If it's toast you want forget it! (Breville PT47)

Member Name: Shez80

Product:	Breville PT47
Date:	23/06/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good on my worktop

Disadvantages: Ummm..... a toaster that doesn't toast properly, now let me think!!!!

I bought the black version of this four slice toaster (PT49) when I first moved into our house just over twelve months ago. We have a black worktop and I wanted black accessories to match. I bought a lovely black shiny kettle, a black bread bin, black tea, coffee and sugar pots and a ....grey toaster! It is supposed to be black but when put against other black products it actually looks more of a grey colour.

It is less bulky than some other four slice toasters which is what drew me to this product over other toasters, and is longer and slimmer rather than the square ones which are shorter and deeper. It therefore sits quite neatly on the worktop, not jutting out too much. It fits two slices of toast side by side in the front and the same again in the back. The slots for the toast are quite wide and easily fit in the thickness of two slices of bread together like a sandwich (if using a toasty bag).

There is a crumb tray to the left hand side of the toaster which effectively collects crumbs and is kept in place with a spring action mechanism (when pressed in the tray is released). There are three buttons at the bottom of the toaster, one for defrosting frozen bread, one for reheating toast (without additional toasting) and one to cancel toasting. There is also a variable browning control which slides from left to right, from 1-6. When the toaster is in use the toaster lights up with five vertical blue dots and the lights disappear one by one letting you know how long until the toast is ready. There is a handle at the right hand side which lowers the bread for toasting.

Both front and back slots are lowered at the same time as opposed to some other toasters which have two separate sections. As my husband prefers his toast more well-done than I do this just means he has to put his back in for a bit longer once mine is ready.

As nice as this toaster is to look at, I was very disappointed with the toasting function (the main point of a toaster)! It browns one side of the toast well leaving the other side of the toast barely touched. This seems to be the same no matter where you put the toast, whether in the front or back slots. Therefore the blue lights are only useful to tell you when the bread is half way through toasting, so toasting can be cancelled, the bread turned around and started again. You then have to keep an eye on it until it is half way through toasting again to be able to cancel it, otherwise the toast burns. Therefore you can't just put your bread in and return when it has popped up, you have to watch it all the time. It also means the variable browning control isn't much use as the toast cannot be left until it pops up on its own anyway

All in all I am very disappointed with this toaster. I am not sure whether all toasters in this model work the same or whether it is just mine which doesn't toast evenly. It does look very nice on my worktop (even though it is not quite black) and the lights during toasting are a nice feature but that's about all it is good for.

Summary: If you want an ornamental toaster then this is perfect

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