Cookworks 4 Slice White Wide Toaster
Product Type: Cookworks toasters
Newest Review: ... toaster and after a bit more gentle persuasion this is the one we walked away with. About the toaster Obviously the toaster holds 4 piec... more
Cheap and toasty
Cookworks 4 Slice White Wide Toaster
Member Name: ClareM78
Product:
Cookworks 4 Slice White Wide Toaster
Date: 15/11/12
Rating:
Advantages: Good price, turns bread into toast
Disadvantages: none
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 
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 
Summary: A good value toaster which does all (and more) than I could ever ask of a toaster
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