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Toaster beta (Read 14913 times)

lagerstarfish

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Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 09:20:26 am
Anyone got any good reccommendations for 4 slice toasters?

Reading reviews and chatting to work folk has led me to think that there is no such thing as a great toaster and you might as well go cheap - seems odd?

it will be used for 4 to 8 slices toast 5 times a week, also crumpets, tea cakes (split), hot cross buns (split)

no need for warming racks, sandwich cages or other gadgetry

Mrs Starfish wants it to look "nice" = not industrial looking, doesn't look dirty with fingerprints etc, preferably retro, good if it matches the cream weighing scales. All negotiable

She also hates our kettle, so a matching set would be ideal

price? fook knows

any good experiences folks?

fried

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#1 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 09:26:55 am
Shouldn't you be doing something creative like making a video.

Put the toast under the grill. Throwaway the kettle.

Toasters are wack.

robertostallioni

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#2 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 09:30:46 am
Anyone got any good reccommendations for 4 slice toasters?

Try bread, its great in toasters. I use it every day. highly recommended in both 2 and 4 slicers.

SA Chris

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#3 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 09:43:01 am
We've got one of these;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-Metropolis-CTM4023-4-Slice-Toaster/dp/B0000TEV8S

had it 7 years now in continuous use and still going strong. Definitely retro, but possibly a bit industrial looking (what appealed to me).

We've also got the matching kettle.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000C7AXD/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0000TEV8S&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1TYFCRFNK9YN5M9DH2Z2

but after 7 years the plastic loop which is used to lift the lid off has broken off about 2 months ago (possibly I wasn't careful enough with it). It could be fixed, but I've not got round to it. Still usable just can't fill it when it's still hot.

moose

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#4 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 10:07:18 am
I'd go for a 4 slice toaster with two long slots, rather than 4 small slots.  That way you can always fully accommodate any sliced bread you buy, and also toast things like pitta breads. 

I find it very irritating when I encounter very expensive, "designer" toasters that cannot accommodate common brands of sliced bread without having to cut the ends off.  Such a fundamental fuck-up.  It's as though toaster designers spend all their time looking through art-deco books for inspiration but never get around to, maybe, going to a supermarket and measuring up a few loaves of bread.

 How bloody hard can it be to make a toaster that is fit for purpose? Go to Tesco, buy some Hovis, measure the slices, then set the slot size bigger than the slices.  Once that is done, then, by all means, feel free to mess about deciding upon cosmetic fripperies like retro knobs and brushed chrome.  But the primary design brief should be to make a toaster that actually accommodates entire slices of bread without having to cut bits off or having to rotate it half-way through toasting....... I will never get those minutes of my life back!!!!!!

lagerstarfish

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#5 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 10:44:02 am
Shouldn't you be doing something creative like making a video.

Put the toast under the grill. Throwaway the kettle.

Toasters are wack.

Wife and kids are hogging time on HAL9000 and my motivation is low, so no video editing happening.

using the grill is problematic - it is in our under-counter oven and so is easily accessable to small children

Nibile

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#6 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 10:55:10 am
I highly recommend this

Not because it can fit all the different brands of sliced bread, but because it prints Mickey Mouse on the side, and because when the timer ends, it plays the Mickey Mouse theme.
Moreover, I recommend this because I used to have it, and it was my ex-girlfriend's toaster, and now she has it in her new house, and you could appreciate the love that comes with it in the package.
I'm dead serious.

tomtom

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#7 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 11:57:42 am
Just dont eat toast. Its cheaper.

(£239.50 for that gem of info please Lagers)

Obi-Wan is lost...

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#8 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 01:31:01 pm
I was about to recommend my Tefal Avanti, which despite being named after a condom, has been amazing for over a decade. However it sounds like they have massively reduced the build quality for the current version. Hate it when they do that.

Meanwhile saw this deal on Argos...

This Phillips toaster is half price
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4234030.htm
when you buy this kettle
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4228792.htm
on this deal
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4228792.htm#pdpPromotions

Most Phillips stuff is well put together. Good reviews.

underground

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#9 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 01:53:19 pm
I've had some proper garbage toasters and got fed up of supposedly decent brands busting after no time.
I thought about Dualit but tbh I don't think enough of toast to drop £150 on it.

