I usually buy Kenwood toasters, because my experience is that they work well enough for long enough to be worth the £20-30 they cost before they inevitably pack up. I think I've had four of them. The present one (roughly equivalent to this one in the current range tinyurl.com/33o83kl ) is now four years old and on its way out, so I'm wondering what to replace it with.
The obvious choice is another Kenwood - partly because I find the long-slot design works well and fits the space I have for it - but my eye is caught by flashier items like this Breville: tinyurl.com/326mfv3 , which looks solidly made, and has garnered some complimentary reviews from the kind of user who gives the matter some thought rather than awarding a full house of stars because he plugged it in and the light came on.
In hunting about for reviews, one such bears the byline Fenlander, and I wondered if that was our own chap. And if so, is he still pleased with the thing a few months on - and is it worth sixty quid more than another Kenwood? Other views welcome - I should add that we tend to toast almost as many bagels and doorsteps as we do slices from the bag, so we need some versatility in a toaster.
Much obliged,
WdB.
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I have the dual slot dualit. Had it for 4 years. Makes consistent toasted toast across all the slice, and the slots are usually wide and deep enough for most sliced bread.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 26 Jul 10 at 23:12
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I had a Dualit dual slot - it burnt out an element a few weeks ago, one sided toast (Left or Right Handed) now a speciality.
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This any use PU, seems you can buy new elements quite cheaply, unless the one sided speciality toast is addictive.
www.dualit.com/support
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Yeah i have a Dualit . I think they call it a combi. But like Pug one of my elements doesnt seem to work as well as the one at the other side. Ive had it years.
But did you know every Dualit is stamped by the person who made it and can be traced back, i also believe they are guarranteed for 5ooooo years. So Pug & me could ring Dualit up and get the element changed. but would mean sending the toaster. I reccomend the Dualit toaster.
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I've seen Duralit toasters that are donkeys years old still being used, the new ones i've seen for sale still appear the same so might be worth a look, usually found in the few remaining proper canteens.
When our 6 year old Russell Hobbs Chrome jobbie packs in we might try a Duralit, assuming they are still available, unless Miele or similar make them.
Edit, Duralit is as Z posts Dualit.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Mon 26 Jul 10 at 23:19
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Our two slot dualit is now seven years old. The timer was sticking for the last couple of years and WD40 cured it for a little while but it eventually gave up the ghost. A new genuine timer was about £20.
S/S finish always cleans up a treat. British made and easily serviceable I reckon they're worth the initial purchase price.
PU - Try ebay for parts but make sure they're genuine.
Last edited by: Marc on Mon 26 Jul 10 at 23:44
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Probably not worth lashing out. A Dualit one's a ton. A stainless steel "Delta" toaster from Aldi is about £20 and has a 3-year guarantee. There'll be one out in August/September, I should think.
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Well, there's a coincidence. As a current Kenwood owner and someone who has to replace toasters on a monotonously regular basis, I was about to ask the same question.
As a crumpet (or should I say pikelet?) lover, a feature whereby these can be more easily removed once toasted, would be useful.
Thanks, WDB.
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>> A stainless steel "Delta" toaster
>> from Aldi is about £20 and has a 3-year guarantee.
I bought one in the local Aldi a couple of years ago for £17. Since found the exact same unit for sale in a department store, badged as a DeLonghi (who apparently make all the Delta kit for Aldi), for £40.
Runs as a 2x2 slice, so you don't waste electricity if you're just toasting for one, with separate controls for each side. The timer is microprocessor controlled, so perfectly consistent, and it even has separate programs for bagels (along with a rack), and frozen bread.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 25 Aug 10 at 22:57
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>> (who apparently make all the Delta kit for Aldi), for £40.
Nah they dont. There is a buying company that buys the stuff in and gets it branded with the delta logo.
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>> Nah they dont. There is a buying company that buys the stuff in and gets
>> it branded with the delta logo.
OK, it was presumptuous to say all the Delta stuff is made by deLonghi, but in the case of this toaster, there was an identical model, with the deLonghi brand for sale elsewhere for more than twice the price. So this particular model is either made by deLonghi, or comes from the same third party manufacturer.
