What features should I look out for on a toaster?
Look for a flexible design that comes with shortcut settings for popular tasks such as reheating, keeping warm and defrosting bread or toasting crumpets and bagels.
A high-lift function allows you to check your toast without interrupting the heating cycle and wider slots will fit chunky slices of bread. More premium models tend to benefit from smoother push-down lever controls and durable finishes that are easy to keep clean. If you want to warm croissants or buns, look for a design with a warming rack too. Decent cord length will come in useful if you have a limited number of power sockets on your worktop.
The best designs offers steady heating controls that produce more even toasting results and ensures your toast doesn’t burn easily. If you’re buying a four-slice toaster you may want to check to see if you can control how many slots heat up to save on energy. This also works well when two of you want your bread toasted differently.
Is a 2-slice or 4-slice toaster better?
‘A two-slice toaster is great if you have limited worktop space because it’s energy-efficient, and suitable for individuals or small households,’ says Thea Whyte, AO’s small appliance expert. ‘A four-slice toaster is ideal if you need to serve multiple people quickly and is good for families or larger households as it offers more flexibility since you can toast various types of bread simultaneously.’
What do the numbers mean on a toaster?
‘The numbers on your average toaster don’t tend to indicate the toasting time, but illustrate the level of browning for your bread,’ continues Thea Whyte. ‘The higher the number, the longer the toasting time, resulting in a darker and crispier toast. Toasting levels vary from model to model, however, so the number four on one toaster control panel will give you different toasting results to another toaster.’
How do I clean a toaster?
Take a tip from Lynsey Crombie, Queen of Clean: ‘Prep by unplugging the mains, take out the crumb trays and shake into the bin,’ she says. ‘Soak the trays in some warm soapy water and give them a little scrub to get rid of any stubborn crumbs if needs be.
‘Shake the main unit over the bin to remove any further crumbs. Wipe over the outside of the toaster and the cord, which can often look grubby.
‘If you have any rust/burnt marks on the silver where the toast pops up, add some cream cleaner to a recycled toothbrush and gently scrub the patches, rinse and buff dry with a microfibre cloth.
‘Dry and shine up the rest of the toaster with a dry microfibre cloth. Leave to fully air dry before you use again.’