Fortune Candy KST011 Stainless Steel 2 Slices Toaster with Diamond Pattern, White

I have toast every morning for breakfast. Toast is important to me. One morning, my old Proctor Silex (PS) toaster seemed like it was not working, so I figured I urgently needed a replacement.My top priority is functionality. It's a toaster. It should toast well. I keep it in a drawer, so it doesn't matter how it looks. My criteria are: toasts well, high probability of working for a long time, reasonable price. After reading the reviews, it seemed that this Fortune Candy (FC) toaster might fill the bill.After placing my order, I discovered that my old PS was still working, so I'm not sure what went wrong on that fateful morning. However, my old PS was getting pretty crusty and corroded around the top. A buddy who was visiting saw it one morning and said, "You need a new toaster." So I let the order for the new FC toaster stand. But this permits me to compare this FC toaster to my old PS toaster.Overview: The FC is not perfect, but overall it works well and the things I think are not perfect are not problematic enough to cost it stars so I went with 5 stars. It may not be as good as a more expensive toaster, but I can't confirm that, and what it does, it does well.Details:Doneness knob: Ranges from 1 to 7. I set it at 4 to start with my usual 100% whole wheat bread and that was perfect for me (nicely browned, not overdone). The knob seems sensitive to slight adjustments, based on when it has been inadvertently turned. Settings between 3 and 5 produce noticeable differences, so I would think everyone would be able to find a satisfying level of doneness.Uniformness of toasting: This toaster (FC) toasts the bread very evenly on both sides. My old PS toaster toasted one side slightly more than the other. The FC coils inside seem to glow the same amount. My PS toaster, the outer coils glowed more brightly than the inner coils, producing more toasting on one side of the bread. How could I live with that for so long?Time: At my ideal setting, the FC took 3:10 to toast two slices. My old PS took 3:02. Essentially a wash.High-lift feature: A shortcoming. Somewhat tight and does not lift the bread much. Lifts only about a 1/2 inch. (My old PS lifted 1.25 inches.) And on the FC, you need to put your thumb on the top of the toaster to get enough leverage to use the high-lift feature, but the top of the toaster gets warm with use, so do it quickly. However, the bread sticks out of the FC about a 1/4 inch further than my PS, and that's enough to get a pretty good grip, so the high-lift is not as necessary. My approximately 4x4" slice of bread sticks out of the FC by about 1 inch without the high-lift feature, 1.5 inches with the high-lift (quickly) pushed up.Sound: Supposedly they design cars so that the doors make a nice, solid, satisfying thump when you close them, giving you the impression of a solidly built machine. The sound of the FC does not instill the same confidence. The toast popping up makes a thin, metallic, springy sound. It's somewhat louder than the PS. This is not a big deal, but when I first heard it, I thought, "Oh man, this won't hold up long." But only time will tell.Appearance: Looks fine, but I keep it in a drawer, so that's not important to me.Bagel setting: Only the outer coils heat up, so it would only toast one side of your bagel. I haven't toasted a bagel yet though.In conclusion, it works well and it works better than my old one, so I'm satisfied. I would buy it again.

Cute toaster for the price. Bought it mainly for the red color. It's a vibrant, beautiful true red to match my kitchen. I love the bagel setting. It toasts on the outside, only (so I place my bagels inside out to get toasty and the "shell" of the bagel stays soft)Also, the cord tucks away under the toaster for easy storage, although I can't figure out how to lock the plug end in so it's nice and tidy.A couple small complaints: the lights for the buttons are confusing. The light "bleeds" into the other buttons so you aren't quite sure which button is truly on.And the toast doesn't pop completely up so sometimes, depending on bread slice size, you have to dig it out.These aren't deal breakers for me. The toaster works well. And it's CUTE.

Love this toaster! This pic is setting 5 defrost, toasting frozen Eggo waffles. The multiple settings and the look of this toaster are perfect. It does not get too hot as other reviews mention. It might take a little bit longer for the toast to toast but I don't mind because the results are worth it. Great value for the money.

Boy! From Amazon reviews it seems there is no such thing as a "perfect" toaster. Suffering through several sub par toasters over the past 20 years I was prepared to bite the bullet and spend whatever it took to get something that would be satisfactory and dependable with reasonable longevity. After spending an inordinate amount of time pouring over reviews I am convinced that in this case, (more) money does not necessarily buy happiness and all of them have drawbacks, some more serious than others. I finally decided on this Fortune Candy (never heard of this brand) toaster. It arrived within 24 hours of placing the order (but that has no bearing on my rating)! Brand new out of the box: perfect, no complaints. It operates just as advertised. From a few test runs "5" is the setting I will typically use as it produces a nice caramel/brown color. The slots are quite wide to easily accommodate thick breads and bagels. I will report back in a few months with an update.

Looks great, sturdy, good value for the price, but I don't like my toast over done, can't seem to get a perfect slice even on the lowest setting. So I watch it and then manually stop it from over cooking

I never thought I could love a TOASTER of all things, but here I am, I most certainly love this toaster. I get compliments on its design from everyone, because it is stunning, retro, yet classy. ! Looks aren't all it has going for it, it toasts perfect toast, perfect bagels, etc... It wasn't until now did I realize how poorly other toasters work. I've never paid this much for a toaster, but I would pay the same all over again, because its worth every penny!! The settings are 'true' in that the slightest adjustment will make a difference. Some have commented on the casing getting hot. I don't know what they are talking about. I can pick this toaster up with two hands while its mid toast and its not even warm to the touch. I can't say that about my other toasters. As one reviewer stated, I don't typically hold my toaster while its toasting, but I moved it once very gingerly before realizing I could grab the whole thing in both hands and it wasn't hot, yet it was toasting my bagels to perfection. In my opinion this is THE PERFECT TOASTER!

Very stylish - works well