Talk:Terrible Toaster Testing/@comment-4074242-20150420165504

Firstly Dualit do have a Best Buy toaster.

I have not carried out tests other than numerous ones pre-Dualit and when I go to friends and family. So I cannot claim absolute knowledge but what research I have done makes me very happy with my choice. If I recall it is the toaster most owners would recommend according to Which?. And I do believe they have them in the canteen at 2 Marylebone Rd. though perhaps that should be checked.

I think there is a fundamental problem in that the Which? test does not accomodate how toasters with the manual raising mechanism are used. They also do not carry out a tasting session and I can tell you that overall browning leads to a very dry toast which many people do not desire.

Toasters come with one of two basic mechanisms. The simplest method is that when you want to see how your toast is doing you raise it up and have a look at the slices and decide whether you need to take out one or all, or if you are going to flip a slice that is a little tall for the slot to even the browning. This is how it is described by for the Breville by a Which? contracted tester:

" Impatient toasters will appreciate the 'Lift & Look' feature on the Breville Aurora VTT475 four-slice toaster as it means you can keep an eye on the bread browning without interrupting the toasting cycle. Perfect if you're picky about evenly toasted bread."

But as I said originally this feature with the Dualit is ignored - very strange.

You wil note several things here. If I were using homogenous thick sliced supermarket whits as Which? does this would be trivial or unnecessary. However with a four slice toaster and the possibility of brown and white bread being loaded and all hand-sliced so of varying thickness and the possibility of air pockets it is not a homogenous piece of cooking. It is rather like having four rashers of bacon under a grill which, if you are a good cook you would keep an eye on to take of the rashers as you deemed them ready.

The second type of toaster has a mechanism that precludes looking at how well the toast is doing as to raise the toast to look means you stop the toasting. May be adequate for thick sliced supermarket white but not very useful for more varied types of bread.

I have changed my Dualit toaster timer once, about three years ago,  and my elements twice in 20 years and on average we use it 500 times a year or more. It is not a 5 minute job but then I do take the opportunity of giving a thorough clean and shine whilst it is dismantled. I suspect 15-20 minutes is about right if you know what you are doing.

In my youth it meant we were buying toasters every two or three years. I value my time and trotting around the shops finding new toasters is not high on my list of useful pursuits.

I have a video of my son's cheap toaster and quite amusing it was too to notice that the browning dial apparently had no effect on the length of time so all slices were the same anemic white. moving it from 2 to 7 on a scale of 10 you might think would do something.

P.S. Regarding sticking timer and thermal cut-outs. Eye-level grills have neither and anyone in a kitchen should be paying attention during the three minutes of cooking. Of course if it ever broke!!! I could look at Magimix or the Rowlett for the other brands with replaceable parts.