Customer Reviews

Back to Basics TEM4500 4-Slot Egg-and-Muffin Toaster

5 star:		(167)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I love this toaster. When our old one died I debated whether to get another plain 2 piece toaster again or get something more. I'm glad I went with option B. My family pulled this out and couldn't start making egg balogna (only pre-cooked meat available) sandwichs quick enough. The toast, eggs and meat come out perfectly and all at the same time. I even put 2 pieces of bread in late and popped it down. They all came out evenly and hot. Many manufacturers have gone to short cords for safety, but if you have cabinets, all that heat dries out the wood. This toaster features a longer power cord so you can pull it out to the front of the counter. If there's a downside to this toaster, it would be the fact that the meats have to be pre-cooked. This will only steam them. Raw bacon isn't going to work. Another would be the footprint of this unit. It is about the size of two and a half standard toasters so make sure you have enough counter space. If that's not a problem, then buy this toaster and don't forget the eggs.

Ok so I decided to purchase this just off comparison. For some reason the reviews on this toaster is split, good and bad while its 2 slice counter part has amazingly good ratings. Well now that I've used this 4 slice version I dont understand why the ratings are split. First of all the toaster is stylish so even though some people think its big, I think it looks great on my counter and honestly it turned out smaller than I figured it would be for a 4 slice toaster. It so far fits everything i put into it which has mainly been sara lee bread and bagels (which i consider sara lee bagel to be pretty big). It toast completely evenly and leaves the bread moist at the same time with the darkness setting about halfway (way better than the toaster ovens I've been using that leave the bread burnt and dry). The poached eggs come out great but i havent tried boiling eggs yet. There also is a plastic smell when it heats up but its nothing that is unbearable. Just smells kinda like something is heating up. All this said, don't hesitate to buy this. Thank me later.

I actually saw this presented on TV's "I Want That". And when I saw it, I said "I want that". I read your reviews and was convinced that I have to buy it. I read some reviews that said that they had experienced teflon chipping. Since I have only had this toaster less than a month, it is probably too soon to say whether that is going to happen or not. The biggest surprise was how the toast & eggs were done at the same time. I assumed that the toast or english muffin would pop up first and wait for the egg to finish. They have it so that if the toast/english muffin is done first, that it will revert to a hold & warm position and wait for the egg to finish. When the egg is done, the toast/english muffin pops up and the egg cooker turns off all at the same time. My whole family has used this and loves it.

PRO's:
1. Basically it does what it says-
2. I like the toast/muffin & eggs getting done at the same time.
3. The egg poaching works very well.
CON's:
1. There is still a horrible burnt paint smell coming off the toaster evert time I use it - Which, Given that it is MADE IN CHINA, makes me a tad nervous.
2. For some reason the toast comes out very dry, regardless of the setting.
3. It is very large & clinking looking.
4. Just saw it at a local warehouse store for 1/2 of the price on Amazon.

Besides our refrigerator and dishwasher, this is the most used appliance in our kitchen. We have owned it for two weeks short of a year and have enjoyed every moment. I make anywhere from two to twelve slices of toast a day (our family has three growing boys) since we have owned it. I have also made poached eggs in it countless times and boiled all kinds of eggs (soft, medium, hard). I have also put english muffins, bagels, homemade bread slices, pop tarts, kaiser buns, hamburger buns, etc... in it. Short of learning the setting that works best for each thing, repeated success has occurred with each use. Here is my list of pros and cons:

Cons:
-When poaching eggs and making toast at the end of the cycle the toast is cold. (I fix this by waiting until the egg is done and then toasting my bread)
-When boiling a large amount of eggs the water can seep out of the machine. (I just keep a towel handy and wipe it up)
-It is not always fun having to clean all the parts after cooking eggs. (This is more about my desire to eliminate work than the toaster)
-If not in use it needs to be unplugged. The egg part is slightly warm to the touch even when it hasn't been used.

Pros:
-Makes bread very evenly toasted on both sides.
-Settings are very sensitive and give great amount of variance in darkness or lightness of toast.
-Toaster part is easy to clean with two removable bottom trays.

