Most of my favourite snacks involve toasted bread in some form, whether it is cheese on toast, beans on toast, a toasted sandwich or simply toast with butter and jam on top. (Now I've made myself hungry!) I find the aroma addictive and if I smell someone cooking toast, I have to have some myself too.

Because I love toast so much, I wanted to splash out on a fancy toaster. In the past I have bought a few toasters created by Morphy Richards and no matter what size or thickness the bread is that I have bought it, it never seemed to properly fit in the machine. So this time I decided to get a special one.

The De'Longhi Icona CT0443 in Scarlet Red instantly caught my eye. I knew it would match the black and red décor of my kitchen. I liked this particular toaster because of its retro style which has been inspired by the 1950's Italian glamour.

When I saw that the appliance was able to toast four slices of bread at the same time, I knew it would mean no more arguments in the morning about who was the latest and who needed to make their toast first. So I bought it.

What does it look like?
The appliance really is an eye catching piece of equipment with gorgeous chrome detailing. The toaster is coated with three layers of Scarlet Red high gloss paint and then covered with a matt finish that claims to be fingerprint resistant. The toaster is silver on top and the four slices of toast are inserted vertically so that they all stand side by side in the machine.

At the front are two black push down levers which control the two pairs of toast so that it functions as two separate machines joined together. In between the two levers are eight black round buttons and on the two outer edges, there are two dials and two knobs to control the machine.

The toaster stands on non slip feet which makes it that much safer to use. As well as Scarlet Red, you can also buy the toaster in Onyx Black, Satin Silver, Azure Blue and also in white, green and aubergine.

How does it work?
This toaster is great for families who rush around with schedules that don't quite match. Not only does this toaster allows you to toast four pieces of bread simultaneously by each pair of grills work independently to the other so you can remove your toast without disturbing the other pair.

This is also fantastic for people who like their toast cooked to different levels and crunchiness. And this function is beneficial if it is just you alone making toast as you can just use half the toaster, instead of wasting the energy of using all four which means lower electricity bills and its better for the environment.

Despite the toaster not being overly complicated, it does still come with an instruction manual that explains all the buttons and tells you how you can use the machine in the most efficient way. The toaster works on 1.8 KW of power so it toasts the bread quickly which means you can get out of the front door quicker in the mornings.

This toaster really is perfect for the massive toast fans like me who are particular about how it's made, even to the extent that you can choose how brown you like your toast with six different levels to choose from. You can also adjust the width of the slots if you prefer thickly sliced bread which is fantastic as chunky bread refused to fit into some of the other toasters that I've owned.

The toaster evens adjusted to be wide enough to fit in the Marks & Spensers crumpets which have got jammed in every other appliance I've owned. The lever which you push down to start the appliance toasting also moves up in order to lift some of the smaller items higher up in order to remove them. This lever gets the crumpets out effortlessly and stops me from adopting some of the more stupid methods I've used in the past to get them out.

Another great feature that is has is a reheat button. Sometimes when I'm making toast, the phone will ring or I'll need to answer the door and when I come back the toast is cold. By simply pressing the reheat button, it gets the temperature back to a yummy level without having to throw out the toast and start again which saves both on food and electricity.

There are also controls to defrost bread that you may have been keeping in the freezer and cancel buttons for when you've accidently put something in there for too long. And finally there is a button that you can use if you are toasting bagels and you only want to toast the one side of the product. This really is like a magical toasting machine. The machine is easy to clean and it has two separate deep crumb trays which catch all the mess and allows it to be easily dispensed of.

Final thoughts
This toaster is perfect in my eyes. It is sturdy and solid and I can see myself owning it for a very long time before anything goes wrong. It looks completely gorgeous and most people who come to my house will make a comment about it.

I think the claim that it remains fingerprint free is only true when your hands are not buttery. If I simply move the machine to clean it, then my finger prints disappear but if you are making toast, sometimes it needs to be wiped down afterwards but this doesn't take long. The crumb tray works perfectly and no crumbs manage to escape underneath the machine.

It is a time saver for me in the mornings and I love the way that it functions as two different toasters. It cuts down on arguments in the morning as we can both have our toast when we want it and how we want it makes the morning rush a little more harmonious. I also love the way that if I'm alone, I can just use one side on the toaster.

The machine works quickly and gives perfect results each time. The reheat button is very helpful and has cut down on wastage for me. After an initial mess around with the buttons, you'll see how straightforward they are to use and even my technophobe mother can use it without a problem whenever she comes to visit. I love how the thickness can of the slot be adjusted so I toast all my favourite types of bread.

I bought my toaster from Amazon for about £60 which was cheap for this product. It is also available from many electrical stores such as Currys and Dixons but the price from there is closer to £75. The toaster can also be bought from a variety of online websites so it is definitely worth shopping around to ensure that you are getting the best possible deal.

All in all, you can't really ask for more than what this toaster does. It looks gorgeous, doesn't make a mess and it allows you to cook your toast in the exact way that you like it. It cuts down on petty arguments and many of its features are environmentally friendly and it cut down on electricity bills too.

The only thing that could improve this toaster is if it made me a cup of tea in the mornings too. I think this toaster is worth every penny that I paid for it.