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Its likely to be a generic toaster made in Toaster province Hung Yang and badged with American or European type names. (Made up German names if you want to promote well made, or Italian names if you want to promote lifestyle)
Its a complete reversal of the dixons "badge them like japanese names" con of the past.
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A dualit combi is a good compromise. 2 toast slots and one wider slot with a removable cage that will also do toasties, or two crumpets at a time. Mine's 15 years old I think.
The £4.99 Tesco one in the caravan is OK but won't do doorsteps.
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I'm a Kenwood fan too,
I bought a cheapo stainless steel toaster from Tesco a year ago and chucked the quite old Kenwood in the garage,
Cheapo worked ok,
but there's more to toasting bread than that so I brought back the ole Kenwood and its still going strong.
There is no-way I'd fork out for a Dualit.
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When our 6 year old Russell Hobbs Chrome jobbie packs in
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>.I have one of these too
Ive had it at least 4 years and use it 6 mornings a week every week i am at home,its the best toaster ive ever owned as it does my toast exactly to the crispness without burning that i love
Im sure it would do pikelets just as efficiently but im not a fan of them
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And do all these toasters take Scottish "Plain" bread?
I find many toasters don't and need to buy a 4-slice toaster ie, 2 long slots if I want toasted plain bread!
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Thanks chaps, interesting answers so far. I'd consider a Dualit because I do appreciate that made-to-last quality they have. It would pair nicely with the Roberts R707 FM radio that provides my morning news.
It would have to be an Original or a Combi, though. Dualit, like Roberts, had put its name lately to some pretty ordinary products that look like trying to cash in on the halo effect of the handmade ones. I've used a Lite toaster in a holiday cottage and wasn't impressed - no better than a Kenwood for twice the price.
The Combi does look good. The same four slots as the regular toaster, but with sandwich cages for two of them - which I suppose I could buy separately if I wanted. I'm curious how the machine copes with wet stuff dripping from a vertical sandwich - does it just run straight through and collect somewhere away from the elements?
Bobby: do tell us more about plain bread. It's something I've never come across.
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>>Bobby: do tell us more about plain bread. It's something I've never come across.
uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090123074331AAPv4Vx
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_loaf
To prove my point :)
Lots of dough to be made in this industry :)
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>>I'm curious how the machine copes with wet stuff dripping from a vertical sandwich - does it just run straight through and collect somewhere away from the elements?
It falls onto a slide-out metal crumb tray.
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There are reviews of toasters?! Good grief. The careers master never told me about that (come to that, I don't recall being told about anything very much, but that's another subject). I've had to look and ours is a Tefal Avanti. It gets used 7 days / week, I have no idea how old it is other than "reasonably", it toasts well and it will be thrown in the bin and something new in stainless steel bought when it falters. Merciless we are in this house. The day I start to limp a bit...
JH
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I have a couple of cheapies - one in Ifithelps Towers and another in the office.
Neither toast the bread very evenly, so I tend to use the gas grill at home.
For the caravan, I paid about £40 for what I think is a Morphy Richards, which does a decent job.
My advice would be to avoid the real cheapies.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 09:12
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Which? best on test was the Krups Toast Expert FEM231 £40. Breville VTT182 did well at £24. Many other best buys were around the £100 mark - e.g. Magimix Le Toaster was good but £125.
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forgot to mention my toaster at work is two welding rods bent together that i hold in front of the brazier in winter
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...that i hold in front of the brazier in winter...
Toast done on the (rarely used) open fire at Ifithelps Towers is several streets ahead of anything I've ever had from a machine.
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>>forgot to mention my toaster at work is two welding rods bent together that i hold in front of the brazier in winter
I expect you park your Bentley discretely out of site...
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>>my toaster at work is two welding rods bent together ((that i hold in front of the brazier)) in winter<<
Your wife must be 'Hot Stuff' then.
:D
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...two welding rods bent together...
It took me a while to find a proper toasting fork.
