Introduction
The Cuisinart Signature Collection four-slot toaster is a traditional-looking appliance, finished in brushed stainless steel. Each pair of slots comes with browning control and buttons for bagel, defrosting and reheating modes, allowing you to toast two completely different bread types at the same time. While this toaster is certainly not cheap, it looks far more expensive than it actually is. But is it good enough to make our Best Toaster ranking? Here are my thoughts.
Design and Features
Looks greatReasonably easy to useSlots could be bigger
This good-looking four-slice toaster has a traditional design, comprising four parallel slots in a reasonably squat and compact body. This Signature Collection version is finished in stainless steel, but the same toaster also comes with subtle metallic pearl, pink or green panels, reminiscent of the backs of the recent iPhone Pro models. As with all stainless steel appliances, you need to wipe it regularly to keep it looking its best. On the front, you’ll find two mirrored sets of controls. Each pair of slots has its own lever and rotary browning control. While this is marked from 1 to 6, it’s notchless and provides step-free adjustment. Immediately above is a cancel button, along with controls to enable the reheating, defrosting and bagel modes. Unfortunately, neither side has a single-slot button, so if you only fancy one slice (or three), you’ll be paying to heat an empty slot. The generous cord length means it’s easy to put this toaster where you want it. As you’d expect, you can wind up any slack inside the base. You’ll need to turn the toaster around to get at its two removable crumb trays. In the process, you might notice that the base itself is chromed plastic, but it’s not obvious at any other time. Cuisinart says this toaster has extra-deep slots, but I’m not convinced: I measured them at a middling 130mm. At 135mm long and 26mm wide, they’re also a bit shorter and narrower than most. Although in practice they easily swallow up home-baked slices of bread, bagels and cut baguettes, they’re a little small for regular supermarket bread. I had to lay sliced bread on its side to prevent the top end from poking out, and then it would only just fit in the available length, while some slices needed gentle cajoling into place. Conversely, finished toast isn’t raised that far out of the toaster – even when you use the levers’ extra lift. This toaster doesn’t exactly operate with oily precision. Its toasting slots aren’t damped, so you’ll hear them as they pop up, but they’re not too violent. Its browning controls and buttons feel a little old-school, but also as if they’d withstand quite a bit of use. For extra peace of mind, there’s a three-year warranty. It’s easy to read the dials, provided you’re not directly above them, but the buttons could do with slightly larger lettering.
Performance
Even and consistent toastingReasonable power use
In use, the Cuisinart Signature Collection four-slice toaster managed quite even toasting across the full range of breads I threw at it. Its thick bread guides did leave quite a noticeable grid pattern, but I felt this added a bit of character without affecting the quality of the toast. I found that setting 4 delivered a medium-light browning on chunky home-baked bread, while bagels toasted nicely at about level 2. Cuisinart rates this toaster at 1800W, but I measured one side at about 950W, with the other at 1kW – a total of just under 2kW when using all four slots. Toasting two slices of freshly baked white bread consumed 0.04kWh, while browning a cut bagel used 0.03kWh. Toast a bagel and two slices of bread every day and, at the current 34p per kWh price cap, you’ll pay less than £9 a year.
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It’s a shame its slots aren’t a little bigger and that the extra-lift levers don’t go a bit higher, but it’s generally a practical appliance and relatively easy to use. If you need a family toaster with a dash of style, this is a good choice. Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
