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Russell Hobbs 13245
by xxBeccaxx
When I was moving into my current house almost 2 years ago now I had very little cash to kit the house out and rather than buy smartprice cheap products that I wasn't sure would last I decided I would try my local Freecycle, I had had many positive experiences passing things on and decided it was worth a try asking for household items. I ... received a message from someone who had just gotten married and therefore had a variety of items that were almost brand new he was looking to pass on and one of them was this Russel Hobbs 4 slice toaster. When I received it I was told it was only 6 months old but as they had received their preferred toaster as a wedding present they decided to pass this one on and I was so eternally grateful. The items were meant to be a stop gap until I could afford something better however this toaster is still going strong today and I see no point in replacing it when it works so well!
After just having done a quick search this toaster is around the £30 mark (wow!!) and although I would normally regard this as over my budget it has lasted so well on an almost daily basis and has a good look to it that really it's not so bad a deal at all. This is available from Amazon so get saving those Dooyoo vouchers and you can have one too!
Firstly the look of this toaster, it is chrome all over and the only addition of anything else is the buttons which are black, there is one lever and 4 buttons along with a small sliding scale that you can use to specify how cooked you would like your toast. I feel that this is a very modern looking toaster, I also have a Russell Hobbs Kettle (another freebie from my Mother In Law who decided she wanted a new kettle and gave me her old one) and so it fits in very well with my kitchen (although I do need a chrome microwave to match if anyone wants to buy me one!). There is only one flaw with this chrome look and that is that wiping it over is a pain, I find that wiping off say dust it collects at one side and you have to wipe it over with a towel or kitchen roll to make it nice and shiny and smear free, it's not a huge problem but it's something I had to mention. Otherwise I really like the shape it is not square and sharp but has lovely rounded corners that give it a softer look. The levers don't stick out too far from the side of the toaster which is a good thing as it sits very neatly on the space of my worktop giving me enough room to use the lever yet not too much that there are large gaps (yes these things are important to me, I am aware of my need for a life). I do have to move it out however to access the crumb tray but I have to say i never even discovered the crumb tray until I'd had it for about a year and it can hold a huge amount of crumbs, I only remember to empty it probably about once a month yet I never find stray crumbs hanging around and making the place messy, I've never had a toaster with a tray before but I would recommend it to anyone, it makes life so much easier. You simply slide the tray out on the side opposite to the lever and empty it out and then slide it back in, it's extremely easy.
So onto the functioning of the toaster, I only like Warburtons bread, the one in the blue packet and I find that this toaster can easily toast 4 slices of this bread at a time or 1 or 2 instead if you prefer, you can also toast crumpets and bagels (cut in half) and the like which is really good I think as it gives you a range of products to choose from rather than regular toast. This is also the first toaster I have had where half of the bread isn't left un-toasted leaving you the option of half toasted and half un-toasted bread or the top and bottom strips perfect and the middle overdone. I have mine set to number 2 as I also don't like overly crunchy toast, I'm the annoying person that likes adding the butter which melts into the toast leaving it slightly soggy, I find number 2 is perfect for me. I also use frozen bread quite a lot as me and my son can't get through a full loaf so rather than waste it I bag it and freeze, this does have a defrost button on it but I tend to whack the frozen bread straight in and push the slider up just a touch to make it toast a bit longer and I find no difference between this and using the frozen bread setting. Once the toast is done the lever will automatically pop up and to get the bread or other products out easier you can pull the lever up a bit more and this lifts the bread slightly higher so you can get the toast out without burning your fingers.
Overall I think this is an excellent toaster, it has more than proved it's durability being over 2 years old at this point and still working as perfectly as when I first received it. The cord length is also very good, it is very long and you could easily position it away from a plug socket, I have mine right next to the socket so it's not an issue for me but for those that need to consider it this is one that could do the job. There are various functions from re-heating (which I have never and have no intention of using), defrosting, bagel so there are a variety of options for using this toaster. It looks good and although it needs a little more maintenance than a quick wipe (if you're particular like me) it is still incredibly simple to keep looking good. It is a nice modern design and can match other chrome items or be a stand alone piece, it toasts my toast perfectly every single time and I have never had a problem with it making my toast burnt or setting off my fire alarm (which is frankly astounding) or causing crumbs all over my unit. What more can you ask from a toaster really? A most definite 5 stars from me!
