Dualit 4 Slice Toaster Cream 40354

Do you like Aga's, flagstone floors and Golden Retrievers? Do you remember when summers were hot and winters cold? When you could go out with a quid in your pocket, have a good evening and still come home with ten bob change? Well then this may be just the toaster for you. Robust, traditional and evocative of a simpler age.

The trouble with nostalgia though, is that it comes with its built-in trash filter, something that makes you forget all the not-so-good aspects of things past. Like the fact that, however cute they were, a lot of things back then didn't actually work very well. TV pictures (black and white) ghosted in and out of focus, cars invariably broke down on the family holiday, and if you went anywhere on the weekend, well it was shut.

This item is similar. It looks great, but ask it to do its basic job, expecting in return a uniform, golden slice, and you'll be disappointed. Truth is, you'd be better off throwing the bread up into the air, while your other half tries to incinerate it on the way down with a blowlamp.

In other words, the output is a tad variable. Heat distribution internally is poor, with the result that, no matter how you play with the clockwork (no really, it is) timer, one side will always come out more done than the other. Even on the same side, one part can be almost black while the rest is as white as, well, untoasted bread, really. Thin bread is better than thick (walk away after inserting thick bread and you'll be able to communicate your annoyance to the manufacturers by smoke signals).

However, all is not bad news. For a start, Dualit obviously have a sense of humour, something that is clear by the price. Since no-one with even the most basic grip on reality would pay the RRP, it is necessary to do some internet shopping around. I bought from 'Armorica' and they undercut the list price by some 20%. Still a hefty whack though...

On the real plus side, the unit is strong enough withstand a 2 Megaton nuclear weapon, something that might come in handy if our relationship with Russia gets any worse. The unit also gets top marks for environmental sustainability, as parts are readily available and there is therefore no need to throw it away just because an element stops working.

There have been no actual problems with reliability, with all switches etc being chunky and solid enough to last for years. The enamel casing cleans easily, but beware the central stainless steel panel, it will scratch even with the gentle use of a nylon scourer.

In use, it would appeal to people whole loathe the complexity of modern gadgets, with their digital displays and incomprehensible instruction books. However, one can't help but think that, in this case the makers have gone a little bit too far the other way.

You don't quite have to bang the rocks together to make the fire, but it's definitely a hands on process. Here's how it works: you raise the manual lever, insert the bread, set the switch to 2 or 4 slice, lower the lever, and then turn the clockwork timer however far you fancy. As it whirrs away, you can then hover over it, alternately raising and lowering the lever to see how the toast is doing. It helps also if you rotate the pieces, and perhaps swap slots a couple of times - so long as you have asbestos fingers. It's not for the lethargic then.

You might think that I'd hate the Dualit, but I don't. The fact is that I just love it's looks and have an inbuilt, if irrational, prejudice against any piece of machinery that tries to take control away from the Human Being. This piece of kit may be a bit neolithic in approach, but it does bring an entertaining element of uncertainty, even danger, back into the food gathering and eating process.

I wouldn't swap it now, but on the otherhand I suspect that I may not be typical. Unsure as to whether I'd get another.

This is a piece of engineering that I will be admiring all of my life. It cooks the toast in about 1 minute and the elements do not even glow red.
Even milimetre of this toaster is carefully pondered upon. My partner was aghast when I told him how much it cost but he has conceded and admitted that it is a fine piece of craftsmanship

I totally agree with the comments (eg.HH). This toaster is like having a characterful old relative sitting in your kitchen, you are never quite sure of the mood it is going to be in, except you know that it is going to be a bad one. For uneven, unreliable toasting results every time, can this toaster be beaten? I have had burnt round the edge with no browning inside the toast on one side and a slight patchy shimmer of brown on the other, and that is in the same slot - now how do they achieve that? Each slot too has it's own character and charm, no two toasts come out the same, not only at the same time, but each time you attempt to use it. Fiendish!

(I love their comment that it does not pop up when the toast is done so - "your toast stays warm for longer", it does not pop because it hasn't got a clue whether the toast is lightly done, purfect or cindered as the clockwork timer has no relevance to the outcome, and with the patchwork of coverage on each slice being all of these, how could it!)

I bought it because it suits my kitchen decor, and of course that has not changed. But I realise now that my shallowness has left me with a toaster rather like an old dowager, something that takes up a lot of room and certainly adds some character, just not quite in the way I had hoped: for dowager looks and character with similar solid build, it certainly does do the job. I think the thing to do is buy another proper toaster, so that once your visitors have gone, you can deftly (not easy considering the dualit toaster weight, I know) put the dualit away in the cupboard get the other out and then make yourself some tea and toast.