What’s The Best Toaster? Top 18 Revealed


best toaster in the market

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Meta: Looking for the best toaster? Check out our top 18 picks and buyers guide to know what to look for to help you on your appliance hunt!

Toasters at the core may be a relatively simple appliance, but they can do plenty to enhance our experiences with food. From bagels to pastries to just plain old bread, toasters can help prepare numerous items within the span of a few short minutes, making them an indispensable appliance—especially for breakfast. When toaster ovens come into the picture, the options only increase.

For such a simple appliance, though, which toaster you end up selecting can make a world of difference. Some have extra bells and whistles to increase their number of uses in the kitchen, while others only provide the basic settings. Since you’ll want a toaster that can always get the job done, no matter what that job may be, you’ll need to put some thought into your decision.

Instead of researching individual toasters on your own and getting lost in the process, we’ve compiled the complete guide to the best toaster options on the market. No matter your kitchen needs, you’ll find the right choice waiting for you. Let’s get started!

How We Choose Our Top Picks

When it comes to our best of reviews, we know that you want a convenient, fast, and accurate way to determine which product is right for you. To meet all those requirements, we do our research to ensure that we study each toaster thoroughly, between product specs, customer feedback, and professional reviews. It’s our goal to ensure that you have honest and easily accessible information at your disposal.

As we looked over our top toaster picks, we made sure to keep in mind:

    • Durability. No one wants to buy an appliance only to need to replace it within a few years. As a poor performing toaster can quickly become an inconvenience, we make sure that you know exactly how long our listed appliances will last.
  • Ease of Use. Most toasters are pretty simple things to work with, but there’s always that one model out there that’s more trouble than it’s worth. All our top toasters are simple to use and ready to enter your home.

Top 18 Best Toasters

Aside from ensuring all our chosen products meet quality standards, we’ve decided to focus on traditional pop-up toasters for this list—so you may only want to browse our buying guide at the end if you’re in the market for a countertop toaster oven.

With that said, whether you’re looking for a two-slice model or a four-slice one, we have plenty of choices across a variety of features, price ranges, and styles ready for you to look over. No matter what you’re looking for, we’ve strived to include as many choices as possible to ensure that you can find the best option for your needs.

Now, without any further ado, here’s our guide to the top contenders on the market for the best toaster!

Breville Die-Cast Two-Slice Smart Toaster

Even with a name like “smart toaster,” this model doesn’t do anything as wild as connecting with your phone or have a touch screen on it—not that it doesn’t have some impressive specs on it. This toaster’s housing is sold metal, not only making it look great but also making it withstand any accidental bumps. You can set the cooking level through the LED-light control slider, making it easy to see.

Instead of having a lever to push down, you can start up this toaster with a push of a button. The bread lowers inside and out in an almost impressive display. The “lift and look” button makes it simple to check on your toast, and you can even hit the “a bit more” button if you want some extra cooking to make it just perfect. This toaster will also beep when your toast is ready, though you can mute it.

While Breville has made an impressive toaster, it is on the pricier side of things, especially for a pop-up model. It’s worth the cost, but only if you want the bells and whistles.

Pros:

    • Die-cast metal housing
    • LED-lit control slider
    • “Lift and lock” and “a bit more” buttons
  • Can sound an alert when the toast is ready

Cons:

  • Pricey for a pop-up toaster

Cuisinart CPT-122 Two-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster

Cuisinart’s CPT-122 toaster falls into an excellent combination of being an inexpensive purchase that also cooks bread evenly every time. The toaster casing also doesn’t heat up, even when using it multiple times in a row. For those who like the sound of that but need a bit more cooking power at once, there is also the CPT-142, which can handle four slices of bread at a time.

With these toasters, you have plenty of control settings and easily accessible buttons to use. On the four-slice model, you can control each half of the toaster separately—perfect for homes where people have different ideas of how the best slice of toast should be. Cuisinart also offers a three-year warranty, which is much higher than the average for toasters.

Some customers have had issues with performance on this toaster, but most seem satisfied with their purchase.

