (22811)</a> gave us pale bagels and streaky toast with white tops. The toaster also beeps loudly three times before your toast pops up, which gets annoying fast.</p><p>While toasting on a middle setting, <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon">Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome 2 Slice Toaster (22790)</a> left white tops and burnt bottoms, especially in the second and third round of back-to-back toasts.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon">Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster</a> left slices of toast soft and pallid. Even at darker heating levels, the toaster didn’t reach the top of the bread, leaving doughy white crowns.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10995/0/4/58595/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10995/0/4/58595/?merchant=Amazon">Krups KH732D Breakfast Set</a> did poorly in just about all of our tests. Our testers discovered its chrome exterior is wrapped around a cheap, lightweight interior frame that doesn’t sit securely on a countertop. If you push the lever to bring the toast up to the top, it tips over.</p><p>According to <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10992/0/4/58597/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10992/0/4/58597/?merchant=Amazon">Cuisinart, the CPT-420 Touch to Toast</a> has the same internal components as the CPT-440 (minus two slots and accompanying electronics, all from the same factory), so we were able to dismiss it.</p><p><strong>Four-slot toasters</strong></p><p>The four-slice, long-slot <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon">Breville The Bit More BTA730XL</a> was one of the few that we tried that was able to swallow an entire oval slice of rustic sourdough without any of the bread sticking out of the slot. Unfortunately, it overcooked white bread on its middle setting.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16405/0/4/58598/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16405/0/4/58598/?merchant=Amazon">Breville BTA830XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Long Slot Smart Toaster</a> toasted evenly, but it left the bottom of the lower corners of some pieces untoasted. Because it’s expensive, we expected more from this model.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10997/0/4/58586/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10997/0/4/58586/?merchant=Amazon">Oster TSSTTRWF4S-SHP 4-Slice Toaster</a>, our former four-slice pick, toasted bread even more irregularly than its two-slice cousin. After toasting two rounds of bread on the same setting, the second batch inexplicably turned out lighter than the first.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16400/0/4/58592/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16400/0/4/58592/?merchant=Amazon">Cuisinart CPT-180 4-Slice Metal Classic Toaster</a> toasted bread unevenly from batch to batch, leaving some pieces pale golden brown and other pieces burned.</p><p>The left lever on the<a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16406/0/4/58599/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16406/0/4/58599/?merchant=Amazon"> Cuisinart CPT-640 4-Slice Toaster</a> we tested was faulty. It couldn’t keep the bread in the slot without popping it up.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16407/0/4/58600/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/16407/0/4/58600/?merchant=Amazon">Oster TSSTTR6330-NP 4-Slice Long-Slot Toaster</a> toasted bread very inconsistently. Some pieces had hot spots or were burned while others remained pale.</p><p>Though the <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10991/0/4/58589/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10991/0/4/58589/?merchant=Amazon">Cuisinart CPT-440 Touch to Toast Leverless 4 Slice Toaster</a> has motorized slots, individual LCD panels, and countdown timers, it didn’t toast anywhere near what its steep price tag might suggest. In our tests, it toasted bread inconsistently from slot to slot.</p><p>The <a class="product-link" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10993/0/4/58601/?merchant=Amazon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-gtm-trigger="product_link" data-store="Amazon" data-vars-store="Amazon" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wclink.co/link/10993/0/4/58601/?merchant=Amazon">Frigidaire Professional four-slot toaster</a> performed admirably in our tests, but Eggo waffles came out squished by the toaster’s racks along their bottom edge. The right and left sides also toasted inconsistently from one another.</p></div></section><section class="_561033be" id="sources"><h2 class="_40677b7d" aria-controls="sources-panel" aria-selected="true" role="tab" tabindex="0" data-gtm-element="chapter_heading"><span class="_7613a0d5">Sources</span><button class="d49ccbd3" aria-expanded="true" aria-pressed="false" aria-haspopup="false" data-scp="chapter_toggle"></button></h2><div id="sources-panel" class="eef47d2f fa81cb35" aria-labelledby="sources" aria-hidden="true" role="tabpanel"><ol class="cba1281f"><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p>Betty Gold, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/toaster-reviews/" target="_blank" title="Toaster Reviews">Toaster Reviews</a>, Good Housekeeping, September 8, 2017</p></li><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1421-two-slice-toasters?extcode=MASCZ00L0&ref=search_results_2" target="_blank" title="Two-Slice Toasters">Two-Slice Toasters</a>, Cook’s Illustrated (subscription required), June 1, 2013</p></li><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/toasters.htm?searchToken=toasters" target="_blank" title="Toaster Ratings">Toaster Ratings</a>, Consumer Reports (subscription required)</p></li><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p>Phil McKnight, global business manager for beverage products at Breville, interview, May 1, 2015</p></li><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p>Eric Murrell, publications chair and newsletter editor at the Toaster Collectors Association, interview, May 1, 2015</p></li><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p>Peter Reinhart, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinhart/e/B001H6W6I0?tag=wcengdgtsynd-20&ascsubtag=YT11005" target="_blank" title="baker and author">baker and author</a>, interview, May 1, 2015</p></li><li class="_35f882b8" data-scp="sources_item"><p>Michael Sheafe, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.toastercentral.com/" target="_blank" title="toaster repairman">toaster repairman</a>, phone interview, November 22, 2017</p></li></ol></div></section></div></div></div></div></article></div></main><footer class="f638f976" role="contentinfo"><div id="js-site-footer" class="_2beeb54a"><div class="f686e739"><p class="_6f1a90fd">Wirecutter is a list of wonderful things by Brian Lam and friends, founded in 2011 and a part of The New York Times Company since 2016. 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Like our top pick, the Cuisinart ViewPro also has an exceptionally long three-year warranty.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-callout","attribs":{"type":"alternate","id":"2"},"children":[],"dbData":{"ribbon":"Upgrade pick","callouts":[{"name":"Breville BTA720XL","title":"Pricier with more features","images":{"full":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/10989/Breville-BTA720XL_20180308-215505_full.jpg","half":""},"publishPrice":"$80","description":"Though it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.","notGreat":0,"ribbon":"Upgrade pick","pickTypeId":4,"referenceId":73626,"sources":[{"id":30834,"store":"Amazon","price":{"raw":7995,"rawFormatted":"$80","formatted":"$80"},"buttonDetails":"","order":1,"valueAdd":"","countryId":"usa","availability":"in_stock","rawUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BTA720XL-More-2-Slice-Toaster/dp/B00COMHC12?SubscriptionId=AKIAJM4NKIQGABP2PIRA\u0026linkCode=xm2","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626","countryCode":"US","currency":"USD"}],"productId":10989,"calloutId":"p2","hasEventDeals":false}]}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The stainless steel two-slot ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Breville","data-vars-store":"Breville","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville"},"children":[{"data":"Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)","type":"text"}]},{"data":", along with our four-slice upgrade pick, produced the most consistent toast of any toaster—golden brown all over with no white patches or lines—even after several back-to-back batches. 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It has the same functionality as our two-slot Breville pick, the Bit More, as well as a button that automatically lifts and lowers your toast. In the Breville Smart Toaster, the “lift and look” feature is its own button. While the Bit More’s “lift and look” feature requires you to raise a lever, the Breville Smart Toaster lets you check for doneness with the touch of a button. 