Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First the good, there is a lot to love here: This toaster toasted two pieces of bread very evenly, the outside heating elements were bright and the inside heating elements were dim, which is the perfect setup to evenly brown bread. The toasting took a little longer than usual, so the toast came out very crunchy all the way through. A single piece of bread toasted fairly evenly, but the inside was still slightly more toasted than the outside. The bagel setting was also impressive, the heating elements on the inside were bright and the outside elements were off. The 'lift and look' feature was excellent, and I really liked the slide bar to set the brown level, the flashing LED bar count down, and the 'a bit more' button. The motorized carriage and bread holders were also great except for their fatal flaw. The fatal flaw: The bread raising and lowering carriage would get stuck in the 'down' position once every three to five toasts. I would have to unplug it, shake it, and give it a firm slap or two to get it to un-jam. I called Breville about it and they said that bread crumbs jam the carriage pretty easily, but the inside of the toaster was spotless, so I think it's actually a design flaw with the carriage. I noticed that it would jam more often during the first toast, when it was still relatively cool, so I think the carriage would go down cold and contracted, expand during toasting, and then jam when it tried to raise back up due to the expansion. Needless to say I ended up returning the toaster and resuming my search for the elusive toaster that can evenly toast a single slice of bread.