Let's get toasted...

I like to think of the toaster as somewhat of a parallel to the abject laziness of so many of my fellow Americans these days. We don't want a toaster that just toasts our bread -- oh, no, it has to toast any kind of bread product we can think of to stuff into it. Okay, so I can concede that it's nice to be able to have a slightly-toasted bagel or english muffin every now and then.

The problem is, however, that people seem to expect a whole lot from their toasters. When the product boasts a feature called "SmartToast," as does the Proctor Silex SmartToast Two-Slice Toaster (Model 22445), we somehow expect that this means it will know exactly how well-toasted we want our toast or other bread product, and then prepare it just so.

My parents are well-off, but not rich. I grew up having all the modern conveniences in our home (although it did take us awhile to get a microwave, and we kept that prehistoric one for quite awhile), but it's not like I got whatever I wanted. Some people I know even consider me to be spoiled. Even so, I learned that you don't walk away while there's something in the toaster. I mean, come on -- with most toasters, it takes all of two minutes or less to toast most things to perfection, so just keep an eye on it.

That having been said, my Proctor Silex SmartToast has been perfect as long as I've owned it. It's true that I don't toast things every morning, so it's possible that this toaster would succumb to much greater wear-and-tear. In my experience, however, it's been perfectly fine. As with any toaster, one has to get used to the heat settings, so that eventually it will be known which setting will yield the desired amount of toastedness. In the meantime, this could result in some burnt toast -- if you don't like it, you could buy one of those $60 toasters (and have the exact same thing happen).

The only problem I can recall having had with this toaster is that the lever does not always stay down on the first try. That is, when I push down the lever that causes the pieces of toast to descend into the bowels of the toaster to be heated, it sometimes fails to catch and the toast comes right back up. This is actually relatively annoying, but it has only happened occasionally, so I haven't been unduly concerned about it.

The bottom line on the Proctor Silex SmartToast 22445 is that it is cheap and it performs the basic duty for which it was designed, much like most other Proctor Silex appliances. This is a good basic toaster, and I would recommend it for anyone who toasts things occasionally, but not nearly enough to invest half a day's work (or more) in a toaster. Like I hinted at earlier, I have only used this toaster occasionally, so if you plan on using it several times a day, you may want to do further research (e.g., ask friends who have one) to see how it will hold up under those circumstances.