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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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Kenwood TTP102
by rji0907
When our toaster recently died on us at work, we weren't given permission to purchase another one through company resources with the company trying to cut costs where possible at the moment so we decided to purchase one between us, so my friend found one and we split the cost between us. This toaster was a Kenwood TTP102 2 slice toaster. ...
My first impression of this toaster was how ugly it was. It was white, plastic and quite tall and thin. It had a really cheap look to it and I presumed it had been really cheap to buy looking at it, so I was quite surprised when I was asked for my share of £21.99!
I presumed from the price that you are generally paying for the brand name as although Kenwood isn't really what I would call a leading brand in the electrical appliances market, it is a well known, well thought of brand but to me, the toaster itself didn't look any better quality than the likes of Tesco Value and you can get a two slice toaster in this range for around £5-7.00.
This isn't a toaster with many features and it is pretty basic. It does have a slide out crumb tray and variable width slots but that's about it. There is a cancel button if you need to remove the bread from the toaster without burning yourself too. We keep our toaster out on the 'kitchen' unit we have made at work as it is in constant use throughout the day but for home purposes, the fact that it is tall and thin means it would be able to be stored away easily in a cupboard as it really isn't the most stylish appliance to have on show in your kitchen.
As for its performance, it isn't bad. It toasts quite well and fairly evenly though I did notice that the middle of the bread did tend to be slightly overdone in comparison to the rest of the bread and although you can control the browning of the bread, I find that if you turn it down, the edges of the bread don't toast well at all and if you turn it up, the middle tends to burn so I leave it in the middle and have a very slightly overdone (though not burnt) middle of the bread. I use this toaster every day at work to make my lunch and it hasn't let me down yet!
The bread is easy to remove from the toaster when it's finished as I have found with some cheaper toasters, the bread doesn't 'pop out' as far as it should, meaning you have to get your fingers a little too close to the toaster but you don't have that problem with this one.
Overall, I think this toaster is a little overpriced for what it is. You can get similar toasters in the supermarket value ranges for a fraction of the cost of this one. Kenwood is a reliable brand though and this toaster is used regularly throughout the day and we have had no issues with it as of yet. Therefore, I will recommend this toaster as it does a decent job of making toast but will knock a star off for the price as I think it is overpriced.
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Argos Cookworks 2 Slice
by wazza115
When we moved house a couple of years ago, my boyfriend's aunty brought us a sandwich toaster from Argos as a house warming present. I have never used one of these before so was really excited to try it out. The one she purchased was the Cookworks 2 Slice Sandwich Toaster from Argos.
The title of the product is actually a ... little misleading, when it says two slice, it actually makes 2 toasties using 4 slices of bread.
To use, the sandwich maker, simple plug into the wall, close the lid and wait for it to warm up. When the sandwich maker is plugged in, a red light will come on, once it has warmed up enough and ready to use, this will change to green.
The instructions included with the product are quite detailed but to ensure the product doesn't stick to the hot plate within the sandwich maker and also to make sure the sandwich goes nice and crispy is to spread a nice layer of butter or margarine to one side of the bread and then place one slice on each of the plates (butter side down). Then add a filling of your choice (I normally have cheese and something as all the cheese melts inside - yum), then place the final slice of bread on top (butter side up). Close the lid and wait for the sandwiches to toast. After around 5-7 minutes (depending on how well done you want them), the toasties are ready to eat.
I word of warning though, the first time I used, as soon as they were cooked, I took a large bite and nearly burnt my tongue off - the filling gets really got, especially if you like putting baked beans inside like I do. I would also give the toasties a few minutes to cool down, if Lauren is having some with us, I always pierce the top of the sandwiches a couple of times to let some of the hot air escape too.
Once of the main advantages I have found with this is that is has introduced vegetables and salad into Laurens diet without her really knowing. If I give her tomato, she would never eat it however if I make a toastie of cheese, beans and tomato, she gobbles it down. I have also put cucumber, onion peppers in, although it might not sound nice to me, she loves them so I find this great at making sure she gets her 5 a day.
I have found that larger bread can sometimes be a little too big for the sandwich maker, sometimes I have had to trim slightly, also, if I use really thick bread and loads of filling, it can be quite hard to close the clasp on the lid - if this does happen, I just close the lid, wait for it to cook a few minutes and then the clasp seems to close ok.
Cleaning the product is really easy, just unplug and wait for it to cool down (the plates get really hot so they do take around 10 minutes to cool down completely. Once cool, I just wipe clean with a damp cloth and any burnt cheese etc comes off really easily.
As this was a present, I haven't been cheeky as asked how much it was however after a quick search online, I can see that this retails for , it is part of the Cookworks range which I believe is exclusive to Argos so not available from any other retailer (unless EBay or similar sites). It is available to purchase both in store or online (with the additional charge of delivery), what I do like about Argos is that you can check stock availability at your local store and if they have it, reserve the item until close of play the following working day meaning you don't have to have a wasted journey.
The only downside of the product is that it only makes 2 toasties at a time which means I cannot make enough to feed all three of us at once, and by the time my next ones are cooked, my hubby as already eaten all of his. Argos do however do a version which makes 4 toasties at a time, which retails for around £20 so if you are looking to buy one for family use, I would recommend purchasing this one.
As with most electrical products, this comes with a 1 years guarantee - although we have had ours a couple of years now, it gets used at least once a week and never experienced any problems.
Overall, I would recommend this sandwich toaster, there are loads more expensive models on the market but as far as I can see, this does a good enough job so why pay more. I would give the sandwich toaster 5 out of 5 stars.
Thanks for reading.
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