The most toast(er)

December 26, 2019 2:55 PM

My old toaster is, um, toast. Can you help me buy a better toaster?

I'm looking for a new toaster. Nothing fancy, but my partner has bagels every morning for breakfast so we need one soon!

I'm not really sure what our upper limit of budget is, but I've only ever bought $20 toasters before and they never seem to last very long, so I'm willing to go considerably higher than that if it's worth it.

Thanks ask.me!

posted by Paper rabies to Shopping (10 answers total)

A few years ago I got tired of replacing cheap toasters and bought the Breville model that the Wirecutter lists as their "upgrade pick." It is still working fine some years later so I feel like it was a decent value. If cost is a primary consideration, though, you could buy almost four of their cheaper main recommendation for that price.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:12 PM on December 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

I did the exact same thing as Dip Flash. I got the "die cut" one. It's still working although it does once in a while get confused and I have to unplug it. The toaster market is bullshit.
posted by HotToddy at 3:16 PM on December 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

I went the other way with Wirecutter than the two posters above, and bought the one they list as "best for most people". It's $24. It has worked like a charm for over a year and shows no sign of slowing down at all - it still toasts just as consistently as it did day one, which isn't something I can say for any other inexpensive toaster I've bought in my life. You could also get a brushed-aluminum one for about $10 more if that's more aesthetically appealing.
posted by pdb at 3:30 PM on December 26, 2019

I have another version of the Breville, with two extra long slots. It was worth the money to me, very very sturdy and handles lots of different bread items. It's great but it pulls a lot of juice, we realized we had to find an electrical outlet not on the same circuit as the refrigerator or they'd both just keep blowing the breakers.
posted by twentyfeetof tacos at 3:46 PM on December 26, 2019

When our toaster died we got the Breville toaster oven from the Wirecutter review. It's nice because it's adjustable and functions as more than a toaster and it also has a low temp of 120 which I personally love because I love heating up my plate in the wintertime before I put food on it. Good for toast, crostini, frozen nuggets, all manner of kid food, bagels, and heating up pizza without enlisting Big Oven. Flexible. Expensive, but I figure it probably costs a bit to heat up a giant oven to cook ten minutes' worth of chicken nuggets and the flexibility is helpful.

Also has a cute button that reads 'a little more' which is surprisingly helpful
posted by A Terrible Llama at 5:23 PM on December 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Upgrade to a toaster oven!
posted by kbuxton at 5:40 PM on December 26, 2019 [5 favorites]

If by any chance you decide you might want something fancy, these guys make toasters that burn a custom image into toast. They got their start with toasters that do an image of Jesus.
posted by XMLicious at 7:16 PM on December 26, 2019

We have a dualit toaster. It's nice, all stainless steel and a wide mouth and still working reliably 5 years later. No fancy functions tho, only a timer, but I tend to view extra features as just more things that can how wrong. My parents have a dualit toaster that's 20 years old that looks just like mine and STI works great. They're stupid expensive but after replacing cheap toasters every two or three years I was sick of the waste.
posted by stillnocturnal at 2:05 AM on December 27, 2019

Yeah, even in a tiny apartment in Manhattan, we decided to upgrade to a toaster oven when our toaster died. So glad we did! So much more useful and the wirecutter top pick for a small toaster over is pretty great. Panasonic. Leftover pizza is so much better and faster now! Also, it toasts bread/bagels very well, too.
posted by Grither at 5:24 AM on December 27, 2019

This one, as recommended by The Wirecutter, is what we replaced our toaster with, and it's life changing. You can bake in it, it makes great toast (with a lot of options for darkness) out of any size bread, it looks cool, and we call it the Science Oven. It's probably my favorite thing in the kitchen other than my husband.
posted by biscotti at 6:43 AM on December 28, 2019 [1 favorite]