Anyone for a half toasted piece of bread? (Cordon Bleu Silver 4 Slice Toaster)

Member Name: cazkins

Product:	Cordon Bleu Silver 4 Slice Toaster
Date:	01/10/08 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well-designed, looks good, good price for 4 slice toaster

Disadvantages: Buttons & levers stick, doesn't toast all areas of the bread

My last toaster was a 2 slice Kenwood toaster which cost around £40. After the huge disappointment with this one, I decided to try out a cheaper one by Cordon Bleu, I brand I hadn't really heard much about before. I got this last year from Argos as it looked very stylish and neat in it's smooth silver design.

For £25, (I don't think this is still in the catalogue but can be bought elsewhere for £25-30), you get a 4 slice toaster that measures circa 30cm across and 20cm tall. It's 25cm in depth (front to back) so it's rather bulky but none the less a good size for a 4 slice product. These slots are a good size too, so whether you're using thin or thick sliced bread you shouldn't have any problems. The good thing about the design is that it's like two separate toasters in two as each two slots have separate controls. There's a varying heat/browning setting from 1-6 which I tended to have on 4/5 to get a crunchier piece of toast in the quickest time. I've never had to defrost bread, but there's a button for this option. There's also a removable crumb tray which is essential as toast can gather a lot of crumbs and be difficult to get out without a tray.

To toast, simply pop in your bread, select your browning setting and push the lever down. The slots are quite deep so whether you're putting a slice of bread or a crumpet in, there's enough room and you can always lift up the leaver once it's popped up to lift the food out more easily.

So, it's a good design, easy to get started, but when it comes to the results I wasn't so pleased. I have yet to find a toaster that actually toasts both sides of the bread. This toaster only ever seems to brown the one side, so you're constantly having to turn it around and upside down to toast each bit of the bread. It's a good job there's a button to press so you can pop the bread up whenever you want as I have to do this all the time. What's not so fun is when that button sticks and you're panicking whilst smoke comes out of the toaster with your little crumpet getting burnt and stuck at the bottom of the slot. I've also found that the lever is rather temperamental. It often takes several tries to get it to stay down which is quite frustrating when you're having to keep getting the toast out, turn it around, and put it back in.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this. Maybe I'm just unlucky with toasters or maybe I'm asking for too much. I just want a toaster that does what it claims you; gives you a piece of well toasted bread (or whatever you choose) that is toasted on both sides. It's a nice toaster to look at and a good price, but if you love your toast and crumpets like me, I'd give this a miss.

Summary: I'm off to buy another toaster until I find one that satisfies my inner toast monster!

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