Pros:

    • Handles cooking multiple pieces of toast well
    • Two-slice and four-slice models available
    • Easy-to-use control settings
  • Three-year warranty

Cons:

  • Some mixed customer performance reports indicate some issues

Bella Pro Series 90062 Toaster

Bella’s Pro Series 90062 toaster has another combination of good looks and excellent toasting performance. It’s also very fast, taking less cook time to get toast ready than many other two-slice models. If you need to make a lot of toast but don’t have the counter space for a four-slice model, this unit is a great alternative.

This toaster is also the pick to look for if you eat gluten-free bread. Because it’s denser, making gluten-free toast can be tricky to get just right. Bella’s Pro Series 90062 has a setting, just for gluten-free bread, putting less guesswork into your toasting and more simplicity. It falls into the mid-range of pricing for toasters.

Some customers have had issues with the toast entirely popping up when its done, especially on thick slices or bulky items like bagels.

Pros:

    • Has a gluten-free and bagel settings
    • Cooks quickly
  • Looks stylish

Cons:

  • Toast does not always pop up fully when done

Black and Decker Two-Slice Toaster

For those looking for a more budget-oriented toaster but want something a bit more sturdy than what Cuisinart has to offer, Black and Decker has a brushed stainless steel design that looks great. It doesn’t have anything complicated in its settings, but it can handle objects thicker than standard bread like homemade options and bagels with ease.

Aside from the cooking adjustment, there are also defrost and cancel buttons right on the side if you need them. This toaster is also on the smaller side, which helps anyone who doesn’t have a lot of space to spare for an appliance. Though its low-priced, Black and Decker’s offering still performs excellently and has a pull-out crumb tray for easy cleaning.

The top of this toaster gets hot quickly, which can make it difficult to retrieve your bread or pastry. The instructions also don’t mention the thin protective tape around the edges of the slots, which can melt upon first use.

Pros:

    • Brushed stainless steel design
    • Fits thicker and longer slices of bread
    • Defrost and cancel buttons
    • Pull-out crumb tray
  • Takes up very little countertop space

Cons:

    • The top can become very hot
  • Protective tape on the toaster is not in the instructions and can melt if not removed

Oster Jelly Bean Two-Slice Toaster

Oster’s Jelly Bean toaster comes with a small, almost cute design—and there are even a variety of colors like red, gray, and purple to fit into any kitchen. Though it’s small, this toaster is still powerful, and it even has numerous features on its side, like multiple browning settings, cancel, bagel, defrost, and even warming functions, just as you’d find on larger models.

The Jelly Bean works to warm toast evenly by the auto-adjusting bread guides. The Toast Logic technology also helps with that, by adjusting toasting time based on voltage input and toaster temperature. The removable crumb tray is also easy to clean, and the small size also helps with storage. This toaster comes with a one-year warranty.

While this toaster’s two-foot cord can help you use the appliance in a variety of spaces, there is no easy way to store it if you don’t need that much length. The slots, while broad, are also not very deep.

Pros:

    • Comes in a variety of colors
    • Small size
    • Multiple functions
    • Toast Logic tech and auto-adjusting bread guides help toast evenly
    • Removable crumb tray
  • One-year warranty

Cons:

    • No easy way to wrap or store the long cord
  • Slots not very deep

Smeg Two-Slice Toaster

With a bright cherry red design and a chrome toasting lever, Smeg’s toaster is easily one of the most stylish options around. Besides looking attractive, it’s also simple to use, with a control knob that even makes a satisfying click as it spins. If you like the aesthetic but not the color, Smeg has plenty of others available, such as pink, turquoise, and classic black and silver, to name a few.

On top of all that, this toaster cooks consistently across all settings. You may need to adjust a bit to get the perfect toasting, as the toaster does run somewhat hot, but bagels, waffles, and bread alike come out great. The slots are big enough to fit even taller slices, and you have a slide-out crumb tray for easy cleaning.

Though all this is fantastic, there’s no doubt that Smeg’s offering comes at a high price for a two-slice toaster, but it is worth it for the performance and design.