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We also spoke to product managers at some prominent toaster manufacturers, and additionally, we read editorial reviews from sites such as ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1421-two-slice-toasters?extcode=MASCZ00L0\u0026ref=search_results_2","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"Cook’s Illustrated","type":"text"}]},{"data":" (subscription required), ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/toasters.htm?searchToken=toasters","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"Consumer Reports","type":"text"}]},{"data":" (subscription required), and ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/toaster-reviews/","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"Good Housekeeping","type":"text"}]},{"data":". We also looked at user reviews from online stores such as Amazon, Walmart, and Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond. Finally, we conducted a reader survey to help us figure out what most people look for in a toaster.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"For the original version of this guide, Brendan Nystedt spent 30 hours researching and testing toasters (he also spent 20 hours doing the same for our ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/"},"children":[{"data":"toaster oven guide","type":"text"}]},{"data":"). Wirecutter kitchen writer Michael Sullivan tested six four-slot toasters for our 2016 update, and in the process ate more toast, bagels, and frozen waffles than he’d care to admit. Wirecutter junior staff writer Sabrina Imbler tested 14 two-slot and four-slot toasters for our 2018 update and suffered a similar fate.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"Why you should trust us","slug":"why-you-should-trust-us"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"You’re probably looking for a new toaster because your old one bit the dust. Or maybe it toasts unevenly, burns bread too easily, or can’t accommodate bagels. Toaster ovens can dry out your bread, so switching to the intense, direct heat of a toaster can give you a nice char while keeping the bread’s texture intact.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"A ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/"},"children":[{"data":"toaster oven","type":"text"}]},{"data":", which can handle some of the tasks that a full-size oven can tackle, such as roasting vegetables or pizza bagels, is a more versatile and capable appliance than a two-slot toaster. But if you don’t have room for a large toaster oven, four-slot toasters are the way to go. With double the capacity, four-slot toasters allow you to produce more toast fast, which is nice for feeding a large family.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"Who should buy this","slug":"who-should-buy-this"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37616","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37616","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059.jpg","alt":"Three of our picks for best toaster sitting on a kitchen counter. The center toaster has two pieces of toast in it.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0059-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" Our three two-slice picks (from left to right): the Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro, the Cuisinart CPT-122 Toaster, and the Breville BTA720XL Bit More.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Toasters haven’t changed much in the last century or so. Although they now have new features such as bagel modes or settings for frozen bread, the science behind the heating hardware is basically the same. That’s because, when it comes down to it, the ideal toaster should simply toast bread evenly and consistently without a whole lot of fuss. Every slot should give you similar performance, and you should be able to toast breads of different types and shapes, which means having a big enough slot to handle thick bagels plus a way to retrieve small English muffins without jamming utensils (or your fingers) into the slots.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"To find that ideal toaster, we scanned dozens of best-selling models on Amazon and kitchenware sites. For the 2018 update we tested eight new toasters against our previous picks. Though the technology is simple, many small factors go into making a toaster that’s pleasant to use and churns out evenly browned bread every single time. In our research and testing, here’s what we looked for:","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"ul","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Even toasting ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"is the most crucial task of a toaster. It should produce consistently crisped bread with no white spots or burnt edges. Most toasters generate heat with nichrome wires, while some (like the Magimix or Cuisinart ViewPro) rely on more expensive quartz elements, which heat up faster than nichrome. But our testing showed that even toasting was more a product of the toaster’s design than of its specific heating elements.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"It should have ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"accurate toasting settings,","type":"text"}]},{"data":" so that setting the dial to medium will give you neither ghost-white bread nor a singed black square, but rather golden brown perfection—or something like it.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"It should ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"toast consistently ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"from batch to batch, regulating its temperature so that subsequent rounds of toast don’t come out entirely singed. But even the best toasters heat up a bit after one round of toasting, so we recommend turning the dial down slightly when making a second batch.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Wide, deep slots ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"can accommodate everything from a simple slice of Wonder bread to a fluffy New York bagel. At the same time, small English muffins shouldn’t get swallowed in slots that are too deep. We looked into long-slot toasters, which can hold larger slices of bread, such as sourdough, or two pieces of toast side by side. But in testing, these models produced bread with raw corners and burnt centers, so we focused on traditional two- and four-slice models.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"A manual lever ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"can help lift toast out of the slot as well as lower it. You shouldn’t have to fish your toast out of the slots with utensils or your fingers.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"It should ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"remain cool to the touch","type":"text"}]},{"data":" even after toasting, so that you don’t burn your fingers by accidentally touching the toaster.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Removable crumb trays","type":"text"}]},{"data":" will make cleaning the toaster much, much easier.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Useful buttons ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"will make toasting easier. For example, a cancel button will allow you to stop toasting before you smell smoke. And a bagel button can help preserve chewiness by dialing back the heat on the outer part of the bagel while warming the cut side with more intense heat.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"It should ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"toast quickly","type":"text"}]},{"data":". Though no model we tested took eons to brown bread, the best ones produced golden toast more than twice as fast as the worst performers.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"A toaster should be ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"compact. ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"Because it’s a single-use kitchen appliance that will most likely stay on the counter, you don’t want it to take up too much space.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Price ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"should not be prohibitive, because a toaster, unlike a toaster oven, can be used for only one purpose. In our research, we found that many of the high-end toasters that cost upwards of $100 don’t offer much more than those costing less than half the price.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"It should ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"hold up to repeat use, ","type":"text"}]},{"data":"so that you’re not in the market for a new toaster within the year. Some flimsier toasters we tested had wobbly plastic levers or labels printed on top of buttons that would likely rub off quickly.