I Like Oversized Bagels And Toast Browned Evenly And This Toastmaster Toaster Does The Job
Written: May 30 '07
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Pros: Cool touch 2 slice toaster, wide slots, inexpensive, toasts large sized bagels and breads
Cons: None so far
The Bottom Line: This toaster will toast and brown those large bagels and breads just to your liking and will warm up poptarts very nicely also.
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| Naomi7835's Full Review: Toastmaster T2020WT 2-Slice Toaster |
One morning about 3 weeks ago, my husband was toasting his morning bagel for breakfast in our KitchenAid toaster. When the bagel was done toasting only one side of the bagel popped up. The other half of the bagel didn't pop up. My husband unplugged the toaster and shook out the other half of the bagel. Apparently the bottom section where the bagel sits on had broken off and that's why the bagel didn't pop up.
So that morning as I was leaving to go shopping, my husband had the toaster all apart on the kitchen table to see if he could fix it. When I returned home later that morning, he informed me that he couldn't repair my old KitchenAid toaster and he had gone out to our Rite Aid store and purchased a Toastmaster 2 slice toaster model # T2020WT for $12.99. If it was me I probably would have checked around in several other stores to check prices, models and features of other toasters. My old KitchenAid toaster had cost me $39.95, and I've had it for almost 3 1/2 years. Even though this Toastmaster does have a few features that my old toaster had, I wasn't too sure how it would hold up, especially after only paying $12.99 for it.
FEATURES:
Comes with a Auto Hi-Lift lever
Easy to clean Hinged bread crumb tray
Self adjusting wide bread slots
Safety shut off
Toasts oversized breads, bagels
Toast color control for light and dark settings
Has a poptart setting
Outside wall stays cool while toasting.
Short cord
Has a cancel setting to interrupt any toasting
At first I had to do a little experimenting with different bread items to determine which setting was just right for toasting. Since our individual tastes do vary. After a little experimentation with breads and bagels, I did find the best settings for both my husbands and my needs.
I like Weight Watchers bread, but the bread is very thin and I was concerned that the bread wouldn't brown evenly. When I placed the bread in the toaster, I was surprised to see the sides of the slots were self adjusting to fit my thin piece of bread, and kept my bread standing upright. I also found that I have to put the setting on the light control to get just the right toasting of my bread without burning the bread. I did burn 1 slice of bread before I finally found that the lowest setting does get my bread toasted perfectly on both sides.
Now my husband loves those "Everything Bagels" that he buys that are freshly made at our local market. These bagels are thick and large. The self adjusting slots do accommodate these large bagels and keeps the bagels upright for side to side toasting. Now he keeps the control setting just between the light and dark setting, which gives his bagels a nice light browning.
My grandson likes his bagels a little darker, so when he's over here, which is everyday, he puts the setting a little closer to dark and this makes his bagels a little crunchy and also a darker brown color.
There is a setting for Poptarts. My grand daughters love warm poptarts. I keep a few boxes in the cabinet for them to have when I baby sit them. I don't use any poptarts with any outside frosting in the Toastmaster toaster only plain poptarts. These poptarts come out just warm enough for the children to be able to handle, and gives the poptarts just a very slight browning, which they love.
CLEANING:
After the Toastmaster toaster has been unplugged and is cool, I just take a soft damp cloth and wipe the exterior of the toaster. Then I take another dry cloth and go over the toaster again and buff it to it's shiny surface. The outside of the toaster is white and cleans up very nicely. The only thing I've found is that being the toaster is white, it seems that I have to clean it often because of spattering from certain foods, coffee or just when I'm mixing up a cake mix with my hand held beater.
REMOVING LODGED TOAST:
The other day my grandson put a poptart in the toaster and didn't realize that one corner of the poptart had a crack in the corner. When the poptart popped up it was minus a corner which was now laying in the toaster slot. So I unplugged the toaster, and after it was cool, I held down the toasting lever, turned the toaster upside down and shook the broken part of the poptart out. My grandson was going to try to remove the broken piece with a knife. I had to warn him that this is not the thing to do, as it could result in a electrical shock and could cause damage to the heating element. He reassured me that he would never try to use a knife to remove anything from the toaster again.
CLEANING OUT THE CRUMB TRAY:
The crumb tray is located underneath the toaster. There is a little lever that you move, that unhinges one side of the tray. All I do is hold the toaster on it's end and take my pastry brush and brush out any crumbs, onto a paper plate, then close the crumb tray until it's securely locked. The crumbs are then placed in my garbage. I try to do this a couple of times a week, as crumbs do build up very quickly in the crumb tray.
SAFETY SHUTOFF:
When toasting is done, the toast lever with it's Auto Hi-Lift will pop up and the power will shut off automatically.
If for some reason you want to stop the bread from toasting, all you have to do is turn the control dial to cancel and the toaster will shut off. I haven't had to cancel out any toasting yet, but it's nice to know it can be down without having to pop up the bread with the toasting lever.
CORD:
I like the idea that the cord is just the right size and isn't long. This way I don't have to worry about the grand kids getting the cord tangled up and having the cord hang over the counter and maybe tipping the toaster over and getting burned.
FEW CAUTIONS:
It's a good idea to never put any poptarts in the toaster with runny fillings or outside frosting. Never toast any buttered bread, mini-baguettes, breadsticks etc. Last but not least, Do Not attempt to dislodge any bread while the toaster is plugged in. Although my grandkids are old enough to use the toaster, I still felt it necessary to tell them about these cautions.
WARRANTY:
The Toastmaster Toaster comes with a one year warranty from the original purchase date.
WHY I'M HAPPY WITH MY NEW TOASTER:
I like the idea that the slots in this Toastmaster Toaster are long, wide, and deep enough, because it allows me to toast large oversized breads and bagels. The slots also adjust automatically for thick to thin toasting, and the Auto Hi-Lift lever pops bread up high enough so retrieving breads, bagels or poptarts can then be easily removed safely. The outside of the Toastmaster Toaster stays cool while toasting, which is nice so that children don't get burned while using the toaster. For being an inexpensive toaster, I've found that this Toastmaster Toaster meets all of our needs, and gets the toasting jobs done perfectly. Now I'm just going to wait and see how long this inexpensive toaster will last me.
Thanks for reading!!
~~Naomi~~
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 12.99
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Naomi7835
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Member: Naomi
Location: Saratoga Springs NY
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Everything Grows With Love!
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