Dualit DB2S Toasters

Dualit have been producing toasters since 1946 and now they have the reputation for being the best in the world. They are expensive but I think they are worth it.

These toasters don’t come cheap. The best price I have found on the internet for a 2 slice toaster is £90 or £110 for the stainless one (from www.ogormans.co.uk – Kelkoo didn’t come up with anything).It is possible to buy a toaster for under £10 so you might wonder why anyone would be willing to spend £100 on one.

One reason people might want to do so is because they are fashionable at the moment. These classic cumbersome stainless steel toasters grace the kitchens of the great and famous and appear frequently in film set kitchens – I came across a whole list of films featuring Dualit toasters somewhere on the net but I have no idea why anyone would want to know that.

Other manufacturers have attempted to cash in on Dualit’s popularity by producing retro style stainless toasters. These are a bit more expensive you have to pay £25 or £30 for one of these. But you are not buying the quality of Dualit. I have been through goodness knows how many toasters over the years each time spending just a bit more in the hope it would last – but they never did. The cheaper toasters I have bought stop popping up, they start making sparks and sizzly noises, they toast unevenly and erratically and they get tatty very quickly. Totally fed up with this I decided to buy a Dualit toaster.

I had noticed that Dualit seems to be the favourite in commercial kitchens – you can see them in busy cafes and I have seen them in college kitchens, hotels and I had used one when I worked in a hospital kitchen. Obviously if the toaster is made to stand up to the rigours of a commercial kitchen it should manage quite well in a family kitchen.

I have had the toaster for over three years now and it still works perfectly and looks as good as new. I have the greatest faith that it will continue to do so and the knowledge that spares are available and that the element can be replaced is also reassuring. But on the basis that the toaster is built with the ability to toast 65 of pieces of toast per hour I am not really expecting to have to replace the element.

The toaster actually toasts better than any previous toaster I have owned – the toast is always evenly toasted, crisp and golden on the outside only. And not only that this toaster is fun. The Dualit is not an automatic pop up toaster. The toast remains in the toaster to keep warm. There is an ejector knob to raise the toast or, if you want some fun, to shoot it across the room.

It may not be suitable for everyone, however, because it is quite large and bulky (about 10” 25cm each way) compared to modern toasters and it may take up too much room in a small kitchen. The other problem it has is that it does actually get quite hot on the outside- but only on a marathon toasting session.

Dualit toasters come in various sizes and one option is the combi which makes toasted sandwiches as well. This is the model I used in the hospital kitchen. The toasted sandwiches made in a Dualit are superb. They are not at all like the plasticy, sealed at the edges, so-called toasted sandwiches made by other sandwich makers. You make an ordinary sandwich and place it in a cage which fits into the toaster slot, set the timer and out comes a perfect toasted sandwich – it is actually far better than using the grill because the bread tends to curl up under the grill. However, I do not eat many toasted sandwiches and decided not to get the Combi. But having used one I would certainly recommend one if you like toasted sandwiches.

The best price for a combi I have found is £128 saving £21 through www.bargains.co.uk (use alphabetical index at top to look for toasters).

To find about the full range of models and the special colours available to order see www.dualit.co.uk.