Dualit Vario

After getting over spending £130 on a toaster, I purchased my Dualit 2+1 Combi Toaster. I could not wait to get some bread in it to make some toast. 1 minute and 45 seconds it took to produce golden toast, twice as fast as my other - cheaper toasters. Very impressed. Because it toasts so much faster, it does not dry out the centre of the toast, instead leaves the toast with a delicate cruchy outer, and fluffy, moist inner.

The element does not glow like other toasters, but all the energy is put into raw heat. The heating element is wound close together and is covered with a clear, heat proof coating, unlike the cheaper ones which are spread apart and exposed. I have the three slice toaster which has a three way selector to make either one, two or three slices, so energy efficient. Its a little wierd at first using this as you wind a mechanical timer each time to the setting you require, which is actually really easy to use after a few goes. It's nice to have it all manual as it makes you feel in total control. I love the way you can lift the toast while cooking, without turning off the heaters, allowing you to monitor the level of toasting, but I find set at 2 is perfect every time. Because there are no apparent hot spots on the elements, the toast comes out evenly toasted.

Overall, it just feels like a very quality toaster, nothing tinny anywhere, very solid. Worth paying the extra, because no other toaster I have used, produces toast as light (and hot) as this one. The toast from my old toasters cooled very quickly, but bizarrly, toast from the Dualit stayed hot on my plate for longer. Wierd.

Very much recommended for those who want the best, not the cheapest toaster. Worth every penny.