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"There are also some attributes that we found helpful, but not necessary.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"ul","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Glass walls","type":"text"}]},{"data":" allow you to watch your toast browning, and, if necessary, eject it before it becomes too done. But these toasters tend to be more expensive, and aren’t necessarily better at actually toasting.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Motorized levers","type":"text"}]},{"data":" can lift and lower your toast at the press of a button, which is spiffy, but the process takes longer than just manually pressing down a lever.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"A ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"defrost mode","type":"text"}]},{"data":" is meant to help in handling frozen breads by extending the toasting cycle, giving the bread some time to thaw before toasting. In our tests, we found little difference between heating up an Eggo waffle on the frozen and normal toast settings. But every single toaster we tested had a defrost setting, so it never came up as a dealbreaker.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"li","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"We liked ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"extra features","type":"text"}]},{"data":" such as Breville’s “lift and look” button/lever, which allows you to peek on the doneness of your toast and pop it back in if it’s not quite ready, and “A Bit More” button, which gently darkens your toast without the chance of burning it to a crisp.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"There’s one thing you can’t expect any toaster to do: Put out perfect toast without supervision. Even the good toasters need help. Acclaimed baker ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"Peter Reinhart","type":"text"}]},{"data":" told us even he has to babysit his toaster. “I have to push the lever down twice and sort of accept that,” he says. “It’s a cliche. We don’t expect them to be perfect. You can accept and move on or get angry at the toaster,” he said. It appears that toaster makers agree: All our finalists had a cancel button.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"How we picked","slug":"how-we-picked"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37637","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37637","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867.jpg","alt":"Two dozen bagel halves toasted to varying degrees and laid out on baking sheets, labeled with blue sticky notes that say which toaster they were toasted in.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-9867-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" We tested toasters using Murray’s bagels, which are the puffiest in New York.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"To see how each toaster handled breads of different shapes and sizes, we toasted dozens of loaves of basic white bread, bagels, frozen waffles, and English muffins. For our white bread test, we toasted three back-to-back rounds of Wonder bread slices to see how consistent the toast was from model to model and batch to batch. These multiple batches showed us how well each toaster could regulate its temperature after heating up.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"In each round, we timed each toaster to see which could brown bread fastest. We judged toast itself on its top-to-bottom and side-to-side evenness, and evaluated the accuracy of the shade settings—would most breakfast eaters consider these results medium, or were they too light or too burned? We also bit into the toast to evaluate its texture and taste, looking for slices that had a lightly charred and crispy exterior and a warm interior that didn’t feel too dried out or stiff.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37628","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37628","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086.jpg","alt":"Fifteen pieces of toast sorted in lines of three by which toaster they were made in. Each column has a blue sticky note with the name of the toaster at the bottom of it.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0086-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" Our five toaster picks consistently produced golden-brown toast in three back-to-back batches.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"We tried each toaster’s bagel mode on everything bagels fresh from ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.murraysbagels.com/","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"Murray’s","type":"text"}]},{"data":", which we chose because they’re fluffier and thicker than traditional New York-style bagels and would show us where the toasters’ slot widths hit their limit. We wanted the results to resemble what you get in a deli conveyor belt—lightly toasted on the rounded side and nicely browned on the cut side. We tested the frozen modes on the toasters using blueberry Eggo waffles. The waffles, we hoped, would come out crispy and brown but not scorched or soggy. We toasted English muffins to see which toasters made it easiest to retrieve the small items without sticking our fingers in the heated slots. We also emptied each model’s crumb tray and noted how easy each was to clean, and we took a look at the size of each model relative to others in its class.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"How we tested","slug":"how-we-tested"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37623","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"alignnone size-full wp-image-37623","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074.jpg","alt":"Our pick for best toaster, a white Cuisinart CPT-122 2-slice toaster, with two slices of toast peaking out of it.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0074-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" ","type":"text"},{"data":" ","type":"comment"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-callout","attribs":{"type":"primary","id":"1,2"},"children":[],"dbData":{"ribbon":"Our pick","callouts":[{"name":"Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster","title":"The best 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These inexpensive toasters browned bread, bagels, and waffles better than all of the competition in their price range. Unlike other cheap toasters, the Cuisinarts have slots that are wide enough to fit thick, hand-cut bagels without requiring you to push them down yourself. The plastic controls offer a wide range of toasting settings and feel sturdier than the plastic dials and knobs on some other toasters we tested. The two-slot Cuisinart is also one of the tiniest, most attractive toasters we tested, making it ideal for kitchens with limited counter space.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Both Cuisinarts toasted evenly from top to bottom and slot to slot, even after multiple batches. They beautifully browned the entire slice of Wonder bread, while other toasters, like the Osters or Hamilton Beaches we tested, left unappetizing raw halos on top. When filled in every slot, the four-slot model made slightly lighter toast than the two-slot, but you can easily fix this by turning up the toasting dial. In comparison, all other similarly priced toasters and even some pricier machines left bread even whiter and patchier.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"In three successive batches, both Cuisinarts produced toast in pretty similar shades of brown, which is a rare feat for a toaster under $50. The medium setting on both Cuisinarts also popped out a fully done piece of toast after 1 minute, 20 seconds, almost half the time of previous top pick Oster Jelly Bean’s 2 minute, 20 second toast time.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37629","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37629","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087.jpg","alt":"A side by side comparison of two pieces of toast, one toasted in our current pick and one toasted in our previous pick. The one toasted in our previous pick is notably less toasted.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0087-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" The Cuisinart toasted the entire slice of Wonder bread while our previous pick, the Oster Jelly Bean, left raw stripes and tops.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Each toaster evenly browned a thick bagel without burning sesame seeds. Some models, such as the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" and ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"#the-competition"},"children":[{"data":"Hamilton Beach Cool Touch","type":"text"}]},{"data":" left bagels pale white on either side. And both Cuisinarts’ defrost setting gave us Eggo waffles that were crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The Cuisinarts’ slots were wider and deeper than those on most other toasters we tested. The slots in the Cuisinarts easily accommodated the puffiest Murray’s bagels and didn’t require us to force each half down into the machine, as we had to do with many other toasters. And the machines’ “high lift” feature on the lever allows you to lift smaller items like English muffins out of the slots without burning your fingertips.