Dualit - a design classic? (Dualit 20333)

Member Name: azana

Product:	Dualit 20333
Date:	04/11/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: durable

Disadvantages: my one doesn't toast evenly

Having read quite a few toaster reviews of late, I've come to the conclusion that a good toaster is, actually, quite hard to find. To me, fresh toast is as quintessentially British as tea and cake, one of the things I missed when I live abroad. There's nothing quite like freshly toasted bread and butter, it's the ultimate quick snack and comfort food.

This Dualit toaster is the one that has undertaken the morning toast ritual in my house since November 2002, I can remember our relationship starting then for various reasons, one being that it took me a while to save up the toaster, as well as to reconcile myself with the idea of spending £90, as it cost then, on a toaster. I was attracted to it I suppose due to its classic good looks and I had heard that Dualits lasted and lasted, and with its pale blue design it also matched my new kitchen.

A few years have passed and the toaster has outlasted many an appliance in my house, not to mention the kitchen which now belongs to someone else, but my dualit love affair has had its ups and downs.

I hope that my experience can be of use to anyone thinking of buying this toaster or one of its other incarnations - this toaster comes in a number of different colours. The price has remained pretty unchanged and though Dualit have brought out other cheaper toasters, this toaster is still widely available.

About Dualit:

As Dualit are proud to say, they are a British company, and they produce toasters that are made to last. They say on their website that they regularly repair 40 year old toasters, and each of these toasters are hand built in the UK. Spare parts for this toaster (the timer and the elements), are available on the website for a fairly reasonable cost, an element costing £7.48, which is a lot less than a new toaster. The company has been family owned for the last 60 years, the first toaster being made in 1946, although they have only produced toasters for non-commercial use since the 1970's.

This toaster:

The toaster takes two slices and has quite wide slots (28mm) that will take anything up to muffin size in my experience, these run from front to back rather unusually as you can see from the photo. The enamelled sides have 13 different colour variations and are solid and quite cool to the touch when the toaster is in use. The toaster measures 26 x 21 x 22cm, so has an average sized footprint, maybe being a bit deeper than an average toaster.

Mechanically there is not much to go wrong. There is a button to select one slot or two - on newer models replaced by a black dial. The timer is completely mechanical, you turn it around the amount of time you want your bread to be toasted, somewhere under 2 minutes works best for me. It ticks reassuringly like an egg timer, and when you hear the buzzing stop it is time to get the toast out.

The lever at the bottom is raised by hand at the end of cooking in order to pop the toast out - I find this works relatively well, though you sometimes have to jig the lever up and down briskly to get smaller items to jump out. There is a crumb tray which is easily pulled out and emptied. The cord is a generous length allowing the toaster to be positioned where you want on the worksurface, with adjustable feet in case the surface is uneven apparently; I've never personally felt the need to adjust these.

So does it toast well?

Well yes and no in my particular case. There is no doubt that the elements are of very good quality and durable, they are well protected by grills and work as well as they did on day of purchase, but actually since day of purchase I've found that the toasting isn't that even. Despite having followed the instructions in the manual with zeal (warm them up before use, expect them to smoke a little at first, only switch on as many slots as you are using), the toasting is just a bit uneven. To be fair to Dualit it does say in the FAQ's that if this is the case to send it back for inspection within the 2 year warranty period, which is what I should have done most probably. Somehow I never did get round to doing so, and so I've got used to the quirkiness of having to flip my piece of toast over on the left side mid-cooking to ensure the toast is cooked evenly.

I could also send the toaster to dualit to be serviced, but actually I've grown to accept its foibles. On the plus side I do find that the toaster takes a range of bread from pitta, to sliced or roughly cut with no problems. On another positive note the toaster looks like new even after a few years of ownership. The chrome in the middle did go a bit brown around the slots over time, but I find this is easily removed with "Maas" metal polish and the toaster is as shiny as the day it was bought. The timer has no signs of wear either and turns as smoothly as it did on day 1.

Design wise I love this toaster still as much as did when I first saw one in John Lewis and aspired to having one. I can't fault it for durability, and I have got over the disappointment I felt when I first used it and it didn't quite toast as well as I thought it would - after all a toaster can look good but if it doesn't toast well then it is somewhat missing the point. I did read a "Which" report some time back which didn't rate this toaster very highly, and my own feelings towards it are ambiguous. On one hand I love the design, I am pretty sure that I will be able to use this toaster for years to come, but I can't say hand on heart that this hand built toaster produces the best toast I have ever seen. If used to make several pieces in a row the elements become more efficient and quicker, so care must be taken to avoid burning. It's a bit of a quirky toaster in some ways, I've had to get used to it. It is however reliable in its own way, and despite myself I do like my Dualit, even if it isn't exactly as I thought it would be.

Would I recommend?

For good looks, being British and well engineered and durable I would recommend this toaster. I can only go on my own experience and say that if you buy one and the toasting is not up to par, don't wait like I did and do get your toaster checked by the manufacturer. I'm pretty sure mine should work better than it does, but as I have said it looks and works like it did the day I bought it.

Other points worth mentioning:

There is a sandwich cage available for this toaster, I would recommend this, it does cost £14.69, though as I recall it came with mine on special offer from John Lewis, but it is a good addition to the toaster, if somewhat bulky, storage wise. You can make toasties and also use it to hold smaller items in place, it fits snugly in one slot.

More info:

http://www.dualit.com/products/classic-toasters

To view this toaster I would recommend John Lewis, who will price match the toaster if you can find it cheaper in any store.

Summary: I love it in some ways but in others I'm not so sure.

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