There needs to be arrowheads on the end of the tines to prevent the bread falling off.
One of the best toasting forks I've ever seen had an adjustable length handle and was made from rod which was not unlike thicker gauge welding rod.
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>>One of the best toasting forks I've ever seen had an adjustable length handle...
>>
I have a fine example (that has the barbs on the fork ends) and has been in the family for many years.
I can recall, as a sprog, sitting in front of the kitchen range with the task of toasting a supply for all the family.
The problem I now have ... no range and no open fire so it hangs on the fire place in expectation of renewed life :-)
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I made a toasting fork out of some 6mm round bar with a teardrop handle bent into it, and some old motorbike valve springs, straightened and taper ground brazed on. It looks like Old Nick's! That or an antique...
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"Which? best on test was the Krups Toast Expert FEM231 £40. Breville VTT182 did well
at £24. Many other best buys were around the £100 mark - e.g. Magimix Le
Toaster was good but £125."
Don't the Koreans do a toaster as good as the German model but half the price and with a 7 year warranty?
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yup, its the kia bre'ad. All the pensioners swear by it, the toast is soft they can suck on it gently without having to put the dentures in.
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Does it have an extra wide slot for dog toasties? (With apologies to Dog with a capital "D")
JH
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>>Does it have an extra wide slot for dog toasties? (With apologies to Dog with a capital "D")<<
I get toastie enough, under my Fogarty duvet :)
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>>I get toastie enough, under my Fogarty duvet :)
Duvet in July, and you in Cornwall?
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>>Duvet in July, and you in Cornwall?<<
Yeah, but ... That's why we went for the Foggie as they're not like feather & down jobbies which we find too hot, anyway - I'm a fresh air merchant and have the window WIDE open @ nite.
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I have no idea what make our toaster is, a cheap two slot four slice job , it gets used every morning and we have had at least six years . when it dies it gets chucked and we go for another one.
I also have stashed away in a kitchen cupboard a Breville sandwich toaster - I just love a corned beef and onion toastie......
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But all that messy buttering of each side of bread and the time involved cleaning the Breville after use just isn't worth it in the end, despite the tasty results, I eventually decided.
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>> But all that messy buttering of each side of bread and the time involved cleaning
>> the Breville after use just isn't worth it
Well, don't do it! Just put your sandwich in and forget about buttering the outside - it's not necessary, and it's unhealthy. You then won't need to clean the thing often, either.
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>>..and it's unhealthy>>
I'm still here, aren't I?
But thought that buttering both sides was an essential element of the final taste?
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you forgot to fill the bread with hp baked beens before entry into the breville
mines in the shape of a cow by the way,a kind of modern take on the old orange designed ones that you always see on ever boot sale stall
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www.johnlewis.com/230907335/Product.aspx
Got to go, the the Bugatti needs polishing.
JH
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Buy cheap, buy twice (or more)..:-)
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>> Buy cheap, buy twice (or more)..:-)
>>
Buy expensive, buy at twice the price (or more).
Certainly Tesco-value type toasters don't toast evenly. Beyond that... at some point you're paying for the badge and nothing more.
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>>Certainly Tesco-value type toasters don't toast evenly.>>
Bought one for stand-in duty about five years from Tesco (stainless steel four slot) for £35.
Doesn't toast evenly, one interior bread raiser has gone kaput, but it's still going strong as don't make much toast.....
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Proof that Stuartli doesn't live on this planet. £35 is not a Tesco value toaster. £4.47 is.
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>>£35 is not a Tesco value toaster. £4.47 is.<<
or 4 slice for £6.96 ~ direct.tesco.com/q/R.206-7413.aspx
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>>>>£35 is not a Tesco value toaster. £4.47 is.<<
Tesco didn't charge those sort of prices five years ago to the best of my knowledge..:-)
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Well, my thinking is developing a little and here's how. I went to Currys at lunchtime - seldom a rewarding experience but they do sell toasters. My tentative conclusion from a survey of their stock is that cheap toasters (less than £35) are all much the same in terms of features and apparent quality. From there to about £100 are a variety of overstyled machines by the likes of Siemens, Breville and (especially) DeLonghi that appear to be no better engineered than the basic cheapies. The styling is a matter of taste but it's hard to see any of them lasting or performing well enough to justify the price.