Pros:

    • Aesthetic design in a variety of colors
    • Intuitive to use
    • Cooks consistently
    • Taller slots suitable for large slices
  • Crumb tray

Cons:

    • Can run a bit hot
  • Very pricey for a two-slice toaster

KRUPS Four-Slot Toaster

Homes with a need for cooking plenty of toast at once rejoice—KRPUS has a four-slot toaster with all the options you need. Each half of the toaster has its settings for quick adjustments, and the multiple toasting levels and additional options work great for getting that perfect piece of toast ready for everyone, whenever you need it. Brushed stainless steel adds to the aesthetic.

The additional buttons include defrosting, bagel mode, and even reheating toast without needing to cook it again. If you want to cancel, it just takes the press of a button. If you like English muffins or other shorter pastries, the high-lift lever makes it simple to pull them out without needing to risk burning your fingers in the process. The LED lights allow you to see when cooking is in progress at a glance.

Some customers have had issues with getting evenly toasted bread and bagels, but a majority of users feel satisfied with their experience.

Pros:

    • Four slots with adjustable settings on each half
    • Brushed stainless steel design
    • Additional modes, including reheat and defrost
  • High-lift lever

Cons:

  • Some reports of non-even cooking from customer reviews

KitchenAid Proline Toaster

KitchenAid is a well-known name in kitchen appliances, and their proline toaster is just a testament to what this brand can accomplish. Built in KitchenAid’s distinctive style, this model looks beautiful on a countertop—and the level of technology included means that you have a bit more than the seven included toasting settings at your disposal.

This toaster can sense when you place bread inside and will self-center and automatically lower it for cooking. When done, it brings the toast back up, with a Keep Warm function to look out for you for up to three minutes if you happen to forget to snag your toast once it’s ready. This toaster can handle everything from bagels to frozen items, and whatever else in between that you may want.

Having an appliance with this many features on our hands can be a great boon in the kitchen, but it comes at a high price, making it the most expensive pop-up toaster on our list.

Pros:

    • Comes in multiple colors
    • Seven toasting settings
    • Automatically lowers and raises the toast
    • Keep warm function
  • Can handle a variety of bread and pastries

Cons:

  • Most expensive pop-up toaster in our top picks

Hamilton Beach 22790 Two-Slice Toaster

Hamilton Beach tends to produce appliances that are affordable and reliable, and their two-slice toaster has an excellent value to it. This model works to toast your food evenly, plus the bagel setting helps handle pastries that are on the thicker side. It can also cook frozen foods incredibly well, giving you a perfect toast at a reasonable price.

Even with these results, the toaster itself doesn’t take up much counter space at all. Also, the lever allows you to lift your foods high enough to grab hold of it quickly—not stressful struggles required. All the buttons you need to adjust the settings are easy to read and see when you have them turned on.

If you like thicker slices of bread, you may want to be careful, as this toaster’s slots are on the smaller side. It also retains heat from successive toasting sessions, so you’ll want to adjust the cook settings if you don’t want burnt bread.

Pros:

    • Affordably priced
    • Evenly toasts even thicker pastries and frozen foods
    • Takes up minimal counter space
  • The lever makes it easy to remove food

Cons:

    • Slots are on the thinner side
  • Doesn’t adjust temperature after multiple uses

Cuisinart CPT-3000 View Pro Glass Two-Slice Toaster

For a different offering from Cuisinart, their CPT-3000 toaster has a glass-walled siding, meaning that you can see inside to watch your bread cook to perfection. Even with this luxury, you’ll find that this toaster is still affordable, and much more so than others of its kind. Overall, toasting comes out evenly, and the buttons make for intuitive use.

The controls themselves are almost in a touchscreen like fashion, and the lights allow you to tell what settings you have turned on. This design is helpful, as even the toasting setting runs through buttons, and the lights let you know the level. The durable make also prevents the labels from wearing down over extended use.

While the buttons make for smooth operation, however, they don’t allow you to choose a setting between, as a dial would allow, which can make it difficult to get the perfect cook depending on your preferences.