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-gallery","attribs":{"inline_gallery":"1","ids":"37625,37624,37622"},"children":[],"dbData":[{"id":37625,"title":"toasters-lowres-0076","excerpt":"The Cuisinarts’ buttons sit next to printed labels, which means you’re unlikely to rub the labels off with your fingers.","mimeType":"image/jpeg","credit":"Photo: Michael Hession","imagePaths":{"large_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-570x380.jpg","medium_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-330x220.jpg","small_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0076-200x134.jpg"}},{"id":37624,"title":"toasters-lowres-0075","excerpt":"The slots of the Cuisinarts are considerably deeper than the Oster Jelly Bean’s and leave no white tops.","mimeType":"image/jpeg","credit":"Photo: Michael Hession","imagePaths":{"large_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-570x380.jpg","medium_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-330x220.jpg","small_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0075-200x134.jpg"}},{"id":37622,"title":"toasters-lowres-0073","excerpt":"The four-slice Cuisinart features a helpful label that indicates which slot should hold a single slice of bread.\n","mimeType":"image/jpeg","credit":"Photo: Michael Hession","imagePaths":{"large_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-570x380.jpg","medium_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-330x220.jpg","small_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0073-200x134.jpg"}}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The controls on both Cuisinarts are simple, featuring a knob that adjusts the darkness of the toast (from 1 to 7) and buttons that allow you to select the mode or cancel the toast cycle. The knob’s settings are accurate, meaning that setting the dial to 3 will produce toast that’s not too dark and not too light. They also have buttons to reheat and defrost your toast, as well as a bagel setting. All the parts you touch and twist on the Cuisinart stay cool, and they also feel sturdier than the moving parts of other toasters. We didn’t like that you could really wiggle the dial of the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome 2 Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" or the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":". And neither Cuisinart felt hot to the touch, even after multiple rounds of toasting, as opposed to some of the metal toasters we tested.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Cuisinart’s stylish, boxy design means the two-slot version takes up less space than some of the flashier toasters we tested, such as our runner-up, the space-inefficient ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond","data-vars-store":"Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond"},"children":[{"data":"Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":". So if you have a small kitchen and your counter space is at a premium, the Cuisinart two-slice is the way to go. Between the Cuisinarts, the four-slice version is just four inches wider than the two-slice. And the four-slice Cuisinart is an inch smaller on all sides than our four-slot upgrade pick, the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Breville","data-vars-store":"Breville","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville"},"children":[{"data":"Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":", making it a better choice for cramped counters.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Cleaning and maintaining both Cuisinarts is as simple as sliding out the removable crumb tray and wiping it clean, similar to other models we tested. The Cuisinarts come with a limited three-year warranty, which only the Magimix matches for the longest warranty of any toaster we tested. Our previous pick, the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Walmart","data-vars-store":"Walmart","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart"},"children":[{"data":"Oster Jelly Bean","type":"text"}]},{"data":", and our current two-slice and four-slice upgrade picks from Breville, all have a one-year warranty.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"span","attribs":{"id":"cuisinart-cpt-ltt"},"children":[{"data":"We’ve","type":"text"}]},{"data":" been using the Cuisinart CPT-122 in our Wirecutter test kitchen since March 2018, and although that probably adds up to less use than it would get at home, the toaster has held up well so far. All of the printing is still intact, and none of the labels show any signs of wearing off.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"The best toasters: Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice and CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toasters","slug":"the-best-toasters-cuisinart-cpt-122-2-slice-and-cpt-142-4-slice-compact-plastic-toasters"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The two Cuisinart toasters have virtually no flaws in toasting, aside from occasionally leaving slim pale lines around the edges. But though you can see these pale edges, they’re so small that you won’t notice any difference in crunch when eating your toast.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"As an inexpensive plastic toaster, the Cuisinarts’ mechanics seemed less sturdy than our upgrade picks’. Its plastic levers may be less durable than metal over time, but most stainless-steel-bodied toasters we tested also had plastic levers. The labels printed next to Cuisinarts’ buttons may wear away over time, but most toasters we looked at had a similar issue. And the labels should last longer than the ones printed directly on the buttons of other toasters (such as the Oster Jelly Bean or the Hamilton Beach Keep Warm), which are far easier to wear off with buttery fingers.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Unlike on the higher-end Brevilles, the Cuisinarts’ bagel setting just adds extra time to the toasting cycle without lowering the heat on the outside of the bagel. Although this setting browns a bagel better than a regular toasting cycle, the Brevilles’ thoughtfully designed, side-specific bagel setting produces a better bagel with a crisp cut edge and a chewy middle.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"And though the Cuisinarts’ toasting intensity remained impressively consistent across multiple batches of bread, we still recommend adjusting the settings to compensate for the inevitable buildup of heat. When the second batch starts, turn the heat down a half level from your normal setting. The only toasters that came close to fully compensating for this were our two Breville picks, which produced almost identical pieces of toast from the first to third batch.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"Flaws but not dealbreakers","slug":"flaws-but-not-dealbreakers"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37626","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"alignnone size-full wp-image-37626","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081.jpg","alt":"Our runner-up pick with two pieces of toast in it and a stack of toast on a plate to its right.