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Original poster

Do I have to get a Dualit to get decent toast?

37 replies

partystress · 02/10/2010 17:49

On our 3rd toaster in 3 years (including one of the "cheap" Dualits, which after 15 months began toasting one side only ). Latest was GH recommended, but won't take a normal sized sliced loaf and leaves untoasted edges even on the bits of bread that DO fit in.

Really don't want to spend £150 on a toaster, but do want my day to start with nice toast. Any recommendations please?

OP posts:

redllamayellowllama · 02/10/2010 17:53

We had almost exactly the same experience and got through 3 mid-range toasters (£60ish) in 2 years. Finally caved and bought a 4-slice Dualit bad-lad about a year ago. Haven't looked back. We eat toast every day and there's something so depressing about bad toast, especially as a a start to the day. Might not be what you want to hear, but I'd go for a Dualit.

bran · 02/10/2010 17:58

I'm impressed with my Dualit (4-slice), I've only had it for about 6 weeks though so I can't comment on durability yet. It won't toast the whole slice if the bread is tall, but because it has two long slots I can lie the bread on it's side and it's fine.

mummytime · 02/10/2010 18:00

We've had our Dualit for 7+ years. Its a four slice and works fine.

mummytime · 02/10/2010 18:00

We've had our Dualit for 7+ years. Its a four slice and works fine.

Polgara2 · 02/10/2010 18:15

We've got a Breville 4 slice st steel typey one and it is fab. Got it from costco.

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 02/10/2010 18:16

After yet another toaster breaking we have gone back to using......wait for it.....

The grill.

God it makes nice toast and I have a huge chunk of work surface back.

I intend to stay toaster free.

Lilymaid · 02/10/2010 18:19

We've had our toaster for nearly 20 years, as DH is an engineer and too environmentally correct! Dial for toasting colour broke years ago and was replaced by a piece of cork with markings. The lever also broke and is replaced by a bit of wooden peg.
Unfortunately for me it is still in good working order as far as the actual toasting is concerned, so I can only dream of a new toaster.

bigTillyMint · 02/10/2010 18:26

Lilymaid

What other kitchen implements has your DH "saved" for you?!

Lilymaid · 02/10/2010 18:34

My home is kept together with duct tape! Its entirely my fault for marrying an engineer. My father was also an engineer so I should have known better.

TheFowlAndThePussycat · 02/10/2010 18:40

Don't buy a dualit! It is the devil's toaster. It requires you to set no fewer than 3 different dials and knobs and if any are incorrectly set you won't know because it continues to make the right toasting noises even when it's not actually toasting. A particularly annoying feature is it's ability to toast 1 1/2 slices so you can't even put the second slice down again because one side will be nicely done and the other cremated. Add to that the fact that you have to calculate how long you want it to toast on the basis of whether or not it's been used before that morning, the phase of the moon & the gravitational pull on the earth and there are better ways to spend £150.

Disclaimer, I am not actually a total loon . I have just been staying with my parents who own one of these cursed machines & although I'm not the sharpest tool in the box I do have a degree and my hit rate for correctly cooked toast was probably 1 in 3 mornings!

DaisySteiner · 02/10/2010 19:20

PMSL @ TheFowlAndThePussycat - my previous workplace had a Dualit and some twat environmentally-conscious person kept fiddling with the dials. How many times have I stood there waiting for toast and then when I popped it up it was still bread?!

SoupDragon · 02/10/2010 19:24

" It requires you to set no fewer than 3 different dials and knobs"

Really? I just turn the dial on mine and it toasts.

I love it... It is by far the best toaster i have ever owned. It's the expensive 4 slice one and I've had it 14 years. I've had to replace one element which was a simple DIY job but it's as good as new.

TheFowlAndThePussycat · 02/10/2010 19:39

There's the one where you select one slice or two - get that wrong & you end up with the 1 1/2 slice problem. Then there's the timing one, 2 mins if you are the first person to toast - 90s if you are 2nd etc etc.
Then you have to make sure the power is on at the mains - not rocket science you would think - but the toaster appears to be on, even if the power isn't. My toaster doesn't let you put the toast down if it's not on at the mains - gah! I hate the blasted things! (appearing more & more like a loon by the second )

raffiiscool · 02/10/2010 19:50

I second - DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A DUALIT. They are truely crap. You need a second sense to work out when the toast is going to burn (yes it burns a lot)! Put it like this, when my mum comes to visit, and she does a lot, she cannot ever make herself some toast, as it always burns. She does not have "the knack".

You need a knack and often a test piece of toast! It also toasts more on one side. We swear at ours most mornings!!

We got it for a wedding present 7 years ago. It is still going strong but we actually wish it would die so that we could get another one.

orienteerer · 02/10/2010 19:56

My only problem with toasters is they seem to last forever. If I was replacing I'd go for a John Lewis one. (Just bought their "essentials" iron for £9 it's amazing!).

littleducks · 02/10/2010 19:58

Have you tried putting the bread in original toster sideways, has improved toat quality here

Rockbird · 02/10/2010 20:01

No toaster was able to keep up with our toast demands. Got a Dualit half price in Argos a couple of months ago and it truly is the king of toasters. Every other toaster we had was crap. This one makes me cry with joy :)

Rockbird · 02/10/2010 20:02

I wish I hadn't looked at your link orienteerer. I really really really want a Bodum toaster now

orienteerer · 02/10/2010 20:15

Rockbird - link was meant to be only JL toaster, can't get it to work!

orienteerer · 02/10/2010 20:16

Like this John Lewis one?

PaulineCampbellJones · 02/10/2010 20:17

I have a DeLonghi one and it's great.

duckyfuzz · 02/10/2010 20:19

we've had our dualit for 10 years, no problems at all

Wigeon · 02/10/2010 20:26

Love love love our Dualit - still cannot belive we spent that much money on a toaster, but then again we do eat a lot of toast.

Just turn the dial and you get perfect toast. Don't understand others who think it's complicated!

TheFowlAndThePussycat · 02/10/2010 20:50

Ok, I can see I'm in a minority here but I'm going to have one more go. The Dualit is only simple if no-one else in the house fiddles with any of the controls and you are the first person to make toast in the morning. If you live with other people who obsessively turn things off at the mains or think they can save the planet by selecting the 1 slice only option there are endless combinations of annoyance.

Anyway with that I shall bow out of the toaster debate and allow the dualits to conquer the world! Enjoy your toast everyone!

bran · 02/10/2010 21:46

I have this one, and haven't had any trouble with getting the right settings. There's just one dial with numbers. I also sometimes do a second round of toast immediately after the first and it comes out the same level of toastiness as the first.

The more expensive ones do look a bit more complicated though.

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