This Smart Toaster Will Heat Your Bagels, Muffins, Or Toast In 15 Seconds Flat

If you’ve been burned (literally or figuratively) by toasters in the past, you may think there is no such thing as a toaster that evenly toasts all types of bread on both sides. Good toasters exist… kind of. As is the case with most, if not all, appliances, they just don’t make toasters like they used to, and many expensive toasters simply aren’t worth the extra cash because of their tendency to break after 5 to 10 years.

According to Nicole Papantoniou, the Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances & Culinary Innovation Lab, “Toasters are designed to give you even heating on both sides, so yes, they exist, but it gets a little trickier when you toast a single slice because of how the heating elements work. But yes, it is possible.”

Toasters are one of the most essential small appliances in your kitchen. After all, what other kitchen tools can easily elevate a slice of buttered cinnamon swirl bread, or pillowy milk bread slathered in avocado or chunky peanut butter? Or have you ever had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with toasted bread? Life-changing. But before we get ahead of ourselves, you'll need to actually pick up that toaster, and there are actually a lot of options and upgrades to choose from.

We sat down with Papantoniou, who has 10 years of experience helping home chefs like yourself find the best appliances and gadgets, to discuss her team’s tireless work to find the best 4-slice, 2-slice, and long-slot toasters on the market—a.k.a. ones that that can fit a full slice of homemade bread while looking chic on your kitchen counter. Check them out below, so you can find your favorite and get to toastin’.

Want more than just your run-of-the-mill toaster? Allow us to introduce you to the humble toaster’s more evolved cousins, the toaster oven and air fryer toaster oven. (You’re welcome.)

Our top picks

• Best Toaster: Cuisinart CPT-122 2-Slice Compact Toaster
• Best Budget Toaster: Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster
• Best Splurge Toaster: Revolution InstaGLO R180 Toaster
• Most Versatile Toaster: Cuisinart CPT-2500 Long Slot Toaster
• Most Stylish Toaster: Smeg 2-Slice Toaster
• Best 4-Slice Toaster: KRUPS Savoy 4-Slice Toaster
• Best Smart Toaster: Breville Die-Cast 2-Slice Smart Toaster
• Best Toaster with Window: Dash 2-Slice Long Slot Clear View Toaster

How we picked these products

To find the best toaster, we turned to our friends at the Good Housekeeping Institute, who have identified the most reliable brands and highest-rated toasters and put them to the test. Their team of on-staff experts—which includes all types: engineers! data analysts! registered dietitians!—rigorously put everyday products to the test (and then more and more tests) in their New York City-based labs to determine which ones you can trust.

These Kitchen Tech Experts put a ton of toasters (over 58—that’s a lot of bread!) through rigorous tests to analyze their ease of use, consistency, surface temperature, efficiency, cleanability, slot capacity, temperature range, and performance. After reviewing their findings and discussing their road tests in-depth with Papantoniou, we’ve determined that these are the best toasters you can buy in 2022.