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Toaster buying guide

Toaster or toaster oven? If all you do is pop in a couple of slices in the morning, a straight-up toaster is probably your best choice. But if you cook small portions or meals and want to avoid firing up your oven, choose a toaster oven. No matter which you choose, you'll find more available features and styling than ever before.

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Sort our Ratings based on features, brands and other factors.

Features

Manufacturers are making toasters with more electronics, including LCD displays and toast shade indicator. Other toaster and toaster oven features include defrosting and frozen pastry toasting, LED function display, variable browning and others. Some brands have even added other appliances to the toaster, such as Hamilton Beach's Toast Station, which is also a small toaster oven and the Back to Basics Egg and Muffin Toaster that poaches an egg while toasting.

Consistent browning

The best toasters provide a wide range of "doneness," from very light to very dark, They also produce consistent color in all the slices of a batch; if you're popping in piece and after piece on the same setting, the bread doesn't get lighter or darker over time.

Two slices or four

If you decide on a two-slice toaster, you can choose between two side-by-side slots or one long slot for two slices. A four-slice model is bulkier but can save time if you've got a big family and there's a morning rush in your kitchen.

Safety

Toasters with a plastic housing are less likely to retain heat and feel hot to the touch than metal versions. Automatic shutoff for the heating elements when toast gets stuck is also important; all the toasters we tested have it.

Convenient controls

Electronic touchpads and numbered dials are best. A shade dial is less exact, and a dial with unlabelled symbols can be hard to decipher.

Slot size

If you favor oblong bread, look for deep slots. Some toaster slots are less than 5 inches deep; others are deeper and can accommodate larger slices.

Slide-out crumb tray

A removable crumb tray is easier to clean than one that's hinged and attached to the toaster.

A bread lifter

This is a handy option on many toasters. Once the toast has popped up, you can push the lever from underneath so the toast juts farther out of the slot for easy retrieval

Bagel controls

All the toasters we tested can fit a packaged bagel that is split. If you like big, fat bagels from a bakery, look for wider slots. Some toasters have a "bagel" setting that toasts on one side only, so you can brown the cut side and keep the other side softer.

Cord-wrap slots

Some models have indentations into which you can wrap the cord to keep it under control.

Warm/reheat settings

Some toasters have special settings to warm, reheat, and/or defrost food.

No pop-up

Two of the more expensive toasters we tested don't pop your toast up automatically. When the toast is done, the KitchenAid Pro Line dings, and the Dualit simply turns its timer off with a click. With both, you have to push the toast lever up. The toast may stay warm in the slots, as KitchenAid claims, but the extra step is a nuisance.

West Bend's toaster takes a different tack. You insert the bread into a top slot and it moves slowly down and past the heating element. It then emerges in a tray at the bottom. The design works, but no better than many other toasters.

Broil setting

This feature is important for a toaster oven if you'll be cooking burgers or chops.

Cooking technology

If speed is important, consider a toaster oven that uses convection cooking, which speeds roasting and baking, or infrared heating, which speeds toasting.

Counter space

The "footprint" a toaster oven leaves on your counter might be a concern if you're tight on space. The smallest toaster oven we tested leaves a 16 x 8-inch footprint; the largest is 20 x 10 inches. But the smaller the toaster oven, the smaller its capacity.