The only toaster you'll ever have to buy

“Can’t a man get a decent piece of toast any more?”

This was my question as I went on a search to find a toaster that wouldn’t leave me flinging scorched squares of sourdough across the kitchen. Kitchen Aid’s KMTT400 – the red and silver beauty pictured above – was the answer to my question.

At first I paused at the idea of a hundred dollar toaster, but when I thought of how many toasters I’ve gone through in the past six years, the hundred dollars seemed more like an investment than an indulgence. Besides, the only requirement my wife put on my search was that it had to be a 4-slicer, so she couldn’t object to the price. Naturally, this theory proved wrong, but the quality won her over in the end.

To begin with the KMTT400 has 10 toasting settings on a dial that are “set”. That is to say, a 4 is a 4 and you can feel it click into place. Too many of my old toasters were a regular knob that if it was jarred ever so slightly from it’s perfect setting would render a piece of toast that looked more like a Rorschach ink blot than something that goes well with butter and jam.

The toaster I had before this one seemed to go out of it’s way to infuriate me. The bottom of the toast would be burnt while the top 1/8^th of an inch would remain virtually unchanged. On toaster waffles it would perform an amazing bit of magic by failing to hold the waffle in place firmly causing a sad little sag at the bottom of each waffle once it popped out. No such worries with the KMTT400 – each piece of toast comes out perfectly even and my Eggos retain their shape beautifully (much better than I do in fact, probably owing to one too many Eggos).

The KMTT400 also features a special setting for bagels and english muffins, allowing for toasting the sliced side while warming and ever-so-gently browning what I refer to as the bagel butt. In addition, there’s a special setting that allows you to warm up your toast without browning it any further. I’ve yet to use this feature as I am now so happy with my toast that it never has to time to cool down before it is safely in my belly.

My wife was a bit concerned about keeping the stainless steel clean (her exact words I believe were – “that gets to be your job, Mr. Hundred Dollar Toaster.”), but it seems finger-print resistant and cleans easily with a damp cloth.

Based on my experience with other products from Kitchen Aid, I fully expect this toaster to last at least 20 years. When you break it down, that’s only $5/year. Even if I only have toast once a week, that amounts to only a nickel a slice. That my friends, is a price this man will gladly pay for a decent piece of toast.