Dualit 3-Slot Toaster 30084 - Stainless Steel

Product Information

If you choose a toaster with four slots, then a separate timer for each pair is useful if you and your family members have different browning preferences or like different bread types. The elements that are fitted inside a toasting slot is what heats and browns the bread. The element is wrapped with wire and this is the part that heats up. Although you can't test a toaster before buying, you can probably look inside the slots and see the elements - the more spaced out and less wire there is, the greater risk of uneven browning and hotspots. Fewer gaps between the wire will produce more even toasting.

If there’s just one or two of you and you’re not a fan of fancy loaves then we’d say a simple two-slot model with just a couple of functions will probably suffice. Two slot models are also better if you’re a bit tight on space as it’s a product that usually has a permanent, easy-to-access home on your worktop. For couples and families, a four-slot or four-slice model is a better option – ensuring preparing toast for your brood at breakfast-time or simply serving up eggs on toast for two is an altogether speedier affair. If you’re fixated on a particular look, don’t despair, many brands produce two- and four-slot toaster models that look the same. Why do I need a toaster?Before buying a toaster, consider the type of items you usually toast, how many people use the toaster and how much space you have in your kitchen. The two wide toasting slots were more than big enough to cope with doorstop slices carved from a whole farmhouse loaf, as well as standard supermarket medium pre-cut bread. For a gorgeous-looking toaster if your budget is a bit bigger, look no further. It browned faster and more evenly than most other models on test, producing perfectly browned bread in a little over a minute and a half. Most others took more than two minutes and while 30 seconds might not seem much, if you’re rushing to get the kids to school, that could make all the difference. Crumb trays should be easy to remove and clean to stop the build-up of bread crumbs, which can be a safety hazard.

While a new toaster isn't the most costly appliance you need to invest in for your home, the best on the market aren't exactly cheap. That's why we've put all of the toasters in this guide to the test - so that you know whether they are worth your cash before you part with it.The mode selection knob cleverly lets you choose how many of the 2 or 4 slots to use at any given time. This saves on electricity costs and is particularly handy on the larger model. An option to choose how many slots heat-up will help to save energy when only toasting one slice. It will also make toasting a lot more even; if there are two slots heating but only one slice of bread toasting then one side will always brown faster. This will be influenced by the quality of the elements, the build quality and material. These factors will in turn affect the price. Take a look at the fittings, switches, dials etc. Does the manufacturer operate a repairs service? Are replacement parts available? There are things you can do to help maximise the life of your toaster; clean the slots regularly with a soft brush to remove bread particles and any oils from the bread, empty the crumb tray regularly and keep the toaster in a dry place where heat and condensation cannot cause damage. The Newgen was created for commercial use and as such, every element of it, including the actual elements, can be replaced or repaired. Every toaster comes with a one-year warranty and two years on the heating elements. After that, should any part wear out, Dualit will fix it, for a cost. If you look online, you'll find practically all the parts available – most of them are quite cheap – as well as tutorials on how to fit them yourself. It also has a defrost button so there aren’t any ‘Oh no, I forgot to take the bread out of the freezer’ moments, while the one side toasting function is good for bagels and the reheat perfect for those of us that sometimes get distracted and leave the toast to cool.

The Cuisinart Style Collection 4 Slot Toaster is the perfect choice for bagel lovers. It's a more common feature in American toasters to have a bagel setting, which will toast the inside of the bagel while leaving the outside nice and chewy, but because Cuisinart is an American classic brand, we got to experience the joys of a bagel setting for ourselves. One thing to note is that you should place the bagel with the outside facing in if you want the inside to be toasted on the bagel setting. If you need a toaster for commercial use, such as in a hotel, B&B, café or canteen, then your considerations will more likely differ slightly. The toaster's output, for example, could be the deciding factor. However, if you are still experiencing uneven toasting, you may wish to return the toaster to Dualit for inspection. If under warranty, the toaster should be returned to us via the retailer. Although it’s not huge, it does everything you need it to, and it does it all well. There are six browning functions; we opted for mid-way but noticed that once the toaster was warmed up, we could dial it down a bit. A stainless steel cleaner can be used on the central cover only. It should not be used on the ends as this would cause discolouration. Instead we recommend that you clean the end castings with a damp cloth and then use a soft dry cloth to polish them afterwards.Of course, none of the above would mean much if the Newgen didn't create impeccable toast. Given that a toaster costing perhaps as little as one tenth the price of the 4-slice model can happily produce perfectly adequate toast, the Newgen really needs to deliver on this score. Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years.

Because the Newgen toasts very consistently, and you can pop the bread up at any point to see just how it's doing, it's also hard – though admittedly not impossible –to ruin your toast. The genius of the toasting lever does not end there. If you want to keep your toast warm, you can have the elements off, but the lever down. This means that the residual heat from the toasting is used to keep your toast toasty. Or, at least, above room temperature. As well as a decent variable control to give you your chosen perfect shade of brown, you should also look for defrost and keep warm functions. Hand-built in the UK since 1945, this is the toaster to buy if you don't want to fork out for another one for many years to come. It's a steep investment, yes, but the price reflects the fact that its makers believe it’s a toaster that will last a lifetime.One or more of the elements may need replacing, call the helpline or visit www.dualit.com for replacements The Newgen also offers the option of toasting bagels on one side only, if that is your preference. I have no idea why you would want to do that but if you do, the option is there. The rotary timer also includes an option for defrosting frozen bread before toasting. Really, this is just 'toasting' the bread for a short period of time, to defrost it, after which you toast it again to actually toast it.