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The top toasters
Thinking of treating yourself to a new toaster? The GHI testers toasted hundreds of slices of bread to find the best toaster for you...
Choosing a toaster seems like a simple enough task, but there are many factors that need to be taken into account before you part with your cash! A good toaster should be quick, it should toast bread evenly, on both sides, and it should also be deep enough to toast any taller pieces of bread.
The GHI put hundreds to the test to find the top performers. Whether you’re a small household needing only to toast a few slices at a time, or if you’re feeding a small army of toast-lovers, fear not, because these winners can do it all…
Score: 94/100
The KitchenAid 5KMT221 impressed us across the board. Its stylish design comes in the classic KitchenAid colours and performance-wise, it’s a welcome appliance in any kitchen. We found that it is quick to toast and produces brilliant results whether you’re toasting one piece at a time or a big batch. The toaster remains cool in use, so there’s no risk of any melted bread bags. This is a great all-rounder.
Magimix 2-Slot Vision Toaster 11526
Magimix 2-Slot Vision Toaster 11526
Score: 93/100
The Magimix Vision 11526 is a 1450W, two-slice transparent toaster with eight browning levels. It features reheat and defrost buttons, an extra-lift lever, automatic self centering and a removable crumb tray. It comes in silver, cream, black, yellow, pink, red and blue. It's pricey but worth it if you're prepared to splash out.
KitchenAid Artisan 2 Slot Toaster
KitchenAid Artisan 2 Slot Toaster
Score: 92/100
The KitchenAid Artisan Two Slice Toaster looks premium, feels premium and gives a premium performance. There’s a simple, sturdy, sliding browning dial with seven settings that should be enough for even the most fussy of toast aficionados. Although coverage of browning white bread wasn’t always consistent in our tests when challenging the toaster with round after round, the coverage was great on everything else from frozen bread to bagels. We liked the countdown timer to see how long is left for your toast to be done and the automatic keep warm function, which gracefully lowers the toast back down if you haven’t removed it for 45 seconds. If you are partial to a toasted sandwich, the 5KMT2204 comes with a sandwich rack for this very purpose.
Dualit 4 Slot Architect Toaster
Dualit 4 Slot Architect Toaster
Score: 88/100
The Dualit Architect 4 slice toaster has 1200W power and removable colour plates. It has a bagel setting and slide out crumb tray. This toaster achieves an even colour and is cool to the touch. It's well designed with a dedicated bagel setting, yet despite the wider slots it can still be a struggle to fit thicker slices of bread into the toaster.
Dualit Architect 2-Slot Toaster
Dualit Architect 2-Slot Toaster
Score: 87/100
This toaster performed quite well, most slices were consistently toasted and were an even colour on both sides. It toasted a perfect bagel but didn’t perform quite so well with toasting farmhouse-style bread. However, we loved the design and feel of this toaster. It looks very sleek and modern, and the levers feel durable and sturdy.
AEG 7 Series Digital 2-Slice
AEG 7 Series Digital 2-Slice
Score: 86/100
This AEG 7 Series AT7800 is a two slot 870 watt toaster which includes features such as a bun warmer, digital lift and check function, extra wide slots and crumb tray. A great performer with a sleek and compact design which is ideal for smaller kitchens. Toasting from frozen works well and the digital countdown to let you know how long until the toast is ready is a great addition.
Score: 86/100
This toaster performed well and is cost-efficient. It produced near perfect toast every time, however, the frozen bread test brought its score down as it under-toasted the bread. It remained cool throughout use and with its simple and easy to understand controls, it is intuitive to use. It has an attractive design with its high shine, patterned plastic that is rimmed with stainless steel.
Dualit 46205 4 Slot Lite
Dualit 46205 4 Slot Lite
Score: 86/100
We loved using this Dualit toaster; it was easy to use and particularly quick to toast. We were only ever waiting around 2 minutes for this model regardless of whether we were defrosting or toasting several batches one after another. We were a little disappointed when toasting one slice at a time as occasionally the slices were inconsistent in colour. We would advise taking extra care when this toaster is on as the outer casing can reach up to 54⁰C! Nonetheless, this is a great toaster for entertaining and toasting several batches one after another. We enjoyed even and nicely browned toast batch after batch.
Bosch TAT8613GB Styline 2 Slice Toaster, Black
Bosch TAT8613GB Styline 2 Slice Toaster, Black
Score: 85/100
The Bosch Styline TAT8613GB is a 860W, stainless steel toaster with two slots. It offers bagel and defrost functions and features extra lift and a removable crumb tray. It comes in black, white or red. It's a stylish and a good performer at a reasonable price.