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0081-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" ","type":"text"},{"data":" ","type":"comment"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-callout","attribs":{"type":"alternate","id":"1"},"children":[],"dbData":{"ribbon":"Runner-up","callouts":[{"name":"Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2 Slice Toaster","title":"A surprisingly affordable glass-sided toaster","images":{"full":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16401/Cuisinart-CPT-3000-ViewPro-Glass-2-Slice-Toaster_20180227-165626_full.jpg","half":""},"publishPrice":"$50","description":"This futuristic glass-walled toaster has touch-screen buttons and browns bread almost as evenly as our top pick.","notGreat":0,"ribbon":"Runner-up","pickTypeId":2,"referenceId":73628,"sources":[{"id":153035,"store":"Home Depot","price":{"raw":1338,"rawFormatted":"$13","formatted":"$13"},"buttonDetails":"","order":2,"valueAdd":"","countryId":"usa","availability":"in_stock","rawUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cuisinart-2-Slice-Black-Toaster-CPT-3000/300864194","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/153035/4/73628","countryCode":"US","currency":"USD"},{"id":133985,"store":"Walmart","price":{"raw":5995,"rawFormatted":"$60","formatted":"$60"},"buttonDetails":"","order":1,"valueAdd":"","countryId":"usa","availability":"out_of_stock","rawUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cuisinart-ViewPro-Glass-2-Slice-Toaster-Black/49759270","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/133985/4/73628","countryCode":"US","currency":"USD"},{"id":49330,"store":"Amazon","price":{"raw":0,"rawFormatted":"$0","formatted":"$0"},"buttonDetails":"","order":0,"valueAdd":"","countryId":"usa","availability":"unavailable","rawUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CPT-3000-ViewPro-Glass-Toaster/dp/B017US76TC?SubscriptionId=AKIAJM4NKIQGABP2PIRA\u0026linkCode=xm2","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/49330/4/73628","countryCode":"US","currency":"USD"}],"productId":16401,"calloutId":"p1","hasEventDeals":false}]}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond","data-vars-store":"Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16401/0/4/58593/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond"},"children":[{"data":"Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" browns bread consistently and offers a few premium features. It’s almost twice as expensive as our main pick, but the glass walls and durable touch-screen buttons make it feel like a toaster that would cost even more. The Cuisinart ViewPro churned out toast that had no raw tops or borders. It’s an impressive, statement toaster for a surprisingly affordable price, and its glass walls ensure you can pull your toast out at just the right moment.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"If you like the look of the luxurious, glass-sided ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25161/0/4/73637/?merchant=Williams-Sonoma","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Williams-Sonoma","data-vars-store":"Williams-Sonoma","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25161/0/4/73637/?merchant=Williams-Sonoma"},"children":[{"data":"Magimix","type":"text"}]},{"data":", the Cuisinart toasted more evenly for a quarter of the price. When toasting two pieces of bread at once, the Cuisinart’s two short slots browned more evenly than the Magimix’s single long slot, which left raw-looking columns on the sides of the bread that touched while toasting.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ViewPro is not our top pick because it costs twice as much as our main pick. It also doesn’t produce the all-around consistent toast of the Cuisinart 2-Slice, leaving behind some uneven, dark corners and a few thin raw bars in each piece of bread. The ViewPro is also 2 inches wider than our main pick, making it a bit big for small kitchens. But it does offer extra features that toast fanatics might prefer. Watching your bread toast allows you to hit cancel at the exact right moment, and the soft glow of the heating elements makes toasting seem like an occasion. The touch-screen buttons mean there are no painted-on labels to wear off over time, unlike on most of the other toasters we tested.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-gallery","attribs":{"columns":"2","inline_gallery":"1","ids":"37627,37632"},"children":[],"dbData":[{"id":37627,"title":"toasters-lowres-0084","excerpt":"The Cuisinart ViewPro’s glass walls let you watch your toast brown in real time, in case you want to pull a slice out early.","mimeType":"image/jpeg","credit":"Photo: Michael Hession","imagePaths":{"large_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-570x380.jpg","medium_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-330x220.jpg","small_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0084-200x134.jpg"}},{"id":37632,"title":"toasters-lowres-0089","excerpt":"The ViewPro produced toast browned from top to bottom, but there was always a thin white line on one side of the bread.","mimeType":"image/jpeg","credit":"Photo: Michael Hession","imagePaths":{"large_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-570x380.jpg","medium_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-330x220.jpg","small_3x2":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0089-200x134.jpg"}}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The Cuisinart ViewPro did have a bit of a wonky lever, which we needed to press down hard to lock it into place and actually start the toast. In our tests, we often had to push it down twice. And having touch-screen controls rather than a dial means that you can toast only at each level, with no room for gradation. For example, you can toast a piece of bread at settings 2 or 3, but not at 2.5 or somewhere else in the middle, which you can do with a more traditional dial.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"Runner-up: Cuisinart CPT-3000 ViewPro Glass 2-Slice Toaster","slug":"runner-up-cuisinart-cpt-3000-viewpro-glass-2-slice-toaster"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37656","align":"alignnone","width":"630"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"alignnone size-full wp-image-37656","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732.jpg","alt":"Our upgrade pick, the stainless steel Breville BTA720XL with two pieces of toast in it.","width":"630","height":"420","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":630,"height":420,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4732-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" ","type":"text"},{"data":" ","type":"comment"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-callout","attribs":{"type":"alternate","id":"2"},"children":[],"dbData":{"ribbon":"Upgrade pick","callouts":[{"name":"Breville BTA720XL","title":"Pricier with more features","images":{"full":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/10989/Breville-BTA720XL_20180308-215505_full.jpg","half":""},"publishPrice":"$80","description":"Though it’s more expensive than our main pick, this Breville toasts bread exquisitely, and its sturdy, elegant build should outlast cheaper toasters.","notGreat":0,"ribbon":"Upgrade pick","pickTypeId":4,"referenceId":73626,"sources":[{"id":30834,"store":"Amazon","price":{"raw":7995,"rawFormatted":"$80","formatted":"$80"},"buttonDetails":"","order":1,"valueAdd":"","countryId":"usa","availability":"in_stock","rawUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BTA720XL-More-2-Slice-Toaster/dp/B00COMHC12?SubscriptionId=AKIAJM4NKIQGABP2PIRA\u0026linkCode=xm2","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/30834/4/73626","countryCode":"US","currency":"USD"}],"productId":10989,"calloutId":"p2","hasEventDeals":false}]}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Breville","data-vars-store":"Breville","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10989/0/4/58590/?merchant=Breville"},"children":[{"data":"Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)","type":"text"}]},{"data":" is a handsome, sturdy machine that toasts better than any other model we tested—with the exception of our four-slice upgrade pick from Breville. Though it’s over twice the price of our main pick, we found that the Breville toasts bread and bagels more evenly, with no traces of pale edges. The Breville also offers more flexible toasting options than our main pick. It allows you to check the degree of doneness mid-toasting, and has the option to add 30 seconds more to the toasting cycle. Also, its steel casing has a classic look that would fit the aesthetic of almost any kitchen.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The Breville toasts more evenly than our top pick, the Cuisinart Compact Plastic Toaster, with uniform browning from top to bottom. While the Cuisinart would occasionally turn out toast with pale borders, the Breville’s toast emerged an even, golden brown from crust to center. Its more ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1896/3943/files/BTA720-730XL_USC_IB.pdf?4292309126219701933","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"advanced bagel setting","type":"text"}]},{"data":" (PDF) toasts a better bagel than the Cuisinart by increasing the heat to the inner heating elements, which ensures the bagel will have a nicely darkened sliced side and a round side that’s warmed but not overdone. It also has a helpful printed icon on the top of the toaster to show you which direction to insert a sliced bagel. With the Cuisinart, it doesn’t matter which way you point the slices, as its bagel setting simply extends the toasting time. The Bit More also stays cool to the touch even after multiple rounds of toasting, unlike the steel toasters from Oster or Hamilton Beach.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_11016","align":"alignnone","width":"630"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"wp-image-11016 size-full","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719.jpg","alt":"A close up of the controls and buttons on the Breville Bit More toaster.","width":"630","height":"420","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":630,"height":420,"sources":[{"path":"2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2017/08/toasters-lowres-4719-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" The Breville Bit More’s thoughtful toasting buttons make it easy to brown a perfect bagel or pop a nearly done slice back in for 30 more seconds.