I looked and looked for something to review in Home & Garden for my race around Epinions in 80 days. Coffee maker? Reviewed it! Bean Grinder? Reviewed it.  Microwave, Toaster oven? Can't find the listing.  Yard tools? Oh that's right, I don't work in my yard much.  My woodshop tools? I don't have a workshop.

Aha, I do make Toast and sometimes even bagles for breakfast!  I also have a Sunbeam Four Slice Toaster that is listed in the Epi database.  What can one say about a Toaster? Read on.

My Sunbeam Toaster

I don't even remember when I bought this, I'm pretty sure I picked it up at Wal*mart though for $14.99 or less. I do vaguely remember why I bought it, it makes four slices at a time, and appeared to have slots wide enough for bagels. I was sort of right.

The Toaster set up is pretty simple, it uses a standard 2 prong plug and has four slots with two setting knobs. One setting knob allows you to set the desired toasting of the first two slices, the second knob for the second two slices. You can make toast for you and a friend!  The choices are warm bread, toast, dark toast, and I'm pretty sure I burned it.  Open the kitchen door and turn on the fan.  Although both knobs are set from 1 to 10, I find that only between 1 and 4 really give you toast that qualifies as something to eat. Settings 4 to 10 offers various degrees of burnt.  I just keep them both at 3, and leave it at that.  Of course it has the sliders that pull down your toast.  You can push up on the slider to pop the toast out if you are tired of waiting for it to toast. Don't you love that the verb toast and the noun toast are the same word? Hey I have ADD, I think of stuff like that.

Toast Popped!

As long as I haven't turned the stereo on, I can hear the toast when it pops. Sometimes it is better to be there when the toast pops though, because sometimes the toast will fly clear out of the toaster and fall on my counter.  Other times, bagels will get stuck and burn a bit on the edges.

The Trouble with Bagels

This was not advertised as a Wide mouth toaster, but on the box it looked like the slots were wide enough for bagels.  Some bagels fit, others don't.  I frequently have to sort of squish bagels, or rip off a bit of the bagel to make it fit into the slots.  I like Lenders and Pepperidge farm bagels for the record. Onion and everything are two of my favorite flavors, although blueberry is also quite good.  The edges burn frequently. I have to pick off the burnt pieces when these pop up, and sometimes I have to pull the bagel halves out because they get stuck. This can be quite tricky, since I don't like to stick my fingers into a hot electric appliance.  I usually push on the lever until a bit sticks out, then grab that and gently pull up to keep the piece from ripping off.    Unless you get thin bagels, this toaster isn't the best for toasting bagels.

The Mess!

This toaster has a catch tray underneath it to catch the crumbs. You can unhook the tray to let all the crumbs out. Unless you unplug the toaster and hold it over the trash, it is a big mess. It is also hard to relatch, and often, crumbs seem to fall out even when the crumb tray is closed.

Summary

This toaster was cheap, it reliably toasts bread, and can toast most bagels if you are careful about how you cut them and put them in there.  The higher settings tend to burn, but if you find the sweet spot of settings (for me that is 3), you shouldn't have any problems. It is a good toaster, I gave it 3 stars.

This has been my Home & Garden Entry in Wlswarts Around Epinions in 80 Days Writeoff.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 14.99