After searching for over a month and one-half, I finally came upon this beautifully designed and ombré finished toaster by Black & Decker. I will state now that I have never been a fan of B&D, but this is my second product by them and I have so far been impressed with both products and this toaster is the second of two products I like.
I want to get the obvious out of the way and that is about the finish. Ombré is a French term meaning ‘having multiple colors blending into each other.’ Also, it’s very easy to clean and is very easy to clean off dirt, grime and fingerprints—especially fingerprints. In fact, this finish is very resilient to fingerprints.
What I have tested for the past two hours are many toastings of white, whole wheat, whole grain, rye, and oat bran breads, hot dog and hamburger buns, English muffins, PopTarts, and bagels. Not only did it toast all these breads very well it toasted each type of pastry or bread perfectly. The only thing I had to learn is which shade number to select for each. The really nice thing about the shade selection dial is it has one-half settings between each whole number from .5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 all the way to 7. The half notches allows one to select a smaller interval for a small increase or decrease of the amount of browning. All I had to do was to learn which selector number was best for each type of bread or pastry. That meant several toastings for each type of bread; however, I hit the jackpot on the first try thanks to the purchasers’ remarks that the toaster is slow to toast. Is 10-15 seconds longer than my superb English-handmade toaster really that long? I don’t think so.
On that particular note, I found that to be true in fact, but not in a bad way but for the good. A slower toasting to the perfect color allows the bread or pastry to have a hotter pastry Filling and the outside perfectly brown according to the choice of color made on the dial. I found that when toasting PopTarts that the fillings were much hotter than with my English-handmade toaster yet beautifully toasted on the outside—something no other toaster has been able to do. Vying the English-handmade toaster against the B&D was really no contest. The English toaster over-toasted the PopTarts in a couple of slots along the top of the pastry, and in no way toasted the fruit filling to the same temperature (as hot) of the Black & Decker. Timing the B&D, I found that with the approximate same setting, it took about 10 to 15 seconds longer than the English toaster which, as I stated earlier, is a good thing.
And for all types of bread, this toaster gave me evenly browned pieces from top to bottom and corner to corner. What I thought was going to be the end result wasn’t true at all—because it appeared that in one of the slots, the heating elements was not working. But since the heating elements run horizontally across the board, there would be no way for a middle section in the heating to not be working. I am glad that was not the case. The element at that point simply wasn’t visible.
This, like so many other toasters today, has a button for canceling the toasting cycle, has a button for toasting frozen breads or pastries, has a reheat button, and has a button for toasting bagels, English muffins, and buns that toast one side and heat the other, providing you place the bread or pastry in the toaster slot facing the right direction.
I also toasted some PopTarts and a cheese and tomato sandwich using my sandwich cages made for my English-handmade toaster. This was the one test I could not predict the outcome. In fact, I wasn’t sure if it would even work with the cages. These cages are specifically made for the English toasters because everything toasted does not pop up after the toasting is complete. This toaster like most toasters has either a manual or an automatic riser where the user pushes down the lever or depresses a button which activates the riser to lower the toast or pastry into the well of the toaster and then pops up after the toasting cycle is completed. In this toaster, the cages are quite heavy and when the toasting cycle is complete, the risers which will ordinarily pop up do not do so because the weight of the cages is too heavy. The user has to manually remove the cagers from the toaster for the risers to come up all the way. The good thing is that the risers do pop up high enough to cease the toasting cycle. The sandwich is absolutely toasted perfectly with the slice of cheese nicely melted and very hot ultimately making a toasted cheese but not a grilled cheese sandwich. And, one more thing—both pieces of bread were lightly buttered on both sides of the bread and placed on the outside so that the buttered sides face the heating elements. I must stress the word LIGHTLY, otherwise the butter will melt into the bottom of the toaster and/or crumb trays.
All in all, to date, this toaster is the perfect toaster that anyone could ask for. How long this toaster will last before I have to call my Extended Warranty policyholder to either replace it or pay me for it’s purchase price at that time I can’t predict. So I will have to wait and see. One thing you can be sure of is that I will update this review at that time, if at all. At this time, I am keeping my fingers crossed. I do use the toaster three times a day in all four slots giving it a run for its money.
The other really great thing is the price of the toaster. Less than $50 for the perfect toaster is a gift. The ones who have give negative reviews really must have gotten lemons or they simply don’t know how to work a toaster.
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From the manufacturer
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Pull Out Crumb TrayCleanup is easy and your counter stays crumb-free. |
Shade SelectorChoose from seven toast shades with a simple knob. |
Extra LiftThe high-lift lever puts toast safely into reach for easy removal. |
Self-Centering GuidesThe guides adjust to any width, keeping bread in the perfect toasting position. |
Black+Decker 4-Slice Extra-Wide Slot Toaster, Bagel Toaster, Stainless Steel, Ombré Finish
The Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster features extra wide slots to fit thick bagels and all types of breads. The shade selection knob ranges from 1-7, and the one-touch bagel and frozen functions adjust toasting for ideal results. Plus, the ombré styling on the stainless steel exterior will look great in your kitchen.
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This Item  BLACK+DECKER 4-Slice Extra-Wide Slot Toaster, Stainless Steel, Ombré Finish, TR4310FBD,Black/Silver Ombre |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $79.99 | -11% $80.00 List: $89.95 | $24.99 | -17% $49.99 List: $59.99 | -9% $40.00 Typical: $43.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22 | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22 | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22 | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22 | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Easy to clean | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Temperature Control | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Enchante Direct | America Vitmi |
| material | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | — | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel |
| number of settings | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| number of programs | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| voltage | — | 120 volts | 220 volts | — | 120 volts | — |
| wattage | — | 1650 watts | 1800 watts | — | 825 watts | 925 watts |
| dishwasher safe | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | — |
| weight | — | 2.8 kilograms | 7 pounds | — | — | 4.75 pounds |
Reviews with images
Love this large 4 piece toaster. Very pretty & functional
I love the umbre look. This is a large 4 piece toaster maybe not the best if you're trying to conserve counter space but it does look beautiful! The body is not too high shine which makes it easy to clean and hide smudges. Makes perfect toast and bagels every time. It's nice to have the defrost function and is overall a asset to our kitchen.
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