Toasters, I hate toasters... love toast, but hate toasters, mainly down to the fact that a toaster in my house last about as long as a chocolate bar in my kids hands.
I have been through more toasters in my time than I've had, well, hot toast, almost, and replacing them has turned out to be a lot cheaper than having them repaired.
I know what you're thinking: why don't I spend a few extra quid and get a more reliable toaster that would last a bit longer than a politicians promise? Well, I've tried that a couple of times, but the results have been the same... several rounds of toast for me and my family to enjoy, then the inevitable happens, the toaster starts it usual ritual of break down, starting with the elements having a mind of there own, working when they want to and not when I need them too. Then, in no time at all, the toaster ends up in the big electrical store in the sky, well, in the recycling bin anyway.

One of my toaster over the time; one which I had been using for quite some time, which was a nice surprise, is a toaster from that well known company called Breville, with this ones full name being the Breville VTT233 toaster.

So why did I go for this toaster then..?
I would say for the rather fetching colour, due to the fact that it went well in my kitchen with the black tiles and worktops. But I think the main reason was that it fitted in with my toast needs whilst not breaking the bank at all.

What does it look like then..?
A toaster of course, made from a lovely shiny black material with a few added bits of grey. It's nothing fancy and defiantly nothing too technical that you need a degree in scientology, or something like that, to work it.
It's a good size, not too big as to take up all your kitchen, yet not too small so that you lose it in a cupboard. It's about 380mm wide by 160mm deep and 180mm high, weighing in at a mere kilo and a half.
The controls are on one end, with the three buttons, which have a lovely little red light to show you that they are on, temperature options and slider all having a lovely grey colouring, which goes quite nice with the black body of the toaster. There there's the grey underside, which again, sets off the main colour of the unit, making the entire thing look the part in the right coloured kitchen.
As with many other toasters this one too has a defrost setting, plus what they call a reheat setting too, which gives similar results to the browning setting?
On the bottom there is a single crumb tray which is there to catch the crumbs off the bread, but even when I empty it after every use the crumbs still end up all over the work tops.

The mains lead wraps around a few little pegs which are located on the underside of the toaster.

NOTE:
This also comes in a silver body colour so there is a bit of an option for those that don't want the black effect look.


My Opinion...

This was not a bad toaster at all, managing to heat up in seconds, getting my toast just as I like it; although this was down to trial and error on my part.
I did find that on the first toast each time the bread would toast lightly, then, the more bread that went through it at the time, would become more toasted, which would lead to me adjusting the dial at the side, lowering the 'heat' settings. This is down to the fact that the elements become hotter the longer the toaster stays in use, thus toasting the bread quicker.

It may only have two slots but, due to the length of those slots, it can take four slices of bread, unless your bread is so tall that you can stand on it to paint your ceilings.
The slider does need to be rammed down to get the toast grips to lock into position, but, even though it has a plastic covering, it feel pretty strong and I can't see them breaking that easily, although if my luck with toasters is anything to go by anything can happen.

Anyway, I like the length of this one and as I use a certain brand of bread that, for some reason, is a bit longer than some other loaves, I find that the length of these slots accommodate this bread with ease, although maybe only two slices at a time instead of four.
And the walls of the toaster do stay pretty cool to the touch so there little danger of burning your fingers if you touch it, which saves on plasters and pain.

The buttons are all on the one end, making it easier to use, with each button being nicely marked with what it does.
The heat setting dial is simply a dial with numbers going around it, with each number representing a set time that the toast stays inside the toaster. Then, once the time is reached, the toast 'pops' out of the unit ready to be buttered and then eaten. Or, if you can't wait that long, there's a cancel button that can be pressed so that you can get to you toast before the timer is reached.
The defrost option is designed to warm up a frozen slice of bread instead of toasting it, thus defrosting it, as the name suggests, so that you can then toast it as normal. Although I tend not to use this function I have used it and it does what it is supposed to do.
The cancel button has been pressed many times, especially when a thin streak of smoke bellows from the elements as a bread crumb suddenly sets alight, making me think that the entire piece of bread is about to burst into flames.


But as always with me and toasters, when it began to fail it did so in spectacular style, creating a little bit of a light show as a few of the elements sparkled away just before they died off completely, leaving me with a toaster that would only partially toast the slices of bread that I put into it, making the toast look patchy, like a badly tanned girl from Essex.
Don't get me wrong, this one did last quite some time for me, which is a bonus really, considering the fact that my entire family love toast and have used this on a daily, if not hourly basis... which has no doubt led to the destruction of the elements and the death of another toaster.

What about the price then...?
Well, this sells for a mere £20.00, or thereabouts, which in my eyes, considering the time it lasted in my toast loving family, is not bad value for money at all.
I have seen the same brand on sale in shops at lower prices so do look out for that bargain of a lifetime.

Would I recommend this one..?
I'd have to say yes on this one as it cost less than a night out and can toast a lot of bread before giving up the toast... I mean ghost.
For me it was £20.00 well spent and certainly earned it's money.

©Blissman70 2012