Five High

From gluten free to pastry settings, these devices have fine tuned the art of toast

By Michael KaminerOriginally Published Feb. 28, 2023

Photo: Balmuda

Photo: Balmuda

Heated wires powered the first electric toasters, whose patents were filed in 1906. More than a century later, toasters have almost become artisan tools, enabling the user to choose shades of toast, fine-tune tiers of crunch and even tweak heat levels to the chemical properties of gluten-free slices. High-tech flourishes, like touch screens, have replaced clunky manual controls of yore.

And while a prototype for a Bluetooth-activated toaster flopped in 2017, it can’t be long before you’re bidding Alexa or Siri to brown bread to your specifications.

Here are our selections for high-tech toasters.

Revolution

Revolution bills InstaGLO as “the world’s only high-speed smart toaster—and claims the line was the first to feature a touchscreen. Instead of coils, whose invention dates to the 19th century, the InstaGLO uses a proprietary heating element that reaches full glow in two seconds—and toasts your bread, bagel, English muffin or waffle before you can decide what to slather on it. Its 34 bread settings include gluten-free, “with algorithms tailored to the chemistry of non-gluten ingredients, for better results,” the company says. InstaGLO’s touch screen lets you select your desired shade and level of crispness; Revolution promises “crunchy outside, flavorful and moist inside.”

Revolution InstaGLO R180 is available for $349.95.

Revolution

Revolution

Balmuda

Balmuda

Balmuda

As The Wall Street Journal enthused last year: “This countertop appliance is deserving of its hype.” The subject of this ardor? A squat Japanese box whose steam technology and minimalist design have helped make it a TikTok phenomenon. Add water to the machine’s reservoir, and a fast-heating layer of steam envelops the bread; Balmuda The Toaster lightly toasts the surface, while maintaining moisture and flavor. Three temperature zones let you adjust your toast to your precise preferences. For even more exactitude, Balmuda the Toaster offers Sandwich Bread Mode, Artisan Bread Mode, Pizza Mode and a Pastry Mode.

Balmuda The Toaster is available for $299

Oster

A new-generation touchscreen toaster, Oster’s sleek appliance lets you program toasting with one swipe on its simple, well-designed program panel. A digital countdown timer displays your toast’s progress, and counts down time remaining in the toasting cycle so you will know exactly when it will be ready. The toaster features six toast shade settings, functions including bagel, reheat and frozen and a quick-check lever that elevates food to check browning without interruption.

Oster 4-Slice Toaster is available for $84.99.

Oster

Oster

Breville

Breville

Breville

Thoughtful engineering went into Breville’s handsome, brushed-aluminum appliance, which boasts wider slots to meet the demands of larger artisanal bread, thick bagels and dense pastries. Its “Lift & Look” and “A Bit More” features, apparently developed with user feedback, allow you to check on your toast or add a little extra time without interrupting the toasting cycle. An LED indicator lets you know how much time toasting will take, and settings like defrost, bagel, and fruit bread offer even more degrees of warmth.

Breville Smart Toaster is available for $209.95.

KitchenAid

KitchenAid’s beautifully designed toaster may be among the costliest appliances on the market—but it’s worth the bread. This four-slice automatic toaster is equipped with a host of features for effortless toasting. The automatic Keep Warm function keeps toast warm for up to three minutes after toasting. A lift-and-lower feature automatically lowers bread into the self-centering racks upon sensing bread in a slot, then hoists bread as soon as it’s reached the selected hue. Seven shade settings allow you to choose precisely how light or dark you want your toast. Bagel and frozen functions make it easy to toast bagels or defrost, too.

KitchenAid Pro Line Series is available for $499.

KitchenAid

KitchenAid