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Cookworks 4 Slice White Wide Toaster
by ClareM78
A couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I moved into our first house together. Previous to this we have both always lived in rental accommodation and as a result we didn't have much in the way of kitchen appliances. Our priorities on moving in were a washing machine and a toaster so we headed off to the local retail park to see what ... Curry's, Comet and Argos could offer. We got our washing machine in Comet (but that's another review - coming soon!) but didn't think much of their toaster choices so we headed next door to Argos to flick through their colourful glossy catalogue.
I had already decided we were definitely getting a 4 slice toaster - my boyfriend wasn't so sure we needed that over a 2 slice but I used my powers of persuasion to convince him that it was a much better idea to be able to eat our breakfast at the same time. I had also decided, in my thrifty way, that we weren't going to get an £80 toaster, after all we only want it to toast bread and similar items so no need to go crazy on it. I spotted the Cookworks 4 slice toaster and after a bit more gentle persuasion this is the one we walked away with.
About the toaster
Obviously the toaster holds 4 pieces of bread (or other similar item such as crumpets) and as such has 2 levers on the front with 2 corresponding heat dials, so on those occasions when you only want 1 or 2 slices you only have to use half the machine, not heat up all the elements. On the top there are also 3 buttons for each toasting slot - cancel, reheat and defrost. It is a plain, white plastic toaster - it doesn't look flash or expensive but it doesn't look nasty and cheap either.
Using the toaster for toasting is unsurprisingly straightforward - put a slice of bread into the toasting slot, press down the control lever and the bread pops up when it is toasted and the toaster switches off. When you first buy this product you will probably need to do some experimenting with the heating dial to set it to produce the level of toastiness you prefer.
The cancel button I believe is a fairly standard button on most toasters, just press it to stop the toast toasting and make it pop up. However I am fairly bemused by the 'defrost' and 'reheat' buttons.
Personally, in the past, I have always just stuck frozen bread in the toaster, whacked the heating control up a couple of notches over what I usually have it on and voila toast! I have never experienced a 'defrost' button on a toaster before so naturally I was intrigued to try it out - again it is very straightforward, put the frozen bread in the toasting slot, press down the control lever and then press the defrost button which will make the LED button illuminate. The difference with using the defrost button over the normal function is that it defrosts the bread first and then toasts it, which extends the toasting cycle. I must say that after using this function my toast was indeed defrosted and toasted although to be honest it didn't taste any different from when I used to just stick frozen bread in on the normal cycle. As for the reheat button I must admit I have not used this and to be honest I doubt I ever will - why would anyone want to reheat toast?
Another function of this toaster which I have yet to mention is actually, in my opinion, a lot more useful than a reheat button and that is the high lift function. Basically all this means is that the lever can be pushed up a little bit which in turn pushes the toasting racks up to make it easier to remove those trickier items like crumpets without the need to stick a knife in the toaster
The results
So far I have been very impressed with the toaster. It toasts well and evenly and doesn't take an age to get the desired results. I am unlikely to take full advantage of the defrost and reheat functions but it is reassuring to know they are available. At £16.99 I think this is a very well priced toaster and I would highly recommend it.
Top Tip
If, like us, you don't generally bother reading instruction manuals especially for something as obvious as a toaster then let me share with you a valuable piece of information which is in the manual - when you first use the toaster set the heating controls to 1 and push down the control levers letting the toaster operate empty - do this twice before you put any bread in or you will end up with some pretty foul melting-plastic-smelling toast like we did 
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Tesco 2T15ss
by ceebee27
When I had accidentally broken my old Tesco value toaster by sticking a fork inside it and snapping a heating wire, I headed straight back to Tesco to buy the exact same toaster again. Unfortunately they didn't have one in stock and I wanted to buy a toaster immediately so I settled for this one instead as it was only a little over a ... tenner.
I was secretly quite pleased that I'd purchased a nice looking stainless steel toaster rather than the cheap white plastic one it was replacing. It certainly looks very nice in my kitchen and looks a little less studenty.
There is space for 2 slices of bread and it toasts both slices evenly on both sides. There is a dial where you can change how toasted you want your bread which is great and if you have accidentally set it too high, the early pop up button comes in really useful. A feature which is really great is a button you can press if your bread is frozen which somehow seems to work quite well, although I can't work out how it's any different from just toasting normally.
Another useful feature is that you can make the bread lift higher out of the toaster which is really good for things like crumpets which often get stuck inside toasters as they are a bit small.
I have only had the toaster for about 6 months, and am very pleased with it so far. It looks nice, toasts well and has a few extra features which my old tesco value toaster was lacking!
Overall, a good buy which wont break the bank.
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