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Beyond the good performance you’d expect, spending the extra money for the Breville buys you two features the other toasters in our tests didn’t have: Breville markets them as the “Lift \u0026 Look” lever and the “A Bit More” button. They’re accurately named. “Lift \u0026 Look” lets you raise the lever to pull the bread all the way up to peek at your slice without interrupting the toasting cycle. If it’s not done to your satisfaction, the heat stays on and you can lower the lever to finish toasting. The second one, the toaster’s namesake “A Bit More” button, lets you add a 30-second follow-up round to finish any underdone toast. The Breville also beeps to alert you when your toast is ready. (You can adjust the volume or mute this feature by following the directions in the user manual.)","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37631","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37631","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088.jpg","alt":"A side by side comparison of two pieces of toast, one made in the Cuisinart 2-slice and one in the Breville Bit More. There are blue post-it notes under each piece of toast indicating which toaster it was made in.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0088-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" Although the Cuisinart CPT-122 made nearly perfect toast with the occasional white spot or edge, the Breville left no room for error.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Some of our testers liked that the two-slice Breville still has a mechanical lever to raise and lower bread into the slots. Our four-slice upgrade pick, the Breville Smart Toaster, has an automated lever that lifts and lowers your toast at the press of a button, which feels more luxurious but also takes longer.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The Breville is covered by a one-year limited warranty standard for most toasters, which is not quite as long as the three-year warranties covering the Cuisinarts. It’s also around an inch wider and longer than our main pick. It does cost significantly more than our main pick, but it’s close to a perfect toaster.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"span","attribs":{"id":"breville-ltt"},"children":[{"data":"Staff","type":"text"}]},{"data":" writers Signe Brewster and Michael Sullivan have used the Breville toaster in their homes since about October 2018 and March 2018, respectively, and both report that it’s still working well. Signe said, “It’s easy to clean, looks great, and has well-designed buttons. I also really love that the plug has a hole in it for easy grabbing—a nice touch when you plug/unplug it once a day.” Both wish that the toaster offered a bit more lift, but as a solution, Michael recommends ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/31723/0/4/89486/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond","data-vars-store":"Bed Bath \u0026 Beyond","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/31723/0/4/89486/?merchant=Bed%20Bath%20%26%20Beyond"},"children":[{"data":"mini tongs","type":"text"}]},{"data":" to rescue stuck pieces of toast. Wirecutter editor Jen Hunter also likes her Breville, but joked that it may be haunted: “It occasionally just randomly comes on, or won’t turn off after the toast is done.” It’s a minor bother though, and she points out that there are other features to make up for this: “I really enjoy that the toast slowly rolls up out of the machine when it’s ready (rather than the traditional pop). It makes the whole experience feel like an upgrade should.”","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"Upgrade pick: Breville BTA720XL Bit More Toaster (2-Slice)","slug":"upgrade-pick-breville-bta720xl-bit-more-toaster-2-slice"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37619","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"alignnone size-full wp-image-37619","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068.jpg","alt":"Our upgrade pick, the brushed metal Breville BTW840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster. A stack of toast on a plate is visible behind the toaster.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0068-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" ","type":"text"},{"data":" ","type":"comment"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-callout","attribs":{"type":"alternate","id":"3"},"children":[],"dbData":{"ribbon":"Upgrade pick","callouts":[{"name":"Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster","title":"A four-slot cream of the crop toaster","images":{"full":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://d1b5h9psu9yexj.cloudfront.net/16399/Breville-BTA840XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-Smart-Toaster_20180227-165650_full.jpg","half":""},"publishPrice":"$180","description":"Though it’s on the pricier side, this model consistently churns out perfectly browned toast. This Breville’s well-thought-out design and multiple features allow for more flexibility while toasting.","notGreat":0,"ribbon":"Upgrade pick","pickTypeId":4,"referenceId":73629,"sources":[{"id":49316,"store":"Amazon","price":{"raw":17595,"rawFormatted":"$176","formatted":"$176"},"buttonDetails":"","order":1,"valueAdd":"","countryId":"usa","availability":"in_stock","rawUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BTA840XL-Die-Cast-4-Slice-Toaster/dp/B001415B12?psc=1\u0026SubscriptionId=AKIAJM4NKIQGABP2PIRA\u0026linkCode=xm2","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/49316/4/73629","countryCode":"US","currency":"USD"}],"productId":16399,"calloutId":"p3","hasEventDeals":false}]}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"If you want a four-slot toaster that makes perfect toast, offers flexible features, and is built like a burnished steel tank, we love the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Breville","data-vars-store":"Breville","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16399/0/4/58591/?merchant=Breville"},"children":[{"data":"Breville BTA840XL 4-Slice Smart Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":". Though it’s pricier and takes up more space than our top-pick four-slot toaster, the Breville offers more features than any other two- or four-slot model we tested. Unlike the other toasters we recommend, the Breville Smart Toaster doesn’t have a mechanical lever and lowers bread automatically into the slots when you push the “Toast” button. The “Lift and Look” button automatically raises the toast just long enough for you to check the doneness, and the “A Bit More” option adds 30 seconds more to the toasting time.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37618","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37618","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065.jpg","alt":"A side by side size comparison of the four-slice Breville Smart Toaster and the four-slice Cuisinart.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0065-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" Though the four-slice Breville Smart Toaster is a gorgeous industrial tank, the four-slice Cuisinart takes up a little less space on your countertop.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Although our top pick for two-slice and four-slice toasters are two sizes of the same toaster, the Breville Smart Toaster is not a larger version of the Breville Bit More (our two-slot upgrade pick). The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"four-slice version","type":"text"}]},{"data":" of the Bit More is a long-slot toaster that can fit four slices of bread in its two slots. We tested this toaster last year and found it browned bread unevenly. It burned single slices of bread and left pale outer edges when filled with two slices of bread, so we don’t recommend it. Similarly, we don’t recommend the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25164/0/4/73642/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25164/0/4/73642/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"two-slot version","type":"text"}]},{"data":" of the Smart Toaster. It costs significantly more than our two-slice upgrade pick and doesn’t offer many additional features.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Like the Bit More, the Smart Toaster has lights that indicate the temperature setting (the lights also count down so you can gauge when the toast will be done). A single beep conveniently alerts you once the toasting cycle is complete, and you can also adjust the volume or mute this feature.