Dualit value for money (Dualit 2 Slice Toaster)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Dualit 2 Slice Toaster
Date:	31/05/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lasts a long time

Disadvantages: none unless you're going to keep for years

Many moons ago, about seven years ago, I was lucky enough to win a Dualit 2 slice toaster in a competition. At the time I thought it was great as it was stainless steel and looked sparkly in my kitchen. I needed a new toaster so it solved a problem and I thought no more about it.
Head back to the present day and I am still using this toaster in my kitchen now. It took me a long time to realise the exact cost of the toaster, but when I realised that I had won over £100 worth of toaster I was gob smacked. At this time you can buy it on Amazon for £99 so the price hasn't decreased very much over the years and the model is still being sold. That goes to say a lot about a product when you can still buy it years later. There must be something good about it.

The toaster has a sleek curved appearance to it. There are no stark corners or lines on this model. If I was buying a toaster this particular design wouldn't jump out at me and make me buy it, but in today's market a lot of toasters are designed in a less boxed design than they were seven years ago. I think it fits well in the market now, but was well ahead of itself in design when the model was introduced.

My toaster is all stainless steel but you can buy them now I notice in a range of colours. The different colours help you co-ordinate with your kitchen and they will probably aid the toaster to stay looking fresh and clean, but more on that later.

The toaster doesn't have a mass of functions and dials to struggle through just to brown a piece of bread, but the functions it does have, whilst simple work well for a modern busy kitchen.
Your bread slots into the toaster and when you are ready, the front lever is moved to lower the bread into the grill plates ready to be toasted. This in itself won't set the toaster working unlike some models on the market. You have to turn a dial on the front to set the time you wish to let your bread toast for.
The dial goes up to four, but I have always found that the number two setting is plenty for a nice golden brown crisp piece of toast. This really will be trial and error on your part depending how crisp or burnt or not you like your toast.

During the toasting process the grills appear to heat to a high temperature. There is an almost spacey glow that comes from the toaster which makes it look very futuristic sometimes, especially in a dark room.

The only other option available on the toaster is a red flick switch that allows you to choose whether you want to brown both sides of your bread or just one. I like this function if I want to make French toast or am browning a crumpet for example.

To clean the toaster, there is a very simple tray that pulls out of the bottom, but beware whilst this does hold all the crumbs, it's easy to tip up and you can end up with more crumbs over the work surface than those that stay on the tray.
The stainless steel does need a bit of attention, and if not kept up your toaster can look worn before it's time. This is one of the only down sides to the product. I went through a period of ill health when I was pregnant and obviously the toaster being cleaned wasn't a great priority on the rest of the family's list which is fair enough. Since then I have found I can't get the slatted sides of the toaster to look as shiny as the front and back panels. It's for this reason that I think a coloured version may work better in a modern kitchen. It would possibly be easier to keep clean.

Over the years, my toaster has only deteriorated minorly. The functions I find that are starting to wear are when I toast bread sometimes I have to flip the bread half way through the toasting process to prevent one side from burning and the other toasting nicely.

I am still very happy with my toaster and will continue to use it until it stops working, or perhaps I'll win another one who knows.
If I was put into a position of buying a new toaster however I am not sure I would part with £100 to buy it. Despite it working brilliantly and being a simple yet sleek design, the price is a bit more than I would be willing to pay in one go to be able to toast my bread, however it does hold fantastic value for money as it has saved me spending £30 and above every year or so on a new toaster.

Summary: a great toaster to invest in