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If you find yourself fighting for limited toaster space in the morning, it may be time to upgrade to a 4-slice toaster. Naturally, these toasters offer double the capacity of the regular 2-slice toaster. Since you can make two separate batches at once, they can be a great help if everyone in your house eats toast in the morning or if you like to host brunch and stacks of fresh toast are on the menu.
However, there's not much point in investing in a bulky 4-slice toaster if some of the slots work better than others. The best toasters produce consistently toasted bread, regardless of which spot you'reusing and how many batches you make in a row. They should also have a good variety of settings that produce different results so that everyone can make their toast the way they want. It's nice if the slots are big enough to accommodate thickly sliced bread and bulkier bagels,but they should also pop up far enough that you can remove your more compact frozen waffles and English muffins without burning yourself.
We've tested 20 toasters; these are our recommendations for the best 4-slice models for most people. If you're looking for another type of toaster, check out our recommendations for the best 2-slice toasters or the overall best toasters.
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Best 4-Slice Toaster
Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster 1
Toasting
8.5
Toaster Type
4-SlotIf you're interested in a high-end model with extra features, thebest 4-slice toaster we've tested is the Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster. If all you care about is performance, you cango for a cheaper option, but it hasfour slots that are slightly wider, deeper, and longer than our mid-range and budget picks. They easilyfitbagels or thickly sliced bread, and taller slices won't stick out of the top of the toaster. Its aluminum body gives it a premium look and a sturdy feel, and it has an incredible toasting range, making anything from barely toasted to charred sandwich bread in a single cycle. Denser bread that takes longer to cook, like multi-grain or rye, doesn'tneed more than one cycle to get properly browned. It toasts bread decently evenly, but unfortunately, some slots produce somewhat darker toast than others. It produces darker toast on the second batch than the first, so you must adjust the setting for consistent results.
The extra features set it apart from some cheaper options: unlike many toasters, it has cycle countdown indicators so you can tell when your toast will be ready. You can use 'Lift and Look' to lift the slots and check on your toast without interrupting the toasting cycle and the 'A Bit More' button to add some time to the end of a cycle. It has buttons to lift and raise the slots instead of levers.
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Best Mid-Range 4-Slice Toaster
Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display 0
Toasting
8.2
Toaster Type
4-SlotSee all our test results
If you want to pay less without completely forgoing premium touches, you might prefer the Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display. This toaster from Drew Barrymore's kitchenware brand 'Beautiful by Drew' has a modern look, with touch-activated buttons that light up only when the toaster is on. While it's not always easy to find in stock atonline retailers, you can find out where to buy it via the manufacturer's website. Unlike theBreville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster, it comes in various pastelcolors to suit your style. Its slots are wide and deep enough for thicker and taller slices. It's better than the previous pick at evenly browning the bread in every slot and on both sides of the bread.It's also more consistent batch after batch. Aside from the more typical bagel and frozen settings, it has a gluten-free setting, which adds a bit of time to the end of a toasting cycle to help brown denser bread.
However, unlike the Breville, it has onlyseven distinct shade settings. You can't set the dial between two settings to fine-tune the cycle length. Unfortunately, none of the shade settings produces golden brown sandwich bread, so if that's what you want, you'll have to add time to the end of a lower setting or cancel a higher setting early. On the plus side, it includes cycle countdown indicators to tell how much time is left before your toast pops up.
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Best Budget 4-Slice Toaster
Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster TR4900SSD 0
Toasting
9.5
Toaster Type
4-SlotSee all our test results
The Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster TR4900SSD is the best budget 4-slice toaster we've tested. Unlike the previous picks, this toaster has no modes other than the standard ones for bagels and frozen items like waffles. It lacks cycle countdown indicators, so there's no way of knowing how much time remains in a toasting cycle. However, it's still made of metal rather than plastic and has a better toasting range than theBeautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display. The presets can produce anything from lightly toasted to charred sandwich bread in a single cycle. You won't have to run an extra cycle to toast denser breads properly.
It has dials that let you make small adjustments to the shade setting, so you're not limited to seven settings. It tends to toast the inner face more than the outer face, but otherwise, it toasts bread very evenly, with each slot performing similarly. You might need to adjust the dial after the first batch to get consistent results since it tends to compensate for the machine heating up and make lighter toast after the first batch.
See our review
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Best Long-Slot 4-Slice Toaster
Smeg 4-Slice Toaster 0
Toasting
7.9
Toaster Type
2-Slot LongSee all our test results
For maximum versatility, consider a long-slot toaster like the Smeg 4-Slice Toaster. This high-end toaster has two slots that can each fit a couple of slices of sandwich bread side by side, so it has thesame capacity as 4-slot toasters but can also fit longer slices of homemade or bakery bread. The slots are deeper than most toasters', so taller slices won't stick out the top either. It performs similarly regardless of where you place the bread and doesn't start burning your toast after a few batches. It has settings for bagels and frozen items and a 'reheat' function for warming up cold toast or adding some time to the end of a cycle.
In one cycle, it can make anything from lightly toasted to dark brown toast from white sandwich bread. However, anything that takes longer, like denser breadand bagels, may need more than one cycle to get properly browned. It doesn't tell you how much time remains in a cycle,which is disappointing for such an expensive toaster. While it has a glossy, retro style to match the price tag, the Cuisinart Long Slot Toaster is a good option if you don't want to spend the money on a high-end toaster. It's much cheaper and performs similarly, but you must manually raise the lever to grab even normal-sized toast without burning your fingers, which is annoying. Plus, its slots are quite shallow when pushed down, so taller slices can stick out the top.
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Recent Updates
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May 28, 2024: We've checked the text for accuracy and ensured the picks represent the best recommendations.
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Apr 05, 2024: We've checked the text for accuracy and made some minor edits for clarity.
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Mar 15, 2024: We've made minor edits to ensure the text is up-to-date and clear, but there hasn't been a change to our recommendations.
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Feb 12, 2024: We've made minor updates to the text and noted that the Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display can be difficult to find in stock with some retailers.
All Reviews
Our recommendations aboveare what we think are currently the best 4-slice toasters for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you'd like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all 4-slot and long-slot toasterreviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no toasteris perfect, mostare goodenough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you look for them.
