Breville Good Toaster, 2-Slice, Brushed Aluminum

Best Toaster Ever
Got this toaster to replace a toaster oven (the plan is an Air Fryer next).
Unboxing was a breeze and the toaster was ready to go in no time.
After 2-3 dry cycles I tested the first few slices of bread and a test bagel.
I found the toaster a joy to use and very easy to operate, I appreciated the build quality
After a few trials, I found the perfect shade.
Key Features: Nice slow drop and slow rise of your bread, no shooting toast, preview mode to check out your toasting, and a nice extra toast button.

Great Toaster
I was disappointed in a cheap toaster that I had purchased so, based on a favorable consumer review, took a chance on this one. Out-of-the box it is a very sturdy product typical of Breville. About double the weight of the flimsy product it was replacing – which was a good thing as it tends to stay where you put it on the counter. After finding the correct setting on the slider bar (about 2.5 for me), I was rewarded with perfectly browned toast. The motorized lowering and raising of the toast as well as the decrementing LED progress lights was very cool. I liked the “lift & look” feature which raises the toast up for about 2-3 seconds so you can get a glimpse at toasting progress before lowering again to complete the process. Doing this seemed to increase the browning of the toast from where it would have been had I just left it alone. No experience yet with the bagel and frozen settings. All-in-all despite the higher price this has been a very satisfying and fun purchase. Can’t say that often about a toaster.

Looks like a million bucks just sitting on counter. Am keeping fingers crossed this toaster keeps working as good as it looks.
BULLETIN – UPDATE WED MAY 18 – Toaster deader than a hammer. I’d been thinking in recent weeks – after getting my original purchase replaced on warranty – that my Breville was a fine toaster, even with some uneven toasting on dark setting. All the other functions – defrosting frozen bread and toasting it in one cycle – have been a lot of fun. Tonight I put a regular piece of unfrozen bread in, set on med-high and the piece of toast began going up and down and up and down. All the lights across the top began flashing. I unplugged the toaster and tried again, several times. Same result. I paid $159 I recall, for a toaster that lasted less than three months. In total, TWO models of this toaster lasted less than three months.
OLD REVIEW: I’m hoping like crazy that I will consider this toaster a 5-star purchase a month, a year and 10 years from now. Like everyone else I am banking on the relatively low percentage of 1-star and 2-star reviews and very high percentage of 5-star and 4-star reviews. So far my observations are this: It’s slow, but I think that’s part of a high-quality process. I make toast on the darkest setting, using Trader Joe’s multi-grain bread, right out of freezer, and without using the extra toasting button I get uniformly dark, perfect, one-slice servings on both sides. I’m scrambling eggs and making coffee so it’s not like I’ve found myself waiting, drumming my fingers on the counter, for the toast to pop up. I love the buttons – on top of unit and easy to read and making a beautiful display. To one other reviewer’s point on a Cuisanart toaster that smudges so easily, I found the same to be true, and of course, it didn’t toast evenly, so that went back after 24 hours. On the Breville, the non-smudge finish is just spectacular, like the finish on a Rolls Royce. There’s the line we Amazon buyers have found to be so true: you have to see this in person to believe how handsome an item it is. It’s like the fit and finish on a $60,000 car, just gorgeous, reeking of quality. *Back to function: the opposite of the dark setting on my toaster is the lowest setting, for just lightly searing hamburger buns. I like Pepperidge Farm “slider” buns, which I freeze and then remove from the freezer as needed, long enough at room temperature to be able to separate the halves and still keep as once piece. That one bun piece, opened, fits into the slot and on the settings of 1 FROZEN and 2 lightest toast setting, the results are perfect, just enough toasting to seal the bread from the burger’s juice. I also like the “Lift & Look” and “A Bit More” buttons, but have not explored them much. Bottom line: If this toaster holds up it will be one of the most fun purchases I’ve made for my 2nd favorite room in the house, my kitchen. Update photo: I added fourth photo to show the beautiful, functional louvers on the one side of the unit. The toaster does generate a lot of heat – not so much greater heat than other toasters but heat that’s on for a longer period of time. I may put tinfoil on the underside of the cupboard above the toaster.

Have used the toaster for several weeks now, and it is just about the most perfect appliance ever made. Perfect balance of form and function, all combined into one truly impressive example of post-modern design whose sole purpose is to evenly brown two slices of bread.
We had no idea that the new toaster would become a centre-piece for conversation, as the entire family gathered around it, watching the LED lights slowly count down… Who knew how addictive it would be to obsessively hit the ‘Press and Look’ button, then sit back and watch the bread silently rise and then slowly descend, all without turning off the heater elements…
Perhaps when the damn pandemic eases and we all go back to living our normal lives, the current fixation on the toaster well dissipate. But until then, thank goodness for the Breville, given there isn’t much new on Amazon Prime Video this month.
(All kidding aside, this is one expensive appliance, but it is also beautifully designed and toasts bread better than any other appliance I’ve ever owned, and I eat a lot of toast. If you have the money, and appreciate both design and engineering expertise, this is the one to get.)

Fits great on my counter. Toasts much faster than my old one. Even toasting. Love the check feature. All controls on the front. Well worth the money.