A Toast To Tesco's Cheap Toaster! (Tesco Value 2T07)

Member Name: Nar2

Product:	Tesco Value 2T07
Date:	10/10/09 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap price and quite a few useful features; high power. Cool touch/cool wall

Disadvantages: Lightweight, wobbly controls, you get what you pay for. No defrost/reheat buttons

Upon moving back to the city for a long contract job I've had to move into new accommodation again which means putting up with new electrical appliances I wouldn't normally buy. To many people they would probably love the idea of something new rather than something blue, borrowed or fixed! For a start, whilst the letting company have a wonderful flat in terms of its space and natural room design, they have really gone for the budget market where the household appliances are concerned; I have no freezer, only a brand new budget brand fridge that is proving more trouble than its worth; a very outdated microwave that does its job extremely well when it feels like it and an old washing machine where the soap drawer is permanently jammed and to the point that I may have to consider Eco Balls before long! Against all this there are a couple of new small appliances such as a kettle and toaster and they both come from the budget stable of Tesco Value. Because I'm on my own I'm using my own kettle (my tiny travel like Breville Solo) and it doesn't take up as much space as the new Tesco full size kettle. Imagine my dismay when I found the new box sporting this toaster in a kitchen cupboard; and there was me poised to spend loads of cash on a funky looking Bosch or classic looking Russell Hobbs toaster, instead.


Similarly in look to the basic design of the kettle, the 2T07 Value toaster by Tesco is dressed in bulbous white plastic, a slightly wobbling grey control knob to the left hand side and an equally cheap feeling adjuster slider. Certainly it is very apparent that you get what you pay for in this instance where the Tesco Value toaster is concerned and I felt a little let down based on the rent I'm paying out here to find that this toaster costs £4-44! I wouldn't have minded something over £10 but as life has dealt me with a new diet on tow, I'm not exactly hungry for toast like I used to be. It's just as well because this toaster has an unbelievably short power cord and it's position sprouting at the bottom side (as opposed on the flat surface underneath like most toasters) means for the most, that right hand users will be confined to the toaster sitting at an angle or being pulled tightly from plug sockets opposite to where the mains cord runs and forget any idea that the cord can actually be stored underneath like more expensive toasters. That however in my mind doesn't present a problem. Swing the toaster to the left and there is more obvious cord but what a pity there isn't enough length here to give extra thought. The body and power cord are both damp cloth washable and the metal inserts at the top have a brushed metal quality to them that makes the toaster look a little more different than it could be. There is even a cancel button and the adjuster pushes up a little more so you can decently grab your toast to make it easier to remove once toasting has been achieved.


However cheap this toaster actually is, it doesn't have the lowest power on the market (760 watts). Surprisingly that award goes to John Lewis' own budget toaster that was tested by a national UK newspaper a year ago and found to be the most leading model against higher priced toasters when it came to actual usage and outright performance. My own toaster of long standing (but sadly no longer working) after 15 years of faithful service has never seen another model better it, and it too was a cheap budget brand (Hinari - remember that brand?) which is pretty much similar to what Tesco are offering here. What it does have against the John Lewis toaster (which incidentally is still selling) is that it takes one crosshead screw to remove the crumb tray. On the Tesco toaster, you'll find a slide out crumb tray on the left hand side with no silly need to fish out screwdrivers.


There are seven heat settings available on the heat control dial and top marks to Tesco for making each gradient of heat markings large and easy to read. I was however shocked to find that Tesco's stats are wrong about this toaster because they state it doesn't have a cool wall, yet in use I can touch the body of the toaster and it is near lukewarm compared to the searing burns you could get if you were to hold onto the body of a stainless steel toaster. This is why the toaster is so bulbous by its design; it does actually have a cool wall on the exterior that makes it safe and at 400 grams it is quite lightweight and compact.


Perhaps the biggest surprise of use however is that despite many other owners complaining about how useless the short bread holders actually are or how poor the performance is, I have found the total opposite in so many parameters of it's natural function. To be fair it does lack toasting capability if you put bread in the normal way (with the curved part of crust sticking up) and that is an aspect I'd agree with many buyers on, but four months on, the toaster can do a better and more uniform job when the bread is put sideways instead; and it works with medium sliced bread extremely well and upon average with thick bread. When the toast pops up, there is a slight click but nothing to remind you that toast has cooked unless you go by your sense of smell and I guess that's what you pay for when it comes to cheap thud like plastic. However I'm delighted to find that the 2T07 does a very good striped effect of toasting and that for the most part both sides of the toast are as toasted as evenly as possible. Browning is therefore an aspect on this toaster that can be achieved with the lowest power control dial set at 2 as opposed to anything higher than 3. Go over that setting and you'll get burnt toast, which is a credit to its overall power if nothing else. Pity there isn't a reheat button or defrost but again you just need to put it at setting one and let the toast reheat "manually" with you standing by to cancel at any time.


Another welcome surprise however hasn't just been toast but of the discovery of being able to install my JML Toastabags in this toaster. With them in place with two bits of bread crammed into the supposedly narrow side that is only supposed to take one slice of bread, I can relay that the 2T07 accommodates the bag easily and cleanly without getting stuck. This means ladies and gentlemen that Tesco's 2T07 toaster sides can accommodate a lot of bread and there are variable thickness grids that allow the toaster to accept any manner of normal sliced bread albeit only two slices at a time since it is a 2-slice toaster. Upon visiting Tesco recently I found it strange to discover that Tesco's non-budget value range toaster at £15 lacks variable thickness springs and feels less substantial even though it has metal stainless steel panels and a thinner diameter.


What the 2T07 can't do is what everyone these days wants their toasters to do, and I'm afraid unless your toaster has a specified design to it, yours and this Tesco basic toaster won't do bagels, or any fancy breads other than the sliced bread you make day to day sandwiches with or simply, toast!


Cleaning is very easy made by the 400g weight and I'm able to shake the toaster over the bin or sink to remove any hard to shift crumbs that have attached themselves to the elements. Then there's the slide out crumb tray - handy to have but it doesn't have a deep inset design to it, but rather flat and compromising, meaning you have to angle the tray out slowly to avoid tilting it and dumping any excess crumbs onto the kitchen work space.


For the price though I find this an incredibly good toaster to consider and yes whilst there is a certain way to get around using this appliance, for the asking price of below a mere fiver, Tesco have done wonders here, if all you want is actual toast! It just takes a little more time to getting to know it rather than treating it like a more expensive toaster when it isn't and for some buyers that may well be too much of a challenge. Thanks for reading ©Nar2 2009

www.tesco.com

Summary: A surprisingly good toaster that does what it says - JUST!

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