In the end I bought a silver 'cookworks' one from Argos (the one that's £17.99 on their site) and its been mega, as far as toasters go. It came with a free kettle too but I'm saving that.

SamT

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#10 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 02:36:06 pm

Soz - we've just got a cheapo ... but this books worth a read...

Toast - Homage to a Superfood by Nick Parker

available from all good online retailers.

SA Chris

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#11 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 02:41:28 pm
He's a climber - used to be on UKC regularly as Nikkus or something.

Obi-Wan is lost...

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#12 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 03:43:28 pm
The worst toaster I every had the misfortune to use was an original Dualit. As a student, Mrs Obi found one in a skip and replaced all the elements. However...
-The slots are far too small for anything but cheap white sliced, so everything else got stuck
-The timer was an estimate at best, turned off the grill but didn't pop up the toast.
- Every time you set the timer it was different.
- Yes you could replace the elements when they frequently blow...but each costs more than a cheap toaster.

I'm sure modern ones have much improved but it put me off for life.


tomtom

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#13 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 06:18:54 pm
I've two toasters Lagers, and I don't use either.
You can have one if you like? (put em next to each other.. you can have races then) Even a choice of black or white (at the ends - chrome on top and sides)
 
Sadly I have to keep one in the cupboard for when MrsTT stays the night... Messy useless things ;)

Jim

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#14 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 06:25:04 pm
we have a kenwood one, the best thing about it is the peek-view (ie you can lift the toast up part way through to check it without stopping it)
pretty basic: timer, reheat, top, defrost and this peek-veiw thing.
When we were looking for a toaster, none of them had slots that were wide enough or tall enough for a premium sized sliced loaf

Fultonius

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#15 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 06:54:10 pm
Do you reckon they think anyone who buys premium sliced bread just expects Geoffrey the butler to hand toast it under the range cooker in the West annex?



I fucking hate products that have been re-designed by ergonomically ignorant product designers.  Like has been said:

Design Brief


Item # 1 - IT MUST FUCKING WORK.

fatkid2000

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#16 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 07:00:00 pm
Dualit is interesting. I went to uni with a chap who's family own the company.

When they first entered the domestic market - they priced themselves around the upper end of the market. Result - shit sales. So they doubled the price & disco sold like hot cakes.

I've got a dualit as he gave it to me. I'd never buy one - does good toast though.

tomtom

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#17 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 07:21:46 pm
I'm sure breakfast time at Chez Lagers could be transformed into mega-funtime with toast prepared by a few of these:


moose

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#18 Re: Toaster beta
October 18, 2012, 07:45:20 pm
When we were looking for a toaster, none of them had slots that were wide enough or tall enough for a premium sized sliced loaf

That's why 4 slice toasters with 2 long slots are the truth and the way. No need for slice truncation or rotation. The only sane option, at least until manufacturers realise that, just maybe, measuring commonly available sliced bread might be a sensible bit of the design process.  That said, even with toasters that accommodate my bread, I have never had one that browned the bread evenly on both sides.

lagerstarfish

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#19 Re: Toaster beta
October 19, 2012, 06:23:52 am
I've two toasters Lagers, and I don't use either.
You can have one if you like?

cheers Tom

are they 4 slicers?

we have a functioning* 2 slicer already and I won't be allowed to display two 2 slicers gaffer taped together

*variable time, uneven browning - the usual

tomtom

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#20 Toaster beta
October 19, 2012, 08:42:13 am
Only normal two slotters Lagers :(

Though think of the fun.. You can have experiments (races) comparing the two toasters..!

SA Chris

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#21 Re: Toaster beta
October 19, 2012, 08:48:16 am
Those long winter's evenings must just flit by.

tomtom

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#22 Toaster beta
October 19, 2012, 08:50:39 am
Just wait til I get three!

underground

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#23 Re: Toaster beta
October 19, 2012, 09:49:54 am
Surely there's a heat issue with a 4-hitter? Slices 1&2 warm, 3&4 cold?

lagerstarfish

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#24 Re: Toaster beta
October 19, 2012, 11:15:13 am
there's an issue with a 2 slicer - slices 3,4,5,6,7,8 take too long to get to the table when everyone wants toast.

 

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