Pros:

    • Affordable, glass-walled model
    • Even toasting
    • Intuitive buttons with light-up indicators
  • Control labels like likely to wear off over time

Cons:

  • Button setup doesn’t allow for more nuanced cooking settings

Frigidaire Professional Four-Slice FPTT04D7MS

Frigidaire offers another stainless steel design to consider for your kitchen, and this one has four slots. You have the usual setting suspects: bagels, defrost and even reheat. As you should expect, each side has its controls to work with, allowing you to cook toast as you like, no matter how many slices you need to make at once.

In addition to the controls, each side of the toaster has a mini LED screen to display when the toaster is on and how much time you have remaining until your toast is ready. As for the quality of toast itself, this model tests well across its various settings, making even cooking to hit the color ranges that you could want.

Pros:

    • LED screens
    • Reheat setting
    • Individual controls on both ends of the toaster
  • Cooks evenly

Krups Savory Four-Slice Toaster

With a black and silver design, Krups Savory’s four-slice toaster offering has some excellent praise behind it: it’s earned a Good Housekeeping Seal before. That title’s not just for show—this toaster performs well on various types of bread besides regular, including rye bread.

The fact that it can toast multiple offerings at once is a bonus for households with varied tastes. Even better, this toaster knows how to handle several slices in quick succession without overheating enough to burn the bread. Whether you need this capacity for a family breakfast or even a gathering of friends, Krups Savory will get the job done.

While not as expensive as some of the higher-end models on this list, this toaster is a bit pricey at MSRP—though at a sale price it becomes much more affordable.

Pros:

    • Good Housekeeping Seal winner
    • Handles various types of bread well
  • Doesn’t burn bread toasted in rapid succession

Cons:

  • Price is a bit costlier than some other budget-friendly models

Cuisinart Two-Slice Classic Metal Toaster

Cuisinart makes our list once again, this time with its metal version of its two-slice toaster. This build is a bit more durable than its plastic counterpart, and it can last for an impressive number of years without issue. There aren’t too many complicated settings and options included, but the simplicity of it may be all you need—and helps it not take up too much counter space as well.

The overall performance of this metal toaster is right up there with some versions that have much more to them, and you can rely on Cuisinart’s model to bring you perfectly even toast every time. It helps that your toast comes up ready fast. Since this is a more inexpensive model, the quality makes for an excellent value.

If you’re a bagel lover, you may find the matching setting a bit disappointing—but in every other aspect, this toaster does what it needs to do: make great toast.

Pros:

    • Sleek design
    • Pull out crumb tray
    • A consistent and quick toasting
    • Simple, intuitive features
  • Compact size fits well on counters

Cons:

  • Customers find that the bagel setting needs improvement

Oster Four-Slice Toaster

If you like the sound of the Oster, but you need more than two slots, fear not: the company also has a four-slice model available. Just like with the two slice Jelly Bean, Oster once again offers an affordable toaster that may not have all the setting options, but certainly has the quality. You even still get the color options available to help spice up your kitchen.

Oster’s toaster can still handle the bagels, bread, waffles, and other pastries of your choice, and its higher settings provide excellent crispiness that’s sure to satisfy with that crunch. If you have a roommate and you’re tired of having to readjust the toaster after every use, this model will get the job done at an affordable price.

You may encounter a bit of an untoasted spot at the top due to the slot not being super thick, but, otherwise, your toast will come out evenly cooked and delicious.

Pros:

    • Quality performance at an affordable price
    • Multiple color options
    • Cooks all types of pastries well
  • Excellent at cooking darker, crispier toast

Cons:

  • Somewhat shallow slots can lead to an untoasted top of your bread.

KitchenAid Four-Slice Long Slot Toaster

So you like the idea of having the KitchenAid name in your home, but you don’t want the price tag attached to the Proline model. We don’t blame you, and we present this four-slice alternative. While it’s a bit more expensive than average, it’s affordable if you don’t mind investing in a toaster that will last. What’s great is that you’ll find a lot of the same features waiting for you.

