A Good Toaster is Hard to Find

Why can't research and development at the major small appliance companies make a good toaster? How hard can it be? This Krups toaster comes close and even reminds me of scenes in the movie Kate and Leopold when Leopold is trying to create the perfect toaster.

We had endured about 10 years of disappointment with a highly unpredictable French made toaster that was highly when I finally gave up and bought this Krups Toast Expert last year. The only thing I really liked about the other toaster was that it was very thin and didn't take up much room on my counter...it might have been 3 inches wide. It also looked good, white and slim.

This toaster is fat and squat but does a good job of toasting various things. It's wider footprint allows for wider foods like bagels to fit in the slots. It is true the it doesn't toast evenly*(see update). If you toast on a low setting which is what I usually use the center of the toast is brown but the edges aren't.

However, as another reviewer noted the bells and whistles on this machine are great. The lever that lowers the item to be toasted works very smoothly once you're used to not having anything to push down. There is a button under the lever that will pop the item up when you want to check it or quickly stop the toasting. This is handy as I tend to burn things. Not the toaster's fault, I'm just always in a hurry.

As you are looking at the toaster picture above,this list will tell you what you're seeing:

Upper left button is for toasting bagels
Upper right button is defrost
Lever pushed to the left gradually lowers the item to be toasted to the right level so is good for smaller items like English Muffins
Lever pushed to the right lowers the item all the way down quickly
Blue button under the lever can be pushed to pop the item all the way up quickly, great if you smell your item over heating.

I have to admit I haven't read the instruction booklet yet but am glad a previous reviewer suggested "when all else fails, read the instructions". *It's possible my spotty toasting is my own problem and that toaster is perfect. I also learned about the clicks from her review. There are about 3 clicks between settings. So I have the toaster set on 4 right now but if I wanted it to toast slightly darker, I could set it on 4 and one click between level 4 and 5. This was news to me (since I didn't read the instructions) but I checked our Krups FEM2B Toast Expert and sure enough, there are clicks or what I might call more subtle levels of adjustment.

I haven't used the defrost button yet but was glad to see it works according to her excellent review.

I am satisfied with this toaster and as with so many things, the higher the price often the better the product. This is solidly built and works well. I am not frustrated when I use it. It's a tool that is reliable.

Update: used the bagel button for the first time, it comes on a very bright and nice blue. So bright you could use it in the dark or first thing in the morning during an Alaskan winter. Works well. Seems to cook the bagel on a slightly shorter cycle.