Customer Reviews

KitchenAid KMT211OB 2-Slice Toaster, Onyx Black

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Read and researched a lot of toasters before deciding on this one. I've always used a toaster oven for toasting my bread but the present one, not that old, no longer yields acceptable bread. I've always heard that if you want evenly browned, still moist, toast, you need an old fashioned toaster. And so my search began.
I opted for this one as it was smaller (2 slice) and appeared to be a mid-priced item. Most reviews were positive and the brand is well respected. It came quickly but did not work. I never had to return an item to Amazon before but found it amazingly simple. Since the item was defective they paid for the return postage. They immediately shipped out a replacement and it came priority UPS. Number 2 worked. We have been using it for several weeks now
and I would rate it as "okay". My daughter's toasts faster and my mother's toasts more evenly. Played with the settings but it over-toasts the top edge of the bread or bagel every time. Feels flimsy- but everything does these days because they are. In short, it serves it's purpose but I'm not impressed.

I went with this toaster based on all the positive reviews here on Amazon and I have not been disappointed. The toaster looks nice and is very simple to use. The bagel setting is nice to have. It is nice how the blue led lights blink down in succession to indicate when the toasting will be done. I would have given a 5 star rating except for the extra lift function really doesn't provide that much more lift, especially with english muffins. Overall I am very satisfied with this toaster.

The bread I use requires that I set it at the maximum toasting time. Don't know what would be required for typical light weight bread. Even with the extra lift feature - it sometimes needs more lift if the bread it not standard height. If bread is a little longer than standard it won't fit and you have to cut some off. Since I don't eat bagels, I can't comment on that feature. The lowering mechanism is the best I've encountered - it just seems more perfected. Because of the limited lift height and shortness of opening I can't rate it any better than a 3. It's OK and for all I know there may not be anything better on the market - you can't try them all.

When toasting an English muffin, one must still reach down to remove the muffin when finished toasting even when using the extra lift mechanism.

This toaster has two modes: one side toasted/the other side not at all, and one side toasted/the other side very slightly toasted. I suspect mine might be defective, and there are some elements that never come on no matter what. But I so dislike this toaster that I'll not even bother trying to get a replacement. First, it's ugly. I bought the silver model, and it's not shiny metallic like the picture shows. Instead, the center is shiny metallic and the sides are a dull greenish gray. There are dents around the upper edges of the shiny part like someone pounded on it to get the metal to bend. When I try to toast a normal sized, square piece of bread, the slice falls over (because the slot is too wide) and gets caught under the edge when I try to remove it, even when - in fact especially when - I use the "extra lift" feature. So I have to spear the slice with a knife or fork to get it out. I didn't buy this on Amazon, but rather through one of their Amazon Marketplace vendors, and that vendor's return policy isn't as good as Amazon's, who of course would give me money back and not make me accept a replacement. So the lesson for me is to only buy from Amazon.

We like this toaster. It works great. The silver part does know fingerprints and smudges, which I wish it wouldn't. But as far as a toaster, it works great. I trust KitchenAid products. Now to figure out just why there needs to be a bagel button! lol

First unit I received was defective, so I called customer service at Kitchen Aid (Amazon will only accept returns of unopened items). They sent me another which arrived within a week and is working well. Kitchen Aid also sent a pre-paid label to return the defective toaster via USPS. Was as painless as possible.

Comparison to my previous toaster, an inexpensive Sunbeam: I often warm frozen pancakes for breakfast. Far too often with the Sunbeam, the pancake would jam between the lifting grille and the retracting side grilles. This created a mess that was tough to clean out. The mechanism on the Kitchen Aid is much tighter and the lifting grille has a bit of a cup to it, so I've had no problems with it.

We figured to pay more (than the typical $20 many toasters go for) to get a better performing toaster. Unfortunately, this KitchenAid toaster does not fit the bill.

Pros:

* Looks good.

* Um, that's about all I can think of.

Cons:

* Toasts unevenly - each side of the bread is toasted differently.

* The "high lift lever" is mostly useless; that is, it does indeed push the bread higher for, purportedly, easier removal of shorter slices. However, the slice often gets caught on the lip, which means you still have to either stick your hand, or a tool (fork, knife, etc.) in to get it out.

* The crumb tray, after only about five uses, is now difficult to open. It should work by simply pressing it, which detaches the tray from a "catch", but it no longer works. So, now we must either fiddle with it for a while to get it to open, or use a butter knife to pry it open faster.

* Expensive for performance. If it cost around $20 (or better yet $15), I'd have likely given it 3, maybe even 4 stars. But, it's simply not worth $50. We're getting the same performance out of this as out of the cheap $15-$20 toasters.

This arrived yesterday and seems to be just what I expected. However, be sure to run a few cycles on the deck or in the garage to burn off the extremely strong burning plastic smell. After a few empty cycles, the smell went away, but the fumes were nearly overwhelming at first -- very toxic fumes that you don't want in the house!

Update: I've had this for three months now and am very happy with it. I like the look of it. Nice design and substantial construction. The browning isn't perfectly even if you toast weirdly shaped bread (baguette, for instance) in it, as it tilts to one end of the slot. But it's nothing that detracts much for me. There is a mechanism that pinches the bread in place as it goes down and if you're particular, you can manipulate it so the bread is dead-center. All-in-all a good toaster.

After owning a Cuisinart, which I thought was a pretty light weight toaster, I am enjoying this toaster. Still a basic model with no real bells and whistles, it is sturdy and seems to be an appliance that will last for some time. Since I own a Kitchen Aide standing mixer, which is a work horse, I thought this product would be well made, which I think it is.