Cuisinart CPT-170 Brushed Stainless Steel 2-Slice Toaster with Countdown Timer

Cuisinart CPT-190 Brushed Stainless Steel 4-Slice Toaster with Countdown Timer When our guests began standing on the opposite side of the kitchen in order to throw a slice of bread into our old Sunbeam toaster like a basket ball through a hoop, we knew it was time for a new one. The Cuisinart CPT-190 Four Slice Toaster is undoubtedly the most used & highly prized kitchen appliance we own, with the exception of the refrigerator. My husband is the cook in our family & as a result has a free hand choosing which kitchen appliances we purchase. Thankfully, he is also a very frugal person & not willing to sacrifice quality he has mastered the art of locating & cinching a good deal. My only concern is that I find the appliance aesthetically pleasing. Having found a toaster with all the features we wanted & great reviews to boot, my husband began his customary price comparisons between various retailers both on line & brick & mortar. As much as we both wanted it, we simply could not justify spending $160 for a toaster & decided we would live without it. After all, a $60 toaster would do the same job & just as well, we hoped. Nevertheless, my husband kept an eye out for a deal on the Cuisinart. Imagine my amazement when he announced that he had finally found the toaster of our dreams on Amazon for LESS than HALF the PRICE the previously stated retailers were asking for it! Having used this toaster for several months now, I am happy to report we have not had the first problem with it. It toasts much faster than the interim toaster we had purchased prior to finding the Cuisinart CPT-190 on Amazon. We enjoy the "Four Slice" option immensely as now we may sit down to eat our toast together without either sacrificing hot toast in order to do so. The "Countdown Timers take all the guess work out of when the toast will pop up. The Blue Backlit LCD Timers remain lit at all times. Not certain why, but they do. Other Reviewers have complained about this but we feel they make a great night light. We have used the "Defrost" feature which is extremely convenient for taking muffins, bagels, etc straight from the freezer into the toaster. Cannot comment on the "Reheat" function as we have not had a reason to use it yet. For all of it's features it is not a complicated appliance to use. Even someone like myself who cannot find her way around in a kitchen can operate it. In addition, I am enamored by the brushed stainless finish which matches our other kitchen appliances & the back splash above & behind our stove. This Cuisinart CPT-190 Toaster from Amazon is an affordable, extremely functional, very attractive addition to our kitchen & we highly recommend it to anyone in the market for a new four slice toaster.

After years of making do with toaster ovens (several of them, all of which were mediocre at toasting) my wife and I decided to spring for a dedicated toaster. We bought a Cuisinart CPT-190. We have used it for several months, and have found it to be very good at making toast (which is, after all, the reason for buying it. It has a nice compact design for a 4 slice toaster and fits well on a narrow side counter. The stainless steel housing blends in nicely with our kitchen.It produces reasonably consistent (in terms of color) toast from one batch to the next, it toasts fairly evenly, and it has a satisfactorily wide range of adjustment. It has two independent sets of controls for each half of the toaster. The backlit LCD countdown timer lets you know, down to the second, when your toast will be ready (yes, it's a little bit of overkill, but I'm a gadget freak) and it doubles as a night light.However, it does have some drawbacks. First, and most annoying, it sheds crumbs. It has crumb trays that can be pulled out and emptied, but the trays don't catch most of the crumbs inside. Every time I pick it up it sheds crumbs, even after shaking it out, turning it over and shaking it some more. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this issue until after we had it for a few weeks, or I would have considered returning it.Also, it has some minor usability issues. There are 3 LEDs on each side, next to the mode buttons, that illuminate when the corresponding button is pressed. This is helpful, but there's nothing to indicate that the toaster is on, except for the timer counting down, when none of the mode buttons is pressed. It should have another LED to indicate when it is on, or else the backlight in the timer display should turn off when the toaster is not on.Another minor issue is the bagel mode, which is of dubious value: it lengthens the cycle time, but doesn't change the heat setting so that the inside of the bagel is toasted more (less?) than the outside, as some other toasters do.Finally, the toast slots do not accommodate long slices of bread. I knew this when I bought it, but I opted for this model because of the compact square shape. Now I find that the short toast slots are more of a drawback than I had anticipated, and I would prefer a long slot model.

This toaster was top rated in Consumer Reports magazine and we concur with their findings. Toast and bagles consistently turn out perfect time after time. The count down timer is a very handy feature as it allow me to make a perfect breakfast, as I can time everything to be piping hot when served. The blue backlight is a little bright in a totally dark kitchen and if you have sticky fingers when you push the buttons it does leave fingerprints on the stainless steel surface, but they are easily wiped off with a damp cloth. I was also suprised at how handy the rewarm feature was for those times when you might get distracted but want to have melted butter on your toast. Then there are those times where you have to grab bread out of the freezer- the frozen button worked great and still allowed great toast. It is nice to get to use a product that I can actually give very high ratings to. It may be a little bit more expensive than the toasters we owned previously, but it is so nice to get to use a well engineered product. Perfect toast is a nice feature too...