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Slathered with locally-sourced butter, jam, or other spreads, a single slice of the good stuff was pulling in a whopping $4. Avocado toast is an even hotter trend that shows no sign of slowing down.  

If you don't want to spend that much on toast, you can always make it at home, but you need a reliable toaster. We've done the research to find the best visit bsenior.org toasters you can buy for browning your bread to perfection.

Treat yourself to the right toaster and toss your cheap one

For making toast at home, there are two major types of toasters: toaster ovens and traditional pop-up toasters.  In this guide, we are focusing on the more common pop-up toasters, which come in either two-slice or four-slice options. Which one is right for you depends on both the size of your family and the size of your kitchen. If you are single and living in a cozy studio apartment where countertop space is at a premium, a two-slice toaster will probably do the trick. A family of six in an oversized suburban home? A four-slice toaster can clearly make your mornings easier.