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My Cuisinart toaster It has performed beautifully for the past 10 years. I wondered if it was just showing signs of age recently, maybe not baking as efficiently as it used to. At least for now, it’s not something that can’t be fixed by picking up one more time on a short cycle.
Perhaps my lack of Cuisinart potential made me slow down when I recently came across a “smart toaster”; Some fancy bells and whistles: promises faster toasting, a new heating-element design, and what the manufacturer calls “smart toasting algorithms.”
I was especially interested in that quick toast recipe. Toast lovers love it when the outside is done to your chosen level of doneness, but the inside is moist and chewy, not a nasty piece that breaks in half when you bite into it. Speed definitely helps achieve that perfect balance.
Instead of the dials, levers, and buttons that are common on most toasters, Revolution Cooker’s two-slot toasters are controlled by a touch screen, and brace yourself—they come with a price tag of $350 to $400, which is great considering the competition. Top-rated dual-slot toasters cost between $30 and $100.
Toasting the touchscreen is a nice change. On the Revolution, that screen is cleverly placed on one of the two narrow faces of the station. This arrangement allows you to place the narrow side of the bread forward, thus preventing it from taking up too much counter width. You choose from settings such as bread, bagel, instant waffle, toaster cake (à la Pop-Tarts) or English muffin, then the desired level of “toasty”. The two-intake R270 I looked at has all of these options, which come in at the more basic R180, and things like sourdough, a multi-grain cinnamon swirl, and a gluten-free option.
Sounds interesting. Who doesn’t want the best for their meat? Unfortunately, I spend time with the basics…like getting a $400 toaster to bake well. Getting a solid, consistent result from store-bought white bread and yeast — mostly roast beef and potatoes, if you will — was beyond the revolution’s reach.
Toast test
As you choose what to cook and desired level of doneness, the revolution screen will show you what your toast should look like when it’s done. I had some french yeast at home, and whether it was on the bread or the yeast setting, it never came out like the picture on the screen. Typically, it was underdone (especially if you used frozen bread and the frozen setting) and uneven. To make matters worse, the toaster often left the bottom half-inch piece untouched and often had trouble making one of the bottom corners. If I re-roast on the low cycle to correct one of these problems, my roast comes out mostly burnt.
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