Other people have had problems with the egg trays losing teflon. This has not happened to us at all. Generally that happens because of metal utensils coming in contact with the surface like a spoon or a fork. You shouldn't use either one to get the eggs out. I spray it with cooking spray and flip it over and tap it on a plate. I have only had an egg stick once, and only part of it did. I always wash the trays by hand and use at the most a plastic scrubby to get grime off. Every time you cook an egg I recommend wiping it out before it cools down, it is a lot easier to clean when warm. I can't give any feed back on the return policy or customer service because I have never had a problem. I would recommend this product with out reservation.

I had never heard of this before I started shopping for a toaster after my last one died recently. I have been fixing poached eggs for myself for a while, since they're such a good source of protein, but it was such a messy cleanup job. I'm thrilled with this new toaster! Even my daughter likes having boiled and poached eggs made in this toaster. I make poached egg sandwiches almost every day with this and it makes them uniformly every time! I just wish that you could toast something separately while the eggs were cooking, but what I've experienced is if you put something in to be toasted while the eggs and muffins are cooking, then it seems to delay the finish time for everything until the last thing put in the toaster is done. That makes the english muffins that were put in first a little over done. But all in all, I love this toaster. I wish it was less expensive. I've only had it about two weeks, but so far it works as good as new!

So here I am with a toaster that I am tired of, because I have had it for 6 years and I can not get it to toast anything right, especially english muffins. As I am looking around the internet to see what my options may be at my local everything stores, I come across this silly looking toaster I am reviewing. As I read what it does I am interested, but the sight I am at only has a few reviews, so I look for more and find them at Amazon. I read them all, because even though I am interested, I am worried its a gimmick. You see, I make a home cooked breakfast, as opposed to cereal or poptarts or some other packed thing, every Sunday. A very frequent request from the wife and kids is to make egg and muffin sandwiches. It is not the hardest thing in the world to make but takes time when you have to cook and toast and heat everything seperately. So here I am looking at a toaster that cooks everything at once and finishes at the same time. Well, the positive reviews far out number the negative so I go for it and order it from Amazon.

This thing is wonderful. It does what it says and does it well. I have made egg and muffin sandwiches in the morning for the kids, and myself, before school and have not had a single problem. I do truely love this toaster. To address a couple of the negative comments I read that gave me the most pause, the new appliance smell does exist when you turn it on. That is why the manual tells you to dry run the toaster. I did mine twice and did not have any unusal smells when I cooked with it. As far as making soft eggs, who wants a soft egg on a eat as you run sandwich? I use the medium setting and have no problem.

The only draw back to how great this toaster is the fact that your egg is cooked so uniformly that when you bite into your delicious sandwich, the egg tends to slide out the other side. If you are thinking about buying this toaster, don't hesitate.

I almost forgot that it does more than just make sandwiches. It does just toast or just eggs. It has wide slots for bagels, and another little feature I love, hit the bagel button and it only toasts one side of your bagel.

I rarely write a review, but I feel compelled to let everyone know how impressed we are with this gadget. We don't cook much---making an egg sandwich has always been "too much trouble". But since purchasing this toaster+ as a replacement for our dead 25 yr old toaster we have used the egg sandwich feature almost everyday! It is very fast & easy to cook, easy to clean up and works perfectly. I bought one for my 82 yr old father and he loves his, too. My teenage son and his friends think it is "awesome". This would be perfect for college kids to make fast healthy meals. It has toasted everything we've thrown at it quite well (bagels, english muffins, pastries---even sliced bread!) Just experiment to get the right setting (it may need to be set "darker" than you think.) We've enjoyed this for more than a month and look forward to using it for years to come --- we hope!

My wife and I bought the 2 slice version of this toaster, and we liked it so much we gave it away and ordered the 4 slice model. We were disappointed when it arrived and the egg cooker didn't work. I called the company and then sent another one, no questions asked, without having to sent the first in.

Now we use it everyday to make delicious and healthy sandwiches. The only complaint is that the toaster doesn't make toast very dark, even on the highest setting, but it isn't bad, and you can put the toast in twice if it really bothers you. I would recommend this to everyone to make simple and delicious sandwiches.

very easy to use, easy to clean, does what it is meant to do and tastes just as good as the ones that the big chain sells. love mine