And then there are the real Dualits, which are a class apart - at least apart from anything else you can get at Currys. For £195, so they should be, but I'm very tempted. It seems like the kind of machine that gives a little reward of satisfaction every time it's used. I may need to consult the Committee.
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...And then there are the real Dualits...
Dualits have a good name in the catering trade.
The main difference is they don't pop up, so the toast is kept warm after the element switches itself off.
Most of the hotels I've been in recently have had self-service toasters where the bread is taken under the element on a conveyor belt.
It drops out at the bottom nicely toasted on both sides, provided the person before you hasn't tinkered with the settings.
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provided the person before you hasn't tinkered with the settings.
>>>>>
>>>>>>>yes
why do they do that?
i put mine through twice if the first go isnt brown enough/much easier
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The halls of residence I went to many years ago had these. They sometimes went wrong, mangling up the bread, burning it to become charcoal and finally depositing the burnt lump of bread. When they worked they were fine but you often got your bread/toast stolen.
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I so hate that, when you've paid £17.50 for breakfast and you have to make your own toast ! I always take too much bacon as revenge.......
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Ere!!! I was telling the wife about beest buying a blimmin toaster for 200 sovs,
she said "shudduppayaface - you bought a pair of sunglasses for £200 15 years ago!
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200 sovs? - that's nothing in the world of high energy toasting
www.dailysquib.co.uk/?c=120&a=2219
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...I so hate that, when you've paid £17.50 for breakfast and you have to make your own toast...
Buffet breakfasts seem to be the way things are going, particularly among the big chains such as Ramada, and a 4-star place I stayed in Sheffield recently whose name escapes me.
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In hotel buffet breakfasts I always stand by the kitchen door with my plate.
"Is there anything you can do for you sir" is usually the repsonse
"Yes, you can take this plate and put two freshly fried eggs on it please"
I then top it up with the rest of the buffet. I wont eat fried eggs that are kept warm.
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At the last two buffet breakfasts I had there was a man behind the counter frying eggs 'live'.
Scrambled eggs kept warm can be OK.
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The official toaster at Harleyman Towers is a cheapo Morphy Richards two-slice job. Had it about five years, it works fine but the chrome on the outside's absolute rubbish and has rusted despite being kept in a relatively dry environment.
In other words, it fits in well with modern Harleys! >:(
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My cheapo enamel painted mild steel toaster is rusting.
Presumably, the heating of the moist bread produces condensation which doesn't have the time to fully evaporate before the toaster clicks itself off.
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Don't the makers galvanise toasters these days? Shoddy Chinese tat.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 27 Jul 10 at 19:41
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Up until a few weeks back we had one of these
tinyurl.com/2uml3hj shortened link to www.tefal.co.uk
It was around 10 years old as I bought it before me and the Mrs lived together, so given it was under 20 quid I think it has given good service.
I replaced it with a cheap Asda 4 slice stainless steel, but its not as good. The slots are smaller so the edge of the bread is often left un-toasted, and its not very even. Hope it packs up soon so I can justify replacing it
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 00:36
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>> Hope it packs up soon so I can justify replacing it.>>
>>
You could always "encourage" it to fail. ;-)
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yeah, I have sometimes given items a "helping hand"
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How is the Lancer faring by the way ?
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Lancer is doing well, still throwing out fine toast
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What a crazy world - to have soooo many frigging toasters :D
Oh, and SWMBO wants to know if the £200 jobbies emboss ya holy ghost with your coat of arms!
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Ours is a Tefal Avanti Hi-speed, which has the considerable advantage of making toast quite a lot faster, and just as evenly, as any other toaster we've had. We've had it for ages but I don't think it was very expensive.
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"Tefal Avanti Hi-speed, which has the considerable advantage of making toast quite a lot faster."
Speed is OK but what's it like off-road?
