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Kenwood TT370
by MamaC
We needed to buy a small 2-slice toaster for which we would use in our caravan whilst away. I came across this stainless steel toaster whilst I was shopping in Tesco's. I purchased it here, as I wanted to bump up the points on my club card.
IN THE BOX:
It was packaged very well and looked far too elegant for the likes ... of our caravan. The entire body is made from stainless steel and it has a variable slot width, which is ideal if you need to warm your buns in it. It draws 950 watts, which is about what I'd expect from a toaster. Underneath the toaster you'll find a crumb tray, which does what it's designed to do. I noticed that it also has a handy little cancel button that I've never seen on a toaster before and works well if I think that my toast is browning too much. The warming rack is totally removable so that I can wash periodically and you can set the dial to re-heat or cook bread slices from a frozen state.
There's not a lot more that can be said with regards to the taste of toast the science about how it cooks. But this toaster gives you great even cooked toast whilst letting you you control how brown you like it to be, it's that simple. I also really like the fact that it can cope with warming up bus - very handy for Good Friday!
In conclusion, it's a great little toaster, which only gets used about 6 times per year. I most certainly could have purchased a cheaper one than this.
Purchased from Tescos for £44.99
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Dualit Vario 2
by carlz2001uk
When we fitted a new kitchen about 6 or 7 years ago, I wanted the very best gadgets, as you do! I wanted everything to look perfect and after a quick mooch in a department store realised I loved the Dualit range. At the time we didn't have children so I decided that the 2 slice toaster would happily suit our needs and would look fab in ... the kitchen at the same time. There was five colours available, and I opted for the red, but now there are loads of colours available! Purple, marmite, canary yellow, cream, stainless steel, red and petal pink (think I've covered them all!). The choice means that there is an option for everyone no matter the colour scheme of your kitchen or accessories.
RRP:
Now the £100 RRP of this toaster will straight away mean that a lot of people will instantly dismiss it. It is an awful lot for a toaster and I will openly admit that, but you get what you pay for and this toaster will last and last. We have been using it now for 7 years and it's still going strong. I'm thinking of replacing it but only because we find that now, as parents, a 2 slice just isn't ideal for our family of 4 and it needs replacing.
Appearance:
Looks wise, you have to give it to this toaster. It's just not going to look the same as a £10 budget toaster from the local Argos and if you have spent the time abnd money replacing a new kitchen, the gadgets are equally as important. We permanently leave our toaster on the counter so it is important that it is stylish, but for anyone putting it away in a cupboard after use then the style of it wouldn't be as important. The curves of the toaster and design with the Dualit sign looks expensive (and is!). As we have owned it 7 years I would have expected it to look dated but it looks as good today style wise and maintenance wise, as it did when we bought it 7 years ago.
Toasting!
Style wise it looks great, toast wise it also does a pretty good job! This toaster doesn't work in the same way as normal ones. Yes you slot the bread into the grill, but you don't pull a lever to start the toasting process, you turn a dial to set the time you would like to toast for. The dial gives the option of toasting on its highest setting of 4 minutes but this lasts too long and the toast ends up being in for far too long for my liking. I find somewhere between 2 and 3 works just nicely, but it is handy having the option rather than to keep popping to check if it's how you like it. Once the time has elapsed the toaster pops as you would expect. Once you find the right setting you like it can be left on this for subsequent uses.
Crumbly crumbs:
No matter which toaster I have used in the past, crumbs are inevitable. They are reduced more with the Dualit though as the removable tray underneath the toaster means that after every 2 or 3 uses you can remove the tray and empty the captured crumbs simply and without mess. You will still get the odd crumb or two on the surface but no where near the amount that a normal toaster will give.
One side or two?:
My favourite part of this toaster which I haven't seen before is the option to toast one side or the conventional two! At first I couldn't see the benefit of this, but I quite like using it for pâté and toast or cheese and toast. I really like this option and just the fact that I have the option is different!
Would I recommend it?:
I would recommend this Dualit 2 slice toaster if you have a large budget and don't have the needs for more than 2 slices at once. It is a lovely toaster and it does look really good, but given £100 now I probably wouldn't buy it again, but this is only because our circumstances have changed from a childless couple to a family of 4.
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DeLonghi CTO4003 Icona
by Charlotte6483
When me and My husband got married, we didn't yet have a home together. So we decided to have a traditional gift list so that we could start building up items for our new home together.
As well as generously being gifted with items from our gift list, some guests gave us vouchers to spend in some of the bigger department stores, so ... after we got settled into our new home, we set out to buy some more gadgets for our home.
I am someone who enjoys luxury items, especially for the home, and my husband often has to bring me back to reality when it comes to purchasing what should be 'basic' items for the home.
Needless to say, when I started looking at DeLonghi products for the kitchen, My husband though I had lost the plot, seeing the price tags that these products held!
But I had desperately lusted over the DeLonghi Icona toaster and kettle for so long. I thought it them the ultimate luxury items in kitchen ware, they just have such a sleek, classic look to them!
My husband is very practical, and to him, it didn't matter how the DeLonghi Icona looked in the kitchen, it was merely a toaster, and a basic white one from the supermarket would have done him!
I never ended up getting the co-ordinating kettle, but I seriously dug my heels in with reagards to the toaster. I didn't want a basic white toaster...I wanted this beautiful creation, in stylish black. And I have to say, I was not disappointed with its appearance when it arrived at our home, it really did look the part in our new kitchen. Chic and Italian!
The Toaster comes with four little buttons on one side, the purposes of which are 'Bagel' 'Reheat' 'Defrost' and 'cancel'. So to be fair they are very basic settings which even your cheapest of toasters come with. I thought the Bagel setting sounded different, but I have toasted bagels both on this setting and without, and I found it toasted the same both ways, so I don't really understand the point of this button.
The toaster also come with a dial on the other side which says 'toast colour' and allows you to opt from 1 to 6, depending how well done you like your toast. So basically, it is a glorified timer, which does make a difference to how your toast comes out, I like mine golden brown and turning the dial to just over 3 usually does it to my preference. However, if you are putting more toast in straight after your first few slices, you have to make sure you re-fiddle with the dial, otherwise you end up with over done toast. So again, it is really only as good as it's cheaper competition.
The most frustrating thing I have found with this product is that once you have done your first few slices of toast, and try to put in more straight after, the catch won't stay down and stick, so you end up having to keep pushing it down very firmly, until you get it to hold...which can take a while sometimes and get you rather angry!!
The toaster does come with a tray that slides out from the back with ease, which catches any crumbs, so you can easily dispose of the bulk of the mess. And with a little wipe over , the toaster, always comes up lovely and clean, so cleaning in general is very easy with this product.
So, overall, even though it is a quick toaster, and I do get lovely golden brown toast, most of the time, I do think it is extremely over priced for all its little faults and the fact it really doesn't perform any better than the basic options out there. If anything, it probably under performs, in comparison to some other makes.
My husband would no doubt say, 'I told you so!'
And yes it does look the part in my kitchen, but going back, I certainly wouldn't make the same decision again. I think I was expecting a total miracle of a toaster fro the price I paid, as so was left a little disappointed!
This product retails from :
£49.99 on Amazon depending on the colour, with free delivery for a 2 slice toaster
If you prefer a four slice toaster you are can currently get this model in four slice for
£53.14 down from £74.99 on Amazon with free delivery!
So if you think its worth it, I would grab one now, while you can at least call it more of a bargain.
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