Hiya!
Do you like toast?
Most of us here in the UK have a toaster, some of us only for that occasional quick breakfast, others eat toast every day and it’s so satisfying and inoffensive you can understand why.
But, as the number of people eating toast has grown, something else has been growing alongside them…a frustration that has been building, a frustration that each morning gives us a subconscious need to take toaster designers by the shoulders and shake them silly.
Why oh why oh WHY does this toaster not toast ALL of the bread?!?!?!
You see, toaster makers and makers of standard sized sliced bread seem to be two warring factions unwilling to accommodate each other.
Most toasters, while they LOOK to have toasted the bread from top to bottom in adverts and product photos just don’t.
They’re slots simply are not deep enough and leave an untouched inch or so, floppy and blond sticking out of the toaster.
Before, there were only two remedies for this.
Shut up and just eat it like I always have or turn the bread so the un-toasted part gets toasted.
Of course that means you need to turn it over, wait longer and while the bottom is getting toasted it might get burned.
Not to mention WHY CAN’T IT JUST TOAST A WHOLE SLICE!?!?!
Surely it only has that single purpose.
Anyway, I’m sure you haven’t come to hear a crazy woman ranting about toast, if you did though, please see above.
Nope, there is actually a point to this.
Breville, understanding the evils of not-fully-toasted-bread, decided to put up a banner of toast-peace and got together with Warburtons, a company who makes particularly troublesome sized loaves, to create a toaster….that actually toasts.
It sounds pretty ridiculous but I haven’t found another toaster that will toast bread all the way to the very top.
Sure you can get 4 slice toasters with no slots where you can lay the toast down sideways but then there’s only room for 2 slices.
I never do this usually but I swapped out a perfectly fine and working 2 slice toaster for this, so do me proud little toaster.
Did I say little toaster?
What I actually meant was MASSIVE HULKING BEHEMOTH.
My kitchen is small and extremely basic but even in a larger kitchen this thing will be quite a hunk.
This toaster is 36cm by 33cm by 25cm so get your measuring tape out for this one, this takes up 1 and a half of my old toasters space, though that was a two slice.
So first, we have to test that this toaster can actually do what it says on the tin, toast a full slice of bread.
As you can see these slices are a bit on the slant when left to their own devices.
That is because the toaster slots are very wide to accommodate large bread, muffins, crumpets etc.
You might also notice that the bread seems rather high up which is more of a feature than anything as the ease to taking your toast is fantastic.
It also has a “high lift” function, just in case you can’t get your toasted buns of joy out of this thing.
So this is medium cut bread by Hovis…I know, I know, there is no Warburtons in sight, and there won’t be for this review, I want to see it’s bread-backwards-compatibility! It needs to fit in ALL bread! No arbitrary bread ports for me thank you.
Just look at that folks.
To everyone who has ever been frustrated with that little blond piece, no not that one teasing you at the bar, we’re talking about bread here!
You can just feel the frustrations of toaster owners everywhere melting away as all their problems are solved.
So yes, no bread is sticking out not getting toasted.
I’m not quite sure why that was so hard but I’m thankful someone is doing it.
A feature that was advertised on this toaster was that you could have a peek at the breads doneness without popping the toast completely.
Now I didn’t think it would be something I would use but when in action you quickly realize you can’t see how brown the toast is getting at all so if you’re experimenting with settings, it’s actually essential.
Here I am peeking at this toast, it looks perfect.
You can peek at one side or the other, though you can pull up both levers at once and see what’s going on with both sets too.
As for controls, you get a cancel button which pops the toast, a defrost button which can cook you toast from frozen bread, I’ve never even heard of anyone doing this but apparently it’s a thing.
You also get a reheat button which will warm it a little if you’ve left it to go cold while chasing your cat up a tree and having to call the firefighters……or something. All of the buttons also light up, YAY lights and sounds!
There is only one dial to set the browning so for those of you fighting over how your bread should be cooked, you might not like this.
Speaking of browning, this toaster is REALLY powerful, 2 and a half to 3 is a good number for me to achieve the golden bread I like and is what I consider somewhat standard.
I can’t imagine what 6 does, I guess if you like your bread blackened with flames still burning it can do that too.
The bread is done!
Holy moley it’s all the way to the top and the toast looks a model of all things tasty.
One issue I do take with this toaster which you can see here is that, at least on my model, there is uneven browning.
If it’s the same for all of this model you can take advantage of it if you do like your toast done more or less than other toast munchers in the family.
I don’t know how or if this affects the 2 slice version but on this machine the toast that goes in the slots on my right are always more browned than the left.
It is a shame that they’re not the same but if I have to choose between this and an uncooked top I’m okay with it.
As for the toast taste?
I’ve never eaten toast like this….ever.
It does a great job of drying it so it’s really crunchy and because it all gets toasted, it stands up straight and sturdy, not going all floppy.
I never really understood how people made those wonderful toast “soldiers” all sturdy to dip in a runny boiled egg, mine were always pretty limp.
Now I know the secret is a powerful toaster.
I did put this toaster through it’s paces, I’ve even used Roberts mega toastie bread which is 2cm thick and 14cm long and it toasted to the top, nicely browned on the same 2 1/2 to 3 setting as my medium toast.
If that will fit with room to spare, any of Warburtons sliced loaves will too, as well as most other sliced loaf brands.
Apart from the browning being uneven I can’t take much of an issue with this beast.
This toaster does feel REALLY light, especially for it’s size and the levers don’t feel like the best quality in the world but it doesn’t feel like they are going to break either.
I don’t think this toaster would survive being thrown down the stairs or at that annoying cat, STILL stuck up in that tree but for usual use the lightweighted-ness just feels like lesser quality though isn’t reflected in the actual function so far.
Speaking of reflected, you may notice this is one shiny shiny finish of toasty goodness.
Of course finger marks and smudges will need to be taken care of and it will need to be polished to keep it as shiny as new but I don’t find myself touching it.
The top gets really hot so no touching there, all I find I need to touch is the buttons, levers and dial. Apart from the dial which is hard plastic, every thing to touch is all slightly rubberised and not shiny chrome.
Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the length of the cord on this.
A lot of toasters have really short cords and though this cord doesn’t go on for miles I found there was plenty for my kitchen. It measures about 24 inches, cord only not including the plug.
So lets go over the pros and cons.
The Pros
Can toast just about anything you can throw at it all the way to the very top.
Has some useful and easy to use features should you want and need them.
Nice chrome finish.
Toasts fast and very powerfully.
Settings are easy to read.
The cons
Lightweight construction
Chrome might need a clean now and again
Toasts slightly unevenly on my model
Large and might not fit your kitchen
Only one browning setting for all 4 slots
On paper this toaster has as many cons as pros and though the cons are definitely something to take note of, most of them are really minor for me.
As for the price on this beast?
The RRP for this is £59.99, which is beyond expensive in my book for a toaster but it can be brought on Amazon for £44.99 as of this date of writing.
I got mine for £39.99 and though I still think that is a lot of money for a toaster, about double my usual limit, no other toaster I have seen on the market currently offers a fully toasted slice of bread.
There is also a 2 slice version available at around half the price of this.
All in all I love it and find it’s worth the extra money and space to have a proper slice of toast, if it’s not a big deal for you then you won’t miss this but toast lovers everywhere may find it is an essential bit of kit!