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Ere!!! I just bought this from my favourite shoppe ~ tinyurl.com/399uha4
I had no intention of buying a new toastie, Beest led me into it.
£53 @ Amazon :)
Last edited by: Dog on Wed 28 Jul 10 at 11:43
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>> Ere!!! I just bought this from my favourite shoppe
Good buy that Mutley me old canine fruit, if they were white i might be tempted meself.
Off topic for only a second how are those DeWalt bovver boots doing.
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>>Good buy that Mutley me old canine fruit<<
We gofer cream gordon cos we've got a 'country kitchen' with cream bread bin & kettle, innit,
Re: the boots, I've been in sandles since the sun came out, great boots though, far better than the old Catterpillar's I had before, I'll be glad to get the ole sandles orf really cos they make my feet stink for some reason (not leather) if I wash my feet in the morning (a very, very rare occurrence) and clean the sandes with some bio-illogical wipe thingies, they stink by evening!
I thought y'all would wanna know that :-D
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A "semi-professional toaster"?
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Tee hee - sorry, Dog, didn't mean to cause trouble.
Yes, FT - if you haven't noticed them before you'll now be seeing all those toasters moonlighting as postmen and hairdressers during the day when their owners are out at work.
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Surely that's "part time" rather than "semi pro"? Maybe a semi pro toaster sometimes does it just for the sheer fun of it, whereas the rest of the time it does it 'cos that's what it's paid to do? You can tell the former occasions - it burns the toast.
JH
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>>A "semi-professional toaster"?<<
Makes semi-professional toast, for less bread.
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I bought a new toaster yesterday from Asda. It's four slice model with variable openings and looks similar to the Breville job. It cost £12.00 and works fine. Whether it will last as long as my old toaster remains to be seen.
Strangely, this model doesn't appear on the Asda site.
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Keep the receipt. I bought a pair of dirt cheap walkie talkies from Asda and found out within 2 weeks why they were so cheap. Unfortunately I'd chucked the receipt as it was just a grocery receipt as far as I was concerned.
JH
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Well if you will jam that much bread in...
JH
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All toasters suffer from the basic false premise that degree of brownness equates to time elapsed. So moist bread or buns nead a longer toasting time than dry bread. Also the setting for brown and white bread is different. Dense wholemeal bread takes longer than white polystyrene.
The obvious answer is that toasting should be controlled by a light sensor measuring the actual degree of reflected brownness. When you pop the bread in it would measure the initial brownness, then it would toast for as long as neccessary give X degrees of added brownness, preset adjusted to suit your preference.
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I make my own 100% whole wheat bread with added Spelt + 4 tbsp of wheatgerm,
I have to cremate it rather than toast it so I put the toaster on full + defrost!
I reckon I could build an owse with my bread,
I used to know an old lady who lived in a shoe so I could probably do similar,
if I use my loaf.
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All "mainstream" toasters seem to be made in China and are much of a muchness, I think. A common fault seems to be that the elements are often fitted too tightly to the insulating panels, which inhibits their glowing red.
We currently have a Bosch toaster which despite the price reflecting the brand name is, frankly, carp.
Our next one will, budget willing, be a Dualit - made in the UK, I think, and with replaceable elements.
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Thanks for the Dualitt info on this thread. I thought the toaster was er...toast - having checked their website I find that the element can be replaced for a very reasonable 8 quid or less - Phoning them on Monday with a view to making sure. My toaster is a 4NG2GB model - which proudly boasts being made in England on its base !
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...which proudly boasts being made in England on its base...
I'm sure they were in Peckham, south east London, but I see the website says Crawley, near Gatwick.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Sat 31 Jul 10 at 10:54
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>>My toaster is a 4NG2GB model
>>
Thats a lot of RAM in a toaster.
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Rather to my surprise I seem to be drifting down the Dualit route here. The one thing that might stop me is one of these:
www.ogormans.co.uk/rowlett2.htm
Rowlett Rutland seems to be a brand with similar pedigree in the catering trade but less penetration of the domestic market. These models, though, are designed for the home and appeal to me partly because they're not the Dualits that everyone else has. But while user experiences with Dualits - generally positive - are all over the Web, hardly anyone seems to have one of these, and that may eventually mean that parts are harder to find than Dualit ones will be.
