West Bend 78122 Performance Series 2-Slice Infrared Toaster

We had a Krumps toaster that didn't toast evenly or consistantly. When I saw the "infrared" toaster to toast quickly and the low price we figured we'd try it. We like trying new stuff. Well, we just returned it.
It does have large slots. So wide you can watch the toast burn. We never tried anything but white bread. The "infrared" is two tightly wound (1/4") heating coils on each side of the slots, with reflectors to spread the heat. The two coils amazingly produced even heating over the entire surface of a slice of bread if it's in the center of the slot.
It did toast a little bit faster about 80 seconds for med. to dark toast. What we didn't think of, was that if you toast quickly with really hot elements, the highest outer surfaces of the bread will burn (producing smoke), the inner crevasses will be brown and the inside of the slice will be soft and cool. It takes -time- under heat to gently heat a slice of bread giving it a firm texture and toasted flavor...Read more

Wonderful! Fast and makes toast the 'old fashioned way' Nicely browned but not dried out.

I bought this because the toasters I've owned were lousy to varying degrees and the infrared idea seemed like a good one. It is. The toast comes out not perfect but damn close - and it's fast! Also the quality of construction is high. This is a great buy, but I doubt many will take advantage of it because most people are afraid of trying something different.