The best long-slot toasters

The best long slot toaster delivers on both performance and aesthetics. The Breville "A Bit More" Long Slot Toaster has a brushed stainless steel exterior, giving it a polished and modern look. The control buttons are clearly labeled with words and steady LED lights. We appreciated the progress light parallel to the browning switch, which removed any "how much longer do we need to wait?" guesswork.

The Breville toaster successfully toasted standard slices of bread and sliced bagels, and thanks to the "Frozen" control option, we got an even brown on frozen slices. However, the "A Bit More" button really sets it apart. If your toast pops up and you're not happy with its level of brownness, you can hit "A Bit More" to give it a slightly longer toast cycle that's calibrated to darken the bread one more shade without the risk of burning.

Another thoughtful design feature is the High Lift lever, which helps lift the toast away from the heat source so you don't burn your fingers. The lever also has a "Lift and Look" notch that will lift the bread mid-toast so that you can check on its progress without interrupting the cycle. Plus, the crumb tray is flat enough to be fully concealed when using the toaster and spacious enough to catch any errant crumbs or seeds. 

This toaster's price feels reasonable for its overall quality, and we recommend it for families, shared living situations, and any household that really enjoys toasted bread products.

Read our full Breville Long-Slot Toaster review to learn more.

For the best-rated long-slot toaster on a budget, the Dash ClearView Long Slice Toaster is the way to go. The streamlined model can easily be tucked into a small countertop corner or kitchen cabinet, and its plastic facade hides scratches and dings. 

The Dash ClearView is easy to operate; you just push down on the side lever to toast a room-temperature piece of bread. You have settings for bagels or frozen bread, and the temperature knob provides seven browning levels. We were impressed by the Dash ClearView's speed: it toasted a bagel in just 2 minutes and 20 seconds and fully frozen slices of bread in 2 minutes and 35 seconds. By contrast, the Breville that earned our top-rated position required 3 minutes and 5 seconds to toast frozen bread.

Our favorite feature on the Dash is the Clear View: a window on the front of the device allows you to watch the toasting process. If you don't like surprises, you'll find the Dash ClearVIew's window as reassuring as it is fun to watch. For more details, read our Dash ClearView Toaster review.

A splurge-worthy appliance must feature striking visuals and a superior ability to do its job; the Zwilling Enfinigy 2 Long Slot Toaster succeeds on both fronts. The toaster's gentle curves and matte stainless steel finish feel crisp and modern. With LED lights that illuminate the control buttons, the setting symbols are cleverly designed and easy to interpret. 

The Enfinigy 2's slots are spacious and capable of handling irregular bread slice shapes, along with multiple standard slices and bagel halves at once. We found that the toast level was even on all tested bread products, the timing was efficient (two and a half minutes for frozen bread and just over two minutes for bagels), and the concealed crumb drawer right at the front of the machine made post-toasting cleanup simple. The temperature knob offers seven browning options, and the push lever can be used to lift the bread out of the slots safely and smoothly.

Smeg appliances regularly appear in upscale interior design spreads and aspirational influencer posts, and that's because these retro-inspired items are as photographable as they are useful. The top-rated Smeg 4-Slice Toaster can be purchased in eight enamel colors, all with a sleek stainless steel control panel. The toaster features a push lever, temperature knob with a reheat setting, Defrost button, and Bagel button. We did notice that the decal on the Bagel button is more reminiscent of a baguette than a bagel. 

Our testing proved that, at least in the case of the 4-Slice Toaster, Smeg isn't just a pretty face. We experienced quick and easy toasting for standard bread, frozen bread, and bagels — the dark gold color of each toasted bread product was as photogenic as the toaster itself. The extra wide slots can easily fit multiple bread slices and bagel halves, and the lever knob smoothly lifts the finished toast away from the hot surface when you're ready to plate.

Settings: Since slot toasters are, by nature, simple devices to operate, we recommend paying attention to how the best long-slot toasters label the temperature and programming buttons. Is it easy to tell which button does which task, and does the temperature knob offer enough browning options? Is there a "Stop" button to quickly end the toast? Can you add extra cook time without starting a whole new toasting cycle?

Levers: Burnt fingertips are a common risk of slot toasters, so we advise choosing a model with a high-lift lever. This will guide your toasted bread upward and remove the need to stick your fingers even slightly inside the slots. 

Cleanup: The best long-slot toasters can be effectively cleaned by turning them upside down over a trash can and giving them a good shake. Still, a crumb tray is a useful tool for consolidating crumbs, seeds, and other disposable bits. Whether the tray is positioned at the front or back of the toaster, all types work effectively as long as you remember to empty them.

Room-temperature bread slices: We began our toasting tests on the best long-slot toasters by determining how long it would take to toast two standard slices of room-temperature sandwich bread (we put two in each long slot) to "medium" brownness. Then we studied the toasted bread and looked for browning depth and evenness to see if it reached the color that we anticipated over the entire bread surface

Frozen bread slices: We repeated the bread toasting test but with frozen slices. We used the "Defrost" mode on all models that included this option.

Bagels: We sliced a sesame bagel in half and ran it through the toast test (both halves went in the same long slot), programming each toaster to "Bagel" mode. 

Cleanup: After each toast cycle, we pulled out the crumb trays and determined how well they collected and consolidated the crumbs and seeds, how easy they were to find and remove, and how easy they were to put back in place.

What's the advantage of a long-slot toaster?

As its name suggests, the difference between a "long slot" toaster and a "regular" toaster is the length of the slots. For a toaster to be considered a "long slot," it should be able to hold two pieces of standard sandwich bread in a single slot with little to no overlap. 

Is there a toaster that toasts evenly on both sides?

The Breville 'A Bit More' Toaster is your best bet for perfectly balanced toasting. If you have the extra budget, the Zwilling Effingy Toaster also stood out in our testing, producing almost identically browned slices of bread.

Some of our top picks don't offer the most even toast, but have other qualities that make them worth considering. Still, none of our top-rated toasters are going to burn one side and hardly touch the other.

How is a toaster oven different from a long-slot toaster? 

Like all other slot toasters, a long slot toaster is designed to achieve one single task: toasting bread and bread products. By contrast, the best toaster ovens can work as a toaster, a mini convection oven, and sometimes an air fryer. Their larger size enables them to toast sandwiches, muffins, and other items that aren't correctly shaped for slot toasters. They can also bake frozen pizzas and some smaller dishes, broil meat, and even roast vegetables. 

What's the best way to keep your toaster clean?

Unplug the toaster, remove the crumb tray, and clear out the crumbs and seeds. Then, give the crumb tray a rinse and gentle cleansing with soap and a sponge (don't run it through the dishwasher) before thoroughly drying the tray and replacing it in its spot. Read more in our full guide on how to clean a toaster.

We recommend doing a deep clean a few times a year. Clean the toaster as described above and then turn the toaster upside down over the trash can and give it a firm shake to dislodge any crumbs that may not have made it down to the tray. Use gentle soap and water and a soft cloth to wash the exterior of plastic or enamel-coated toasters. For stainless steel, consider following up the soap-and-water cleanse with stainless steel polish to maintain its shine.