Oh, and I had a look at the current equivalent to my Kenwood in a shop the other day. Didn't like it at all. What a sad case I'm turning into.
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>>www.dualit.com/products/2-slice-newgen
I might have a look at the Dualit two slice NewGen when the current Kenwood packs up. I like the extra wide slots for the wife's home made bread, and the high-lift mechanism for the weekend crumpets.
Sad. Yes, indeed!
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I'm surprised you need a lift for weekend crumpets!
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I knew I should have referred to them as Pikelets!
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Well, I went and bought a Dualit. Reasoning roughly as follows:
1. As noted above, all basic toasters seem much the same in terms of construction and durability.
2. I looked at both Kenwood's basic four-slice offerings and neither seems as good as the one I'm retiring.
3. Higher-priced toasters from Delonghi, Breville et al seem to major on design over function and don't seem worth the extra.
4. That leaves Dualit and Rowlett. Rowlett is a bit different but an unknown quantity in terms of long-term parts availability.
5. I found a Dualit in an end-of-line colour that I liked (a nice metallic blue that goes well in our mainly cream kitchen) for significantly less than the £195 list price of the polished steel model.
It's not been with us long but I'm impressed so far. It fits the space, has slots deep enough even for home-made bread, and toasts evenly and consistently from batch to batch. It even has a PU setting that lights up only element 2 (of 5) for toast or buns done on one side only. A split bagel done this way comes out very nicely.
This for the price of about four of the Kenwoods I was considering. An indulgence, perhaps, but the family like it too and it's a small price for something so satisfyingly over-engineered.
Thanks to all for input. Teacake, anyone?
}:---)
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Well done WDB. Hope you will be very happy together for many years to come !
I know what you mean about the over-engineered thing. It's a bit like treating yourself to a petrol powered garden implement when an electric one would do. More or less unjustifiable but deeply satisfying.
I prefer crumpet myself if that's OK ?
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"It even has a PU setting."
Probably safer than a smokie setting - you'd need a Vx fan to cool things down.
Best set it to moderate.
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Welcome to the Dualit club, lets hope you dont get flamed or browned off.
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I was in a shop in Cockermouth, Cumbria, a couple of days ago which sells good quality kitchen and giftware.
They had a basic two-slot Dualit for £65 - I thought they were usually a bit dearer than that.
Many of the shops in the town are still closed in the aftermath of the floods last November - you can still see dehumidifiers whirring away.
Staff in the shop I was in told me the 'water' was roughly shoulder height throughout the premises - hard to imagine the mess that would have caused.
It is a privately owned business and they got really stuck into cleaning up, but were still shut for six months.
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iffy did the toy museum survive?
next to the brewery
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you have your priorities the wrong way around.
JH
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i drank the beer
so prefer the museum ;-)
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That bad eh? As my dad used to say "I was glad when I'd had enough".
JH
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...iffy did the toy museum survive...
This rather forlorn web page suggests it shut several years ago:
www.toymuseum.co.uk/
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thanks for the update
quite sad to see it shut as it was a great place full of childhood toys one forgets about, being able to say, "i had one of theM" ,kinda thing
hope he finds a home for them all eventually and typical of the lotteries funding not being able to help a good cause :-(
Last edited by: Bellboy on Sun 8 Aug 10 at 18:00
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> close down due to increasing costs and reduced visitor numbers
clearly few will miss it.
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Things have improved
gallery.nen.gov.uk/image652857-.html
or a newer one
gallery.nen.gov.uk/image652855-.html
Last edited by: henry k on Wed 25 Aug 10 at 22:06
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Great site!
Not sure things have improved - this one put stars on your toast!
gallery.nen.gov.uk/image652853-.html
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My parents had one like that !
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Spend £4 on an Asda one;if it packs up within a year,you are given another one.
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Toaster - worth buying an expensive one? - Zero
