Toasters: How we test toasters

We've received lots of comments from Which? readers about the qualities of a perfect toaster and we've taken these into account in our testing programme, to ensure that your concerns are at the heart of our tests.

Changes to our testing

We check how much of the toast is a nice golden brown colour

The perfect toast

Previously we've tested how evenly a toaster can brown a wide range of different bread products, but we found that the ones which didn't toast standard loaves very well tended to not to toast other products evenly either.

So we've now simplified our tests by only using one type of bread to measure the evenness of browning.

This bread, a supermarket thick white, is a highly standardised slice; it’s a consistent shape and just the right size to fit in the average toaster.

It’s thick enough to stand in the bread chamber without sagging unduly and each slice is also exactly as fresh as the others on test, so the moistness of the bread won't affect our results.

We make six rounds of toast with each model, three with fresh bread and three with frozen. We measure toasting time, the amount of the slice which is toasted (we call this the browning coverage) and the evenness of this browning. We compare each side of every slice made.

Big slices aren't going to fit in this toaster

Other bread products

People want toasters that can handle loaves, crumpets, bagels and teacakes. We also know that people want to toast slices of homemade bread, which are larger than the standard-sized supermarket loaves. 

To see how well toasters cope with the different sizes of bread, we use our cardboard templates, which mimic the size, shape and thickness of some common bread slices, to find out how versatile each toaster can be.

We use them in all our tests to check whether each toaster slot is able to accommodate thick and thin, large, small and oddly shaped bread products.

We test whether a slice will fit in the slot with the bread carriage and down, how well the bread is supported in the toasting chamber and whether it is possible to remove the slice easily and without burning your fingers.

Our tests in numbers

Loading the toasters

Over the years, our expert lab has used hundreds of loaves of bread to ensure the toasters are tested thoroughly. We look at the toast made in each slot, front and back, before deciding how evenly a toaster can brown a slice.

Our tests take eight weeks to complete and involve a team of electrical safety experts who check that each toaster is safe. A team of three performance assessors make hundreds of rounds of toast during the course of their work.

None of the toast is wasted. It is either eaten by staff at the laboratory or fed to the local wildlife, which makes for some very happy squirrels.

Ease of use

We check how easy it is to operate the toaster from a number of different perspectives. We look for clear and helpful instructions that set out exactly how the toaster can be used safely.

We check that all buttons and dials are clearly identified, that it is easy to understand what they do from the way they are labelled and that they are easy to operate.

We look for a crumb tray that is easy to open without spilling its crumbs, is easy to empty and replace in the toaster.

Measuring the heat

Safety and build quality

Our tests concentrate on the performance of toasters, not their durability, so we can't guarantee that our Best Buys will last you a lifetime.

But we do consider how well-built they are and will always highlight models that shows signs of shoddy manufacture, or if we have concerns over their safety, in our individual product descriptions.

We measure how hot the casing of the toaster gets at several different places on the toaster and penalise those models that get unreasonably hot on areas other than the top.

We check that the toaster is electrically safe by testing it against appropriate British Standards.