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37658","align":"alignnone","width":"630"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37658","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293.jpg","alt":"Four pieces of toast in the Breville Smart Toaster.","width":"630","height":"420","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":630,"height":420,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-4293-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" The Breville Smart Toaster offers a helpful “Lift and Look” button that allows you to peek at your bread before ending the toasting cycle.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Also like the Bit More, the surface of the Breville Smart Toaster stays cooler than that of the other stainless steel models we tested, which is especially great if you have children in the house. Like most models we tested, however, you’ll need to increase the heat setting for bagels and English muffins.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Keep in mind that this toaster is a tank—it’s almost the size of our favorite small toaster oven, ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-toaster-oven/"},"children":[{"data":"the Panasonic FlashXpress","type":"text"}]},{"data":". But it has none of the versatility of a toaster oven, being unable to roast a squash, bake cookies, or make pizza bagels. Its automatic lever also lowers bread into the slot more slowly than all the manual levers we tested. If your counter is running out of space, you may prefer an appliance that can do more than just toast. But if you have a capacious kitchen or if toast is your thing, you can’t find a better toaster for the price.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"Upgrade pick: Breville BTW840XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster","slug":"upgrade-pick-breville-btw840xl-die-cast-4-slice-smart-toaster"},{"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Two-slot toasters","type":"text"}]}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Although our previous two-slot pick, the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Walmart","data-vars-store":"Walmart","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10988/0/4/58584/?merchant=Walmart"},"children":[{"data":"Oster Jelly Bean","type":"text"}]},{"data":", still browned bread better than most other budget toasters, it paled in comparison with the Cuisinart. Despite having slots deeper than those of the Black + Decker and Hamilton Beach toasters we tested, the Jelly Bean still left pure white crowns on otherwise nicely toasted bread. These white tops get even bigger if you forget to push the bread down as far as it will go in the slot, which we found irritating and hard to remember.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37635","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37635","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099.jpg","alt":"The Dualit NewGen toaster next to two pieces of toast.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0099-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" The bulky Dualit NewGen had a limited toasting dial that produced toast that was either too dark or too light.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Though in past years we avoided models that cost more than $200, we tested two popular luxury toasters for our 2018 update to see what all the hype was about. The","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10998/0/4/58587/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10998/0/4/58587/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":" Dualit 2 Slot NewGen Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" looked like a steely fortress that could toast well beyond the average human life span, but its limited, analog settings made it difficult and unwieldy to use. The Dualit’s toasting dial has just four levels, but in our tests we couldn’t find one setting that made golden brown toast. We wished it had more browning options. You have to manually retrieve toast from the Dualit—it will not pop up on its own, and there’s no timer noise. It also took up almost twice as much counter space as some of the smaller toasters.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"shortcode-caption","attribs":{"id":"attachment_37633","align":"alignnone","width":"636"},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"img","attribs":{"class":"size-full wp-image-37633","src":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095.jpg","alt":"The Magimix and the Cuisinart ViewPro side by side. Each has a plate with two pieces of toast in front of it.","width":"636","height":"424","noInlineStyles":false},"children":[],"dbData":{"width":636,"height":424,"sources":[{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095.jpg","width":636,"height":424},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-630x420.jpg","width":630,"height":420},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-570x380.jpg","width":570,"height":380},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-330x220.jpg","width":330,"height":220},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-200x134.jpg","width":200,"height":134},{"path":"2018/02/toasters-lowres-0095-120x80.jpg","width":120,"height":80}]}},{"data":" The glass-paneled Magimix by Robot Coupe toasted less evenly than our glass-sided pick, the Cuisinart ViewPro, leaving large white patches and burnt edges.","type":"text"}],"dbData":{"credit":"Photo: Michael Hession"}},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"We also tested the $250 ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10987/0/4/58588?merchant=Williams-Sonoma","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Williams-Sonoma","data-vars-store":"Williams-Sonoma","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10987/0/4/58588?merchant=Williams-Sonoma"},"children":[{"data":"Magimix by Robot Coupe","type":"text"}]},{"data":", which has glass sides that allow you to watch your bread turn to toast. Like the Dualit, the Magimix is inconveniently large for a two-slice toaster. The Magimix did produce a mostly even toast, but each piece had a few white streaks around the top and bottom—an inevitability, it seems, with any glass-sided toaster. When filled with two slices, the Magimix’s long-slot design produced toast with white edges and patchy, overly toasted centers. If you do want a glass-sided toaster, we recommend the Cuisinart.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25165/0/4/73638/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25165/0/4/73638/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Oster TSSTTRWF2S Brushed Stainless Steel 2-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" browned bread evenly between batches, but all pieces came out with a raw, white top. When we peeked inside the slots, we saw the toaster had crooked heating elements that stopped partway up the walls of the toaster, which may explain why. The toaster also became too hot to touch after multiple rounds of toasting.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"We liked how the exterior of the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10994/0/4/58594/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10994/0/4/58594/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Hamilton Beach 2 Slice Cool Touch (22121)","type":"text"}]},{"data":" didn’t get hot to the touch after multiple rounds of toasting. However, it left bagels first looking pale, and then a bit too dark in our back-to-back toast tests.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Though a company best-seller, the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25166/0/4/73639/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25166/0/4/73639/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Hamilton Beach Keep Warm 2-Slice Toaster (22811)","type":"text"}]},{"data":" gave us pale bagels and streaky toast with white tops. The toaster also beeps loudly three times before your toast pops up, which gets annoying fast.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"While toasting on a middle setting, ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25163/0/4/73641/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome 2 Slice Toaster (22790)","type":"text"}]},{"data":" left white tops and burnt bottoms, especially in the second and third round of back-to-back toasts.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/25162/0/4/73640/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Black + Decker T2707S 2-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" left slices of toast soft and pallid. Even at darker heating levels, the toaster didn’t reach the top of the bread, leaving doughy white crowns.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10995/0/4/58595/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10995/0/4/58595/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Krups KH732D Breakfast Set","type":"text"}]},{"data":" did poorly in just about all of our tests. Our testers discovered its chrome exterior is wrapped around a cheap, lightweight interior frame that doesn’t sit securely on a countertop. If you push the lever to bring the toast up to the top, it tips over.