In addition to crisping burger buns, building the perfect breakfast sandwich, heating frozen waffles for breakfast, or warming bread slices for dinner, toasters are kitchen appliances that heat, crisp, and caramelize your favorite breads, bagels, and English muffins.
There are many different models of toasters, ranging from basic to fancy and everything in between. Even if you don’t always need four slices of toast, four-slice toasters take up just a little more space than their two-slice cousins. You can find them in a variety of shapes, so make sure you get one that will fit perfectly on your counter.
To ensure they can accommodate what you toast most often, you’ll also want to consider the settings and the size of the slots. Trying to jam a thick bagel or waffle into a too-small toaster slot can result in a crumby mess.
Listed below are our picks for the best four-slice toasters.
Cuisinart CPT-180P1 4-Slice Classic Metal Toaster
Toasters made by Cuisinart are among the most popular products on the market. With its dual control panels, this four-slice toaster is advertised as two toasters in one. This feature allows you to customise different toast settings at the same time if you like your bread more well-done than your significant other does.
At 1 1/2 inches wide, the toaster slots can accommodate thicker bagels and pastries. On the easy-to-operate dial are six browning settings, plus buttons for reheating and defrosting (think frozen waffles and toaster pastries). With the extra-lift lever included on most toasters today, including this model, you can easily remove your toasted items without touching the hot toaster.
Because it is made of brushed stainless steel, it looks modern with a hint of retro design. Other color options include black stainless steel, metallic red, and stainless with white accents. Toasters can be kept clean with a slide-out crumb tray and a cord wrap.
Reviews of this toaster state that it consistently produces evenly browned slices of thin and thick-cut bread without drying them out too much.
KRUPS KH734D Breakfast Set 4-Slot Toaster
KRUPS’ brushed and polished stainless steel model is sized similarly to our top pick, and reviewers who’ve had it for years say it toasts evenly day after day.
Toaster slots are generously sized to accommodate thicker slices of bread, bagels, and buns. It also features self-centering slots to ensure that whatever you’re toasting is aligned against the heating elements to ensure even browning and heating. On a dial, there are six browning settings to choose from. The hash marks between each browning setting also make it easy to choose a shade and a half.
To help you remove your toast without burning your fingers, there is a high-lift lever to help you defrost, reheat, or bagel your toast. Additionally, a removable crumb tray and cord storage are included. There is a two-year warranty on everything.
Cuisinart CPT-142 4-Slice Compact Plastic Toaster
The Cuisinart toaster is well-regarded for its compact size and ability to evenly brown slices of toast and bagels without overcooking or leaving too much of the surface unbrowned. It has a smaller footprint and a lower price tag than our top pick, but it is made of plastic, which may not be everyone’s favorite.
There are controls for seven heat settings, plus reheat, defrosting, and bagel settings with a slot width of 1 1/2 inches, plenty of room for larger bagels without being crowded. The crumb tray is easily removable for easy cleaning, and the lever has a lift feature to make it easier to remove smaller items, like round French bread and English muffins, while protecting your fingers.
KitchenAid 4-Slice Pro Line Toaster
KitchenAid is known for its iconic mixers, and this toaster incorporates some design elements from the brand’s 1937 mixer-giving it a modern, yet retro aesthetic. With its candy apple red color and impressive features, this toaster will make a statement in your kitchen. Watching the toast lower and rise automatically is entertaining, while being able to check the progress without canceling the process will help avoid over-browned waffles.
Keep-warm mode will automatically activate after 45 seconds to ensure that your toast will be ready for butter when you step out of the kitchen. It will continue to activate for three minutes, giving you plenty of time to get back to the kitchen.
The four slots can hold bagels and other thick pieces of bread, while the self-centering feature ensures that thin bread will toast evenly. Whenever you toast a new type of bread, you might not know how long it needs to toast, so the “a little longer” setting lets you keep toasting without changing your favorite setting.
Reviewers said the toaster is worth the cost because of its many useful features (particularly the self-centering option and “keep warm” setting) and how evenly it browns toast. If you would like more options of KitchenAid toaster, you can find them in a guide we have compiled.
Smeg 50’s Retro Style Aesthetic 4-Slice Toaster
The retro look of its appliances and its unique color options that will make a statement in any kitchen have helped Smeg gain a following in the American market. This toaster is powder-coated steel with polished chrome accents.
Its retro design isn’t the only thing reviewers loved about this toaster: it has two slots that are both long and wide, so you can toast four slices of plain toast, two extra long slices, or two split bagels at once. If you’re toasting bagels or English muffins, you can only toast one side with the bagel setting. There are also reheat and defrost settings.
A set of anti-slip feet keeps it stable on the counter, and the removable crumb tray makes it easy to clean. Some reviewers have noted that the toast pops all the way out of the toaster when it’s finished toasting.
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