What is a good toaster?
April 6, 2023 11:04 AM Subscribe
I need a new toaster. Toaster reviews on the internet seem to suggest that they are all trash, at least at an under-$200 price point. What is a good @#$(*$% toaster to buy, goddamnit?
I don't want to spend $200 but I would buy a sorta-expensive one based on testimonials. I just need a two-slice regular toaster that runs on electricity. I do not want a toaster oven. It does not need special settings but if the only good toaster is a fancy one that comes with, like, a "brioche defrost" setting I will accept them.
I don't want to spend $200 but I would buy a sorta-expensive one based on testimonials. I just need a two-slice regular toaster that runs on electricity. I do not want a toaster oven. It does not need special settings but if the only good toaster is a fancy one that comes with, like, a "brioche defrost" setting I will accept them.
The BLACK+DECKER 2-Slice Toaster TR2400SD with extra-wide slots is $31 at Walmart, and features on this Strategist '10 best of 2023' roundup.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:13 AM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:13 AM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
For this kind of thing, I like to buy older stuff on eBay, bc they don't make them like they used to etc.
You can even get 'new old stock' (NOS) sometimes. Eg this Procter Silex is a little pricey but it's likely better and longer-lived than any new one for $200. Lots of other older toasters are always available for $30-50.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:22 AM on April 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
You can even get 'new old stock' (NOS) sometimes. Eg this Procter Silex is a little pricey but it's likely better and longer-lived than any new one for $200. Lots of other older toasters are always available for $30-50.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:22 AM on April 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have a KitchenAid KMT2115. Around $50. No special settings except for a bagel setting. It's been excellent and reliable.
posted by Jeanne at 11:23 AM on April 6, 2023
posted by Jeanne at 11:23 AM on April 6, 2023
I loved my sturdy and reliable $10 thrift store toaster for years. My partner decided we needed a Breville BTA 720, and I was a little skeptical that we needed a new toaster.
I will live and die by this toaster. Fresh or frozen bread, bagels, English muffins, waffles, pancakes - they all come out gloriously toasted and delicious. The UPS delivery person recently described us as "the toast house", so that's a testimonial as to how much we use it.
posted by golden at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
I will live and die by this toaster. Fresh or frozen bread, bagels, English muffins, waffles, pancakes - they all come out gloriously toasted and delicious. The UPS delivery person recently described us as "the toast house", so that's a testimonial as to how much we use it.
posted by golden at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Okay, that Proctor-Silex is even now speeding towards me. (Well, it probably hasn't been shipped yet.) We had one like that when I was a kid.
I will bear in mind the other recommendations in the event that this one doesn't work out, but it pushed the nostalgia buttons pretty hard. Thanks, all!
posted by Frowner at 11:39 AM on April 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
I will bear in mind the other recommendations in the event that this one doesn't work out, but it pushed the nostalgia buttons pretty hard. Thanks, all!
posted by Frowner at 11:39 AM on April 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
this is mine it rocks and doesn't beep
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:40 AM on April 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:40 AM on April 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm a fan of this low cost Black and Decker toaster. Put bread in, set temperature, push it down, it pops up when done. There's a button to push for toaster waffles or bagels. Nothing fancy to break or go bad.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:36 PM on April 6, 2023
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:36 PM on April 6, 2023
Is there something specific you're looking for in a toaster? I think I paid $12 for mine at the supermarket and, well... it seems to toast my bread alright.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 8:35 PM on April 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Juffo-Wup at 8:35 PM on April 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I suppose I should mark this completed since I have ordered a toaster!
What I'm looking for in a toaster is one that won't break, spark or burn the toast, and ideally one that will toast it reasonably well with normal use of settings. And one that won't break every couple of years.
But I guess the real thing that I'm looking for in a toaster, and the reason I ordered the deadstock one, is a toaster that works out of the box. I don't want to buy several and deal with returns and refunds because they are incorrectly assembled or have a broken component or arrive obviously damaged.
A cheap toaster that works for six months or having to return three toasters that all have problems before I can get one that works - I hate that trajectory, and it's so common with modern small appliances. It's the unpredictability coupled with frequency that bothers me. Obviously you'll never know just when your toaster is going to die no matter how nice the toaster is, but knowing that it's going to roughly every couple of years and that you will inevitably have to replace it with a shittier one because they're all getting worse and worse - it's psychically exhausting.
My family bought a microwave in about 1989. Round about 2001, I was given that microwave and kept on using it until it gave up the ghost in about 2014 or 2015. Since then, I've had two new microwaves.
It's not even like we make toast every day! Maybe four days a week! And yet my childhood toaster, which made toast for four five or six days a week, lasted from when my earliest memories kick in to I don't even know when, upwards of twenty years.
That's my jeremiad. I just want to buy a goddamn toaster that can make two or three slices of toast four times a week safely and consistently for, let's say, eight to ten years.
posted by Frowner at 6:18 AM on April 7, 2023
What I'm looking for in a toaster is one that won't break, spark or burn the toast, and ideally one that will toast it reasonably well with normal use of settings. And one that won't break every couple of years.
But I guess the real thing that I'm looking for in a toaster, and the reason I ordered the deadstock one, is a toaster that works out of the box. I don't want to buy several and deal with returns and refunds because they are incorrectly assembled or have a broken component or arrive obviously damaged.
A cheap toaster that works for six months or having to return three toasters that all have problems before I can get one that works - I hate that trajectory, and it's so common with modern small appliances. It's the unpredictability coupled with frequency that bothers me. Obviously you'll never know just when your toaster is going to die no matter how nice the toaster is, but knowing that it's going to roughly every couple of years and that you will inevitably have to replace it with a shittier one because they're all getting worse and worse - it's psychically exhausting.
My family bought a microwave in about 1989. Round about 2001, I was given that microwave and kept on using it until it gave up the ghost in about 2014 or 2015. Since then, I've had two new microwaves.
It's not even like we make toast every day! Maybe four days a week! And yet my childhood toaster, which made toast for four five or six days a week, lasted from when my earliest memories kick in to I don't even know when, upwards of twenty years.
That's my jeremiad. I just want to buy a goddamn toaster that can make two or three slices of toast four times a week safely and consistently for, let's say, eight to ten years.
posted by Frowner at 6:18 AM on April 7, 2023
I went through a period of having toasters die after brief use, but my toaster karma seems to have played out and a low-end Cuisinart has worked for years.
posted by theora55 at 6:52 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by theora55 at 6:52 AM on April 7, 2023
Even if you bought one, people's answers could help someone else. I hope yours works for you.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:08 AM on April 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:08 AM on April 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
This Japanese Balmuda toaster is intriguing. Somewhat pricey.
posted by bz at 10:30 PM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bz at 10:30 PM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
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