Last week I decided that I fancied beans on toast for lunch. I put the bread in the toaster and got the beans out ready. The next thing I knew was that there was a bang, a flash and a smell of burning and my toaster was dead!
So it came to pass that we were looking for a new toaster.
Hubby decided it would be good to have one of those square ones with four slots, side by side, until I pointed out that the work surface in the kitchen of our new home isn't very big and one of those monstrosities would be rather in the way!
So we decided to look for one of the long, slim ones. I thought that white would be good as the kettle, microwave and cooker in the cottage are all white and I do like things matching.
We had a look in Curry's and Comet, but couldn't see anything we liked. Then Dave reminded me that we had vouchers to use in Debenhams. We had £100 worth as a wedding present and still had £25 left - the fact that it is our third wedding anniversary on 16th April is immaterial! We're not shopaholics then!
I thought that it would be expensive at Debenhams but figured that it was worth a look; however I was in for a nice surprise.
They had a Kenwood TTP103 four slice toaster in white for £20!
So know you know why we needed a toaster, how and why we chose it and where we got it from I'm guessing you'd like to know a bit about it!
Features
It has a crumb tray into which will drop the crumbs from the toast. It slides out of the base of the toaster so that it can be emptied - I always put the resulting crumbs out for the birds. I also usually turn the toaster upside down and give it a bit of a shake to get the crumbs out that don't fall into the crumb tray.
It has a high lift which operates from the lever used to start the toaster. When it has finished you can lift that same lever to its highest and this lifts the toast a little bit higher from the toaster so it is easier to remove it.
It has a cancel button with an indicator light. Now this is useful if you have set the heat a bit too high and the smell of burning toast begins to drift across the kitchen!
It has a defrost button with an indicator light. This does what is says on the tin - just pop your frozen bread in press this button and it will defrost before toasting.
It has a reheat button with an indicator light. This facility allows you to reheat toast that has 'pooped up' but has subsequently gone cold.
It has a browning control so that you can get your toast just the right shade of brown! Some people enjoy their toast very pale but to me that just seems like warm bread - I like mine just the right side of burnt! With a browning control we can all have our toast done just right.
It has a cord storage facility. This is basically a set of clips on the underside of the toaster where you can wind the excess cord. This means that there is no trailing cord for children to get hold of and pull the hot toaster off the work surface.
Use of your Toaster
Well it isn't going to be rocket science is it?
You set the browning control to the desired level and put the bread, muffins, bagels, tea cakes or whatever into the slots. The wide slots mean that the toaster will take them all - not all at the same time you understand!
You then push down the lever on the side of the toaster until it locks in place. The cancel button will then illuminate. If you need to stop the toasting process before it is complete just press the cancel button.
When the toast has 'popped up' you can use the high lift to remove it if you need to.
The Results
I do enjoy toast, usually with marmalade, on a regular basis so the toaster has now been put through its paces and I am pleased to report that it works brilliantly! I can get the toast just how I like it and it tastes great so that will do for me!
Safety First
There are the obvious safety warnings to be heeded of course. Don't leave the toaster unattended in case the toast catches fire. Don't poke around inside the toaster with anything metal. Don't let the toaster get wet. Don't put anything in the toaster that has a topping such as a pizza - is anyone THAT stupid? There are quite a few more of these on the instruction leaflet but I won't bore you with all of them here.
In Conclusion
The toaster looks smart, it was a good price and it works well. The instruction leaflet is comprehensive yet simple to read and understand and it is all in English so no sorting through dozens of different languages looking for one you can understand!
I am well pleased with my purchase!
This review has also been published on Dooyoo. .
More details
Cleaning & Maintenance
Very easy
Safety
Very safe
How much did you pay?
£20
Any repairs?
Not yet
Special features?
See review
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browning controlConvenient cancel, defrost and reheat buttonsSlide out crumb trayCool wall bodyIlluminated buttons for easy toastingVariable width slotsClip on ba...
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