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"According to ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10992/0/4/58597/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10992/0/4/58597/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Cuisinart, the CPT-420 Touch to Toast","type":"text"}]},{"data":" has the same internal components as the CPT-440 (minus two slots and accompanying electronics, all from the same factory), so we were able to dismiss it.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"type":"tag","name":"strong","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Four-slot toasters","type":"text"}]}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The four-slice, long-slot ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10996/0/4/58596/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Breville The Bit More BTA730XL","type":"text"}]},{"data":" was one of the few that we tried that was able to swallow an entire oval slice of rustic sourdough without any of the bread sticking out of the slot. Unfortunately, it overcooked white bread on its middle setting.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16405/0/4/58598/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16405/0/4/58598/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Breville BTA830XL Die-Cast 4-Slice Long Slot Smart Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" toasted evenly, but it left the bottom of the lower corners of some pieces untoasted. Because it’s expensive, we expected more from this model.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10997/0/4/58586/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10997/0/4/58586/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Oster TSSTTRWF4S-SHP 4-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":", our former four-slice pick, toasted bread even more irregularly than its two-slice cousin. After toasting two rounds of bread on the same setting, the second batch inexplicably turned out lighter than the first.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16400/0/4/58592/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16400/0/4/58592/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Cuisinart CPT-180 4-Slice Metal Classic Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" toasted bread unevenly from batch to batch, leaving some pieces pale golden brown and other pieces burned.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The left lever on the","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16406/0/4/58599/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16406/0/4/58599/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":" Cuisinart CPT-640 4-Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" we tested was faulty. It couldn’t keep the bread in the slot without popping it up.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16407/0/4/58600/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/16407/0/4/58600/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Oster TSSTTR6330-NP 4-Slice Long-Slot Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" toasted bread very inconsistently. Some pieces had hot spots or were burned while others remained pale.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"Though the ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10991/0/4/58589/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10991/0/4/58589/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Cuisinart CPT-440 Touch to Toast Leverless 4 Slice Toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" has motorized slots, individual LCD panels, and countdown timers, it didn’t toast anywhere near what its steep price tag might suggest. In our tests, it toasted bread inconsistently from slot to slot.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{},"children":[{"data":"The ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"class":"product-link","href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10993/0/4/58601/?merchant=Amazon","rel":"nofollow noopener","target":"_blank","data-gtm-trigger":"product_link","data-store":"Amazon","data-vars-store":"Amazon","data-vars-outbound-link":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://wclink.co/link/10993/0/4/58601/?merchant=Amazon"},"children":[{"data":"Frigidaire Professional four-slot toaster","type":"text"}]},{"data":" performed admirably in our tests, but Eggo waffles came out squished by the toaster’s racks along their bottom edge. The right and left sides also toasted inconsistently from one another.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}],"title":"The competition","slug":"the-competition"}],"footnotes":[{"id":1,"body":[{"type":"tag","name":"p","attribs":{"dir":"ltr"},"children":[{"data":"This ability is hardly new for toasters—according to toaster historian and repairman Michael Sheafe, the first model to compensate for its internal temperature was a model from ","type":"text"},{"type":"tag","name":"a","attribs":{"href":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prhs1S9MObk","rel":"noopener","target":"_blank"},"children":[{"data":"Toastmaster in 1932","type":"text"}]},{"data":" that used a bimetallic component to speed the timer up as the toaster accumulated more internal heat.","type":"text"}]},{"data":"\n","type":"text"}]}],"toc":{"enabled":true,"title":null},"sources":[{"dateLocalDisplay":"September 8, 2017","author":"Betty Gold","title":"Toaster Reviews","publication":"Good Housekeeping","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/toaster-reviews/","text":""},{"dateLocalDisplay":"June 1, 2013","author":"","title":"Two-Slice Toasters","publication":"Cook’s Illustrated (subscription required)","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1421-two-slice-toasters?extcode=MASCZ00L0\u0026ref=search_results_2","text":""},{"dateLocalDisplay":null,"author":"","title":"Toaster Ratings","publication":"Consumer Reports (subscription required)","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/toasters.htm?searchToken=toasters","text":""},{"dateLocalDisplay":"May 1, 2015","author":"Phil McKnight","title":"global business manager for beverage products at Breville","publication":"interview","url":"","text":""},{"dateLocalDisplay":"May 1, 2015","author":"Eric Murrell","title":"publications chair and newsletter editor at the Toaster Collectors Association","publication":"interview","url":"","text":""},{"dateLocalDisplay":"May 1, 2015","author":"Peter Reinhart","title":"baker and author","publication":"interview","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinhart/e/B001H6W6I0?tag=wcengdgtsynd-20\u0026ascsubtag=YT11005","text":""},{"dateLocalDisplay":"November 22, 2017","author":"Michael Sheafe","title":"toaster repairman","publication":"phone interview","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/http://www.toastercentral.com/","text":""}],"primarySection":{"name":"Kitchen \u0026amp; Dining","link":"/kitchen-dining/"},"auxiliarySection":{"name":"Small Appliances","link":"/kitchen-dining/small-appliances/"},"primaryTerms":["kitchen-dining"],"auxiliaryTerms":["appliances","small","small-appliances"]},"gtmDataLayer":{"objectID":"RE11005","objectPrimaryTerm":"kitchen-dining","objectAuxiliaryTerms":"appliances,small,small-appliances","objectAuthors":"sabrina-imbler,michael-sullivan,brendan-nystedt","objectSeoTierTerm":"","objectDesignationTerm":"","objectActivityTerm":"","platform":"wirecutter"}},"isAmp":false},"page":"/review","query":{"name":"best-toaster"},"buildId":"6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB","assetPrefix":"https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net"};__NEXT_LOADED_PAGES__=[];__NEXT_REGISTER_PAGE=function(r,f){__NEXT_LOADED_PAGES__.push([r, f])}</script><script async="" id="__NEXT_PAGE__/review" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB/pages/review.js"></script><script async="" id="__NEXT_PAGE__/_app" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB/pages/_app.js"></script><script async="" id="__NEXT_PAGE__/_error" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/6e3CrLKgGRQ4mCQP0cVEB/pages/_error.js"></script><script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/runtime/webpack-6277440677fbfa3abba6.js" async=""></script><script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/chunks/styles.a611c949f50c653dce34.js" async=""></script><script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/chunks/vendor.e30970053733237dc995.js" async=""></script><script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/chunks/amp-styles.431fb6b4e9187ac3b1cc.js" async=""></script><script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190624205726js_/https://siren-production.global.ssl.fastly.net/_next/static/runtime/main-7a090f6cd960c38972fc.js" async=""></script></body></html>