I was getting progressively angrier with my previous toaster as it was providing very inconsistent results. Sometimes it would undercook the toast and sometimes it would produce charcoal. It also cooked unevenly. So I got a better toaster - Cuisinart CPT-65. It normally sells for over a hundred dollars, but I got a reconditioned model for less than $20, shipping included.

Size and Capacity

You can see how the toaster looks below. To see more pictures of this toaster that I took, click on the link below:

Click here for more pictures of Cuisinart CPT-65FR Toaster

The toaster I got is white (I would prefer a black or, better yet, stainless steel finish). It is rather large and fits 4 slices of regular bread. This addresses another shortcoming of the previous toaster. The previous one could only fit 2 slices of regular bread and was unable to accommodate relatively long slices from the middle of the round loafs I get at Trader Joe’s. The CPT-65 fits them easily (it has two extra wide and long slots).

Controls

This toaster is not exactly cheap (if bought new), but I see several reasons why. One is its performance (below), the other is controls and options you get.

The front panel of this toaster features a 7-step LED readout with buttons on left and right ("Lighter" and "Darker") to increase or decrease the degree of browning. Other buttons are "Defrost", "Bagel", "2 Slice" and "Reheat".

These four buttons have red LEDs over them to indicate what mode is activated. You can use them in combinations, e.g. "2 Slice"+"Defrost", "Bagel"+"Defrost", etc. There is also a "Cancel" button that cancels toasting and clears your selected settings (otherwise the toaster remembers your settings for the next time).

It is recommended by the manual that you first start the toasting by pushing the lever down and only then selected the toasting mode. However, all modes can be selected before with the exception of 2-Slice.

Defrost

Adds time to defrost and then toast.

Bagel

Adds time to brown bagels and other thick items like muffins.

Reheat

Reheats without browning. Cannot be combined with "Defrost".

2 Slice

Turns off the heating elements in the second slot if you are only using one slot with one or two slices in it to avoid overcooking. If you are using one slice only, you can select this mode and lower the browning couple of steps down from you desired degree of browningness.

Performance

I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The toasts are uniformly browned and the "Defrost" button works well, ditto the "2 Slice" button. The toaster also has a slide-out crumb tray, which makes cleaning easy.

Photo

To see more pictures of this toaster that I took, click on the link below:

Click here for more pictures of Cuisinart CPT-65FR Toaster

Overall Product Rating

This review is also available at Epinions.com