With seven different toasting settings, bagel mode, defrosting, reheating, and stay warm at the ready, you’ll have a quality toaster on hand that can handle long and thicker slices of bread. The high-rise lever helps with removing smaller options. You also get a pullout crumb tray and a way to quickly and neatly store the cord underneath the model.

In comparison to the Proline, it doesn’t have auto-sensing technology or automatic rising, but we think it’s worth the loss of these features to have a more affordable price point.

Pros:

    • Great value for investment
    • Multiple temperature settings and options
    • Can fit long and thick slices of bread or pastries
    • Crumb tray
    • Easy storage of cord
  • High-rise lever

Cons:

  • Does not come with auto-sensing features

Dash Clear View Toaster

Providing another clear view option for your toaster consideration, the Dash Clear View provides another affordable way to see precisely how your toast is cooking. Aside from your watchful eye, the seven different settings give you every opportunity to get the perfect shade you want. For when you want assurance that your toaster won’t overheat, the automatic shutoff feature is there.

Alternatively, if you happened to forget your toaster, the reheat feature is ready to help. The slots can accommodate even long and thick pieces of bread and pastries of any kind. As a bonus for customers, Dash also provides you access to the company’s growing list of recipes online, allowing you to enhance your kitchen experience with more than just well-toasted bread.

Pros:

    • Seven cooking settings
    • Reheat option
    • Automatic shutdown function
    • Bonus access to Dash’s online recipe directory
  • Window to see inside

Breville BTA840XL Die-Cast Four Slice Smart Toaster

Considering that Breville’s two slice toaster made our list, it’s only fair that their four-slice model does the same. As you may have guessed, this model happens to be the broader version of that toaster, and the larger design takes up more counter space but, in turn, allows you to cook more toast at once. The same solid metal helps with durability to protect your investment.

After putting the LED light control slider to your desired setting, press a button to begin cooking your toast. Want it a bit darker? The “a bit more” button is on your side—along with the plethora of other features Breville has to offer. Overall, the toasting quality is excellent and can be just what you need to cook a variety of pastries.

Again, this quality does come at a price, but it’s well worth it for the impressive scope of functionality you get at your disposal.

Pros:

    • LED light control
    • Sturdy metal build
    • “A bit more” and “lift and look” buttons
  • Excellent cooking quality

Cons:

  • On the pricier end of the spectrum

Cuisinart Countdown Lever-less Four-Slice Toaster

Cuisinart’s CPT 440 lever-less model is on this list not only because of its four-slice capacity but also because it’s the top choice for preparing excellent bagels. The extra-wide slots are a perfect size, and the bagel toasting feature means that you can have a toasted inside and warmed outside without the press of a button.

If you need to toast more than bagels, this toaster has all the capacity to take care of bread and pastries alike—with plenty of features ready at your disposal, like reheat and defrost. The digital displays show your temperature setting, then also count down the time until your breakfast is available, allowing you to plan accordingly. With quiet raising, you don’t need to be startled by the sudden pop, either.

Pros:

    • Top pick for cooking bagels
    • Reheat and defrost modes
    • Clear digital displays also serve as countdown timers
    • Individual settings for both sides
  • Motorized bread lift

Things to Consider When Purchasing a Toaster

While shopping for a toaster may seem deceptively simple, there’s a lot of factors to consider if you want a quality appliance in your kitchen. As you try to find the best fit for your home amongst all our excellent top picks, think about the following things!

Types of Toasters

The first thing to know when shopping for a toaster is to be sure of which kind you want to find. In the world of toasters, you have two top contenders: pop-up toasters, which are the classic model that only cooks toast; and countertop toaster ovens, which have a bit more to offer. Each has their pros and cons, so which one is better for you is entirely up to your specific needs.

A pop-up toaster is likely what you think about when you hear the name of the appliance. These toasters have slots, which you then place your desired bread, bagel, pastry, etc. into, press a level, and wait for it to pop up when it’s finished cooking. Most often, they can fit two or four slices of toast at a time, and they can accommodate simple toast or other, larger pastries.

