A long time ago in a nicely toasted galaxy.....

Somewhere along the line of 20th century american culture we americans were tricked by appliance makers. Yes that is right we were tricked into thinking that if an appliance is dirt cheap and is semi-functional then that is the appliance for us. Quality is not a concern, nor is reliability in its function. What is the subject of the debauchery? The regular old toaster. Yes who hasn't had a $10 cheapo toaster that never really toasts anything to that heavenly golden brown color but always has part of your toast black, or perhaps barely toasts it at all.

Fear not my fellow epinion users, for I was once like you, but alas you DO HAVE HOPE!!! And it comes with the god-like name of KITCHENAID written on the side of it!

Honestly though my wife and I had registered for this toaster for our wedding registry but hadn't given much thought to it after that. But after the wedding, after our honeymoon (wink wink), we were opening up gifts when we got to its box. Upon opening it we read through its manual and gazed at its beauty, and ..... and then... then we tried it out (vague sound of drooling such as Homer would). What a simply beautiful machine.

If you haven't gotten it yet, I sorta like this toaster. Anyway here are the points of this toaster that I have seen.

Toasting
Rating: A+
This toaster should have on the side of it "toasting for dummies", because you would have to be a complete idiot to burn a piece of toast in this toaster. It has a turn dial for the toasting settings, from light to dark, and strangely enough it doesn't overtoast. I am not sure how it does this, but it does it perfectly. It also has three quick buttons (think of the quick buttons on a microwave such as popcorn, potato etc) these buttons on the toaster consist of warm, bagel, frozen. These quick buttons are gems too because they work!

How often have you gone downstairs in the morning to toast something, but then had to do something only to find your toast toasted but cold? Well the warm button will warm up your toast or bagel but not actually toast it! This is like soooo nice it is almost beyond words.

The bagel button is really cool for anyone who likes bagels. If you place the cut side of the bagel facing the center of the toaster, and push the bagel button, the toaster will heat high the cut side, but just lightly heat the outside, so that the cut side of the bagel is nicely toasted while the outside of the bagel is just warmed up, not blackened bottom just to get the bagel toasted!

The last button is the frozen button, now to be honest I haven't used it, but from the manual it will toast frozen items so that they defrost and toast at the same time, meaning you don't have to leave stuff in the fridge just to fix it the next day.

Convenience
Rating: A+
How many times have you put toast in a toaster, then when it pops up you have to use a knife or a fork to gingerly work the toast out of the toaster? Well with the kitchenaid it has extra high springs in it, meaning it'll push toast well out of the toaster when it is done, I've not once had to jimmy a piece of toast out of it, not even close. This is a small convenience that means so much that you never knew you needed.

Another really really (and I mean really) nice item on this toaster is the crumb tray. How many times have you tried to open of crumb tray/trap door only to have a ton of crumbs fall all over the place, well with the kitchenaid has a very simple, very usable pull out crumb tray that doesn't get stuck, and is the width of the toast and the length too! Is so simple and effective you have to wonder why other toasters don't have it as well.

The toaster has a well built cord on it too, plus it has a storage space underneath it for the amount of the cord you don't use, makes keeping the kitchen counter looking nice that much easier.

The last convenience is the length of the toaster, this lets the toaster easily accomodate 4 pieces of toast. I've only toasted 4 one time but it did it very nicely and I have confidence it will in the future as well.

Aesthetics
Rating: A+
A gleaming object of beauty is this toaster. It looks like if it had wings it could fly. Simply a marvel to look at, very cool and you feel proud to have it on your counter.

Cost
Rating: A-
Ok now for all of you that are used to $10-15 toasters, this will be a little bit steep for you, but I swear it is worth it. I had to give it an A- simply because I did receive it as a gift so I can't really give it the A+ without having to purchase it, meaning I can't say its worth the money I paid for it, well because I didn't pay for it.

Overall
Rating: A+
Nobody that reads my reviews will think I dislike kitchenaid, quite the contrary in fact. Kitchenaid is my favorite brand for anything they make, and this extends to toasters as well. This toaster is easy to use, quite effective in the job it is designed to do, and is a good addition to your kitchen. Bottom line is this, this appliance will make your life easier, and when it comes down to it, shouldn't that be the goal of any kitchen appliance?