 |
Prestige 55846
by northernlovely
**What is it?**
The Prestige 55846 is a mid priced four slice toaster from Prestige. It's part of a range and it's matching kettle is called the Prestige ECO Kettle.
**Price and Availability**
You can pick up the Prestige 55846 from Amazon for a very reasonable £27.99 including delivery. You can also buy ... the toaster in Argos on the high street.
**What's in the Box**
You get the Prestige 55846 four slice toaster in black, a 2 year warranty card and the instructional manual.
**Specifications**
The box states that the Prestige 55846 has the following features:
Auto pop-up function
High quality, soft touch controls
High lift facility for easy removal of small items (I use this for toasting ciabatta bread for pate, you can retrieve it safely)
4 deep toasting slots with variable width (for toasting thicker items like teacakes)
Removable crumb tray (this slides out and can go in the dishwasher)
Defrost and mid cycle cancel buttons
Variable browning control (there are 5 settings, 1 being the lightest to 5 being very well done)
**Looks**
The Prestige 55846 is styled in black and silver grey plastic but it doesn't look cheap, the design is sturdy and square and reminds me of a much more expensive Breville toaster. It has two buttons each side for the defrost and cancel functions and these have blue LED lights built into them. Along the bottom there is a slider so you can set the browning level you prefer.
Overall I think for the price it looks very smart and modern, and would go well in modern kitchens which may not suit a white toaster.
**Use**
The Prestige 55846 is great for toasting all manner of things, not just slices of bread, and I've done teacakes, muffins, bagels and crumpets in mine without any issues whatsoever. I find that level '3' is the best for standard toasting.
The toaster does all but the top inch of the slice, which is not bad, as some toasters barely toast half the slice. The press down slider and the function buttons are comfortable and easy to use and the high lift very handy for smaller pieces of bread and so on, so you don't have to put your fingers (or anything else) in the toaster.
The crumb tray is easy to remove, it just slides out and you can wash it under the tap, or even put it in the dishwasher if you like, just remember to fully dry it before putting it back in the toaster.
The sides of the toaster do not get hot, and the cord is nice and long so you don't have to place it right next to a power socket.
I have had my Prestige 55846 for just over a year now, and it is as good as new (well, a bit crumby!)
**Any Downsides**
The only ever so slight issue I have with the Prestige 55846 is that there is a ridge around the main body of the toasting element before the black plastic outer. I wish this wasn't here, I wish it was flush, as it gets full of messy looking crumbs which are really difficult to clean out (I ended up using a cotton wool bud but I only do this every few months!)
Most toasters have crumb catching areas though, so I don't think it would put me off buying it, well, it would if someone invented an easy to clean toaster!
**Overall**
Overall I'm really happy with the Prestige 55846 and I'm glad I purchased it sight unseen from Amazon, and I would recommend it to any DooYooers looking for a smart black toaster which has all the style of a Breville but at a quarter of the price tag!
I will give the Prestige 55846 5 stars out of 5, it is a decent quality toaster for under £30 delivered - I'm very happy with it.
Read the complete review |
 |
Morphy Richards 44038
by Pookiesmama
***Why did I purchase it, how much and where from***
On the morning of Friday the 29th June 2012 we awoke to find our toaster deceased; he had lived a good life of 5 years up until then toasting happily away each morning and sometimes in the evening. Oh the good old days! Any road, after the initial shock of losing our wee ... kitchen pal who had only cost £7.00 we had to go into town to look at toasters as my son cannot be without his morning slice of buttered toast. In the past I had never seen the point in purchasing toasters/kettles that exceeded £20 but this time I decided well if a £7 toaster can do a good job and last 5 years then a more expensive version would do even better. So after traipsing around town for an eternity looking at toaster after toaster I came across the Morphy Richards Accents 4 slice toaster in a rather sleek metallic black and to be perfectly honest I didn't really look much further than it's style when I initially purchased it. After I had seen the display version I had to flick through the 'laminated book of dreams' (a quote from Bill Bailey) in my local Argos, to get the code, to queue twice and then finally be handed a box which could have contained a small cooker and fridge freezer (slight overkill on the packaging in my opinion). I was very lucky to get this toaster on offer at £29.99 (RRP £59.99) and the prices do vary from shop to shop so it's worth hunting around until you find the right price.
***What does it do and does it do it well?***
Well it's a four slice toaster which 'thank the lords!' has been cleverly split into two separate toaster units so you can toast 2 slices on the left at one setting and 2 on the right at a totally different setting which is handy when you've got picky people who like different toasting settings. The toaster also has the standard defrost, reheat and cancel buttons which all work rather well and those settings I cannot complain about.
I normally toast thickly sliced home baked bread and have found that the slots are more accommodating than my previous toaster so am quite happy with the size of the slots although if you like Warbutons bread you will have to turn it half way as the bread is unusually tall when compared to other loaves.
The re-heat button has been a lifesaver for me as there have been numerous times when everyone is trying to get ready in the morning and amongst the chaos the toast has gone cold at the table, well the reheat function is great and doesn't dry out the toast anywhere near as much as I thought it would.
With regards to the defrost function I only tend to use this function when I have exhausted the home baked bread supply and then have to go to the freezer for the emergency store bought bread. The defrost setting easily defrosts the bread and toasts it to perfection which is strange considering what I'm going to say next.
Now for my one BIG irritation with this toaster - It toasts unevenly - Like ridiculously unevenly - I always have to turn the toast, bagels, muffins, crumpets halfway and am surprised because it doesn't seem to do this with the defrost setting which makes no sense whatsoever.
Now for my final but minor irritation - the crumb tray. Which muppet at Morphy Richards sat down and thought "Let's put the crumb tray at the back of the toaster so every time the poor sod who wants to empty it (i.e. me) has to pull it away from the wall by a good 50cm and then faff around trying to get it in and out of a small space" It really was not though through, if at all. Sorry rant over.
*** Would I recommend this toaster***
Well there you have it, it's a sleek stylish design and there are many colours to choose from but then again as proven by my account, money doesn't always equate to functionality and I know I would have been extra cheesed and stomping back to the store if I had paid £60; But me being me I discarded the mammoth sized packaging and as always discarded the warranty/receipt so am going to put up with it until it floats up to the fluffy toaster shaped cloud in the sky.
Read the complete review |
