Toaster Cookoff

Replacing a toaster is no small task. 

It turns out that $$ doesn't mean better. 

The Lesser

As we replaced our beloved toaster of some decades, we realized that the first toaster we purchased as a replacement, although a recognizable name brand, it was slow and cooked unevenly. 

I like my toast evenly cooked--on both sides. 

Being unhappy with the expensive toaster, we bought a competitor and decided to conduct a "toast" off.

The winner

The results were clear.

The Black & Decker cooked faster and more evenly. The almost twice as expensive KitchenAid did not cook evenly and it took almost one minute longer to toast bread to the same level.

We used some scientific rigor in the test: the same bread and set the toasters to the same cooking level--medium, and pushed the levers to begin toasting at precisely the same time.

In the end, the more expensive toaster was returned in favor of the less expensive toaster which had fewer bells and whistles. 

And in the end, we had four pieces of toast for breakfast!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD