KitchenAid KMT423CU 4-Slice Toaster, Contour Silver

KitchenAid finally develped a toaster with the automatic lower and raise features. This was a notable feature on the Sunbeam Toastmaster toaster of the 1950s. I grew up with this toaster and still use it. I purchased another on Ebay for a back up. Anyone who has followed these on Ebay knows how much people value these features. I've been amazed that the toaster companies have not caught on sooner and developed a version which KitchenAid finally has. This toaster has some improvements over it's older predecessor. It has a very nice blue readout of the heating time which is adjustable with the front knobs. It also has wider slots for bagels and English muffins. I made an English muffin last night, and it was perfect. It also has reheat and defrost settings which I have not used yet.
The auto up and down features work well. No more toast jumping out of the toaster. I have read other reviews complaining of the beep informing you of the toast being done. This is no different than my...Read more

It would seem that the perfect toaster has not been invented but this is close... Here's some stats and info. On a setting of number 2 (1-7) it will take about 2 min 30 seconds to toast your average piece of bread. Setting 4 would be required for an english muffin that would take about 4.5 minutes. The slots easily accommodate the popular 5.25 in. wide bread that is common today. The slots are 5.5 in. by about 1.25 (the slot is wider but that's the usable dimension).

The heating wires really don't glow red except if you look at them in the dark. This sort of design is meant to use a lower temperature to get a more even "toasting" vs. the glowing red, quick toasting variety. The idea on this unit is that the entire heating surface becomes warm versus just the wires. The heating wires are flush against their mounting surface. I think this contributes to durability of the heating elements and safety. The unit does a pretty good job of toasting evenly. The bread itself is a...Read more

I am so impressed with this toaster! It works better than any toaster I've ever owned. We toast things every single day and sometimes multiple times a day. This toaster toasts evenly. I've never had toast come out so perfectly.

What I like most about this toaster are the multiple features. I like the automated "push down" and "coming up" feature. There's no "digging" down and burning your fingers trying to get what you've toasted out of the toaster. I love that this toaster doesn't have any cheap levers to push down (ours always seem to get cracked or break off completely). I love that there are multiple cooking options (defrost, bagel, reheat, etc...). The countdown on the display is very helpful too.

My only complaint is the beeping sound. It's SO loud! It beeps once when you put the toast in and beeps three times when the toast comes up. I wish there was either a volume setting or a way to shut this feature off all together. This is my own...Read more