My Cuisinart Toaster Excellent performance over the past 10 years. Until recently I wondered if it was showing signs of aging and maybe not baking as efficiently as it used to. At least for now, there’s nothing that can’t be fixed by another bake in short order.
Maybe the potential imminent drop of my Cuisinart is making me hesitant because I recently came across a “smart toaster” with some funky-sounding bells and whistles: promises of faster baking, new heating element design, And what the manufacturer calls a “smart baking algorithm.” “
I’m especially interested in faster toast making. Toast lovers tend to prefer when the slices are done to their preferred doneness on the outside but still moist and chewy on the inside, rather than the pesky slices that split in half when they take a bite. Speed certainly helps achieve this perfect balance.
Unlike the usual dials, levers, and buttons found on most toasters, Revolution Cooking’s dual-sink toaster is controlled by a touchscreen, and — cheer up — costs $350 to $400, which is a steal considering the competition. It’s crazy that a top-of-the-line double-bowl toaster costs between $30 and $100.
Touchscreen baking is an interesting change. In the Revolution, the screen sits neatly on one of the two narrowest faces of the toaster. This arrangement allows you to set the narrow side of the toaster forward, preventing it from taking up too much counter width. You can choose from settings such as Bread, Bagels, Instant Waffles, Toast Pastries (à la Pop-Tarts) or English Muffins, and then select the desired “degree of toast”. The two-slot R270 I’ve looked at has all of these options from its more basic R180, as well as separate bread-specific settings like sourdough, multigrain cinnamon swirls, and gluten-free options.
Sounds interesting. Who doesn’t want the best toast? Unfortunately, I’m having fun with the basics…like getting a $400 toaster to bake well. Getting strong and consistent results from just store-bought white bread and sourdough (meat and potatoes for most toast, if you will) is a bit out of the way of the revolution.
toast test
When you choose what to bake and how much you want, Revolution’s screen shows you what your toast should look like when it’s done. I’ve had some Franz yeast at home, either on bread or in a yeast environment, and it never really came out like the image on screen. Often, it doesn’t do well enough (especially if using frozen bread and a freezer setting) and isn’t uniform. To make matters worse, the toaster often leaves a slice of the bottom half inch unbaked, and it often fails to finish one of the bottom corners. If I toast again in the shortest cycle to fix any of these issues, my toast usually gets burnt.
