Breville VTT981 Edge 2-slice toaster review

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How easy is the Breville VTT981 Edge 2-slice toaster to use?

Operating this model is very straightforward for anyone who has ever used a toaster before, and easy to pick up even for anyone who hasn’t. We liked the way the function buttons (e.g. defrost) lit up with a subtle but attractive white light when being used. The cancel button also illuminates to remind you that is an option.

The browning control offers a very wide choice of nine options which enables you to get incredibly specific with your toasting levels, should you want.

If you can’t face choosing which setting to go for, there is another option. Just fling your toast in and then, using the toaster’s best feature, lift the lever to check how it’s getting on. Not ready? Then lower it again without interrupting the programme. Most of us have suffered the annoyance of under-done toast which, when returned to the toaster and restarted, ends up burnt. This does away with that problem, as long as you are happy to stand over it.

The toast sprang out impressively when done, apart from some smaller slices but the lifting function quickly sorted that out. The sides of the toaster got warm but not hot.

Breville VTT981 Edge 2-slice toaster results

The toaster has deep slots which dealt effectively with all sizes of loaf, including when tested with extra tall slices. The toast was brown right to the top. However, the two sides weren’t evenly browned with one side quite a lot darker than the other when we tested it on settings four and five.

Toasting was fairly quick, though of course different breads took different times. You do need to adapt the settings according to which bread you use; one loaf tested fine on level 5 but a different one became burnt. It averaged around 2 mins 10 on an ordinary loaf on setting 5 (the middle setting), with a similar time using the defrost function.

Conclusion

We liked the ease of operating this toaster – it’s all pretty intuitive – and the lift function in particular. This would work well for smaller families (or those where only one person eats toast). But it lost half a point for uneven browning.

Breville Edge 2-slice toaster specifications

Wattage: 1050 watts
Product weight: 2.17kg
Size: H21.6, W29.5, D19cm.

Key features

Bagel function: no
Defrost function: yes
Cancel button: yes
Manufacturer warranty: one year
Removable crumb tray: yes
Wide slots: yes

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