Since these models are the most common type of toaster, they’re easy to find and easy to use. Because of how simple they are, they tend to be more affordable as well. You won’t be able to do anything else with them besides toast, but sometimes that’s all you need.

With countertop toaster ovens, you get a little more bang for your buck. Not only do you have the ability to make toast, but you can even use them as a replacement for many things you can do in a standard oven. The range of use in these models varies, with some having the ability to handle up to nine slices of toast at a time—perfect for larger families and breakfast gatherings.

You do lose some simplicity in comparison to a pop-up model, but a toaster oven can help with making pizzas, cookies, and even rotisserie cooking. Depending on the kind, you’ll find smaller and larger versions to help fit into your available counter space, though the increased functionality tends to boost the overall price as well.

Size

Size does matter when it comes to picking out appliances, even in the realm of toasters. Most notably, you have to think about how much available counter space you’ll have to fit your new toaster and if you want it to be convenient to move around and store if necessary. Though toaster ovens tend to be larger than pop-up models, you can still find some variety within type structures.

Once you know how much space you have to work with, you’ll want to check that your toaster can handle whatever you like. As mentioned, pop-up models tend only to fit four slices max, but it can still make a difference in comparison to two at once. With a toaster oven, you’ll not only want to think about slices but the amount of space you have inside for making other items, such as a pizza or even cookies.

Even if a toaster will cook the amount of bread or pastry you want at once, don’t stop without checking the slot size. Some models can only accommodate thin slices of bread, while you may want one that can fit more substantial items like bagels inside. Paying attention to this factor can mean the difference between easily getting your food once it’s ready and fighting with trying to pry something hot out without incident.

Overall, it’s in your best interest to think about the amount of available space you have in your kitchen along with what you want your toaster to be able to do.

Settings

Depending on your model of choice, you may find that a toaster has more available settings than some of the other options. A simpler, cheaper model will generally have basic settings for light, medium, and dark, while others will also allow you to defrost frozen bread, set a variety of cooking settings, and even brown one side of a bagel more than the other.

If you’re looking for a toaster oven, you’ll find that you have more settings to consider. Rotisserie options will allow you to cook chickens and the like, and convection options will help with maintaining even cooking. Be sure not to get so caught up in checking other settings that you forget to include the ones that will help make your toast the way you like it.

Cleaning

It can be tricky to know when the right time to is clean your toaster is—or the right way to do it. If nothing else, you want to make sure that crumbs and the like don’t build up too much. If you don’t want cleaning to be a hassle, look for a toaster with a crumb tray or one with a nonstick interior. Even better, look for one with both settings.

Cost

The cost will factor into any purchase you make, but there’s an almost surprising range when it comes to toasters. The simplest pop-up toaster can cost around twenty dollars, while high-end toaster ovens can start to creep towards the three-hundreds range. In general, a pop-up will be less expensive than a comparable toaster oven model.

If you want more features at your disposal, then you can expect the price tag to be higher as well. The same applies if you wish to have a potentially larger model. While there are some quality budget toasters out there, cheaper models may not be as durable as their more expensive counterparts.

Picking out a model based on cost is a matter of balancing your toaster needs with your budget. For some that want more but don’t have the available funds, you can always invest in a cheaper model to hold you over until you have the money to upgrade.

Extras

Aside from additional settings like convection heating and bonus parts like crumb trays, there are still some extra features that, while not necessary, can make your toaster experience more enjoyable. One to consider looking for is a cancel button, which you can use to stop toasting if you think something is overcooking or burning.

Another feature we recommend is self-adjusting guides that help you position the toast. While this capability may seem silly, it can help you out with keeping your toast well-centered, allowing it to cook all the way evenly across.

Wrapping Up

As toasters can be an essential appliance in your kitchen (if you use them often), it’s critical to find the perfect one for your needs. With a quality toaster in your home, you can have an ideal experience that doesn’t add any stress to your day.

Any of the top picks on our list will make an excellent addition to your kitchen; it’s up to you to make the final call. We hope that our best toaster guide has everything you need to find the best one for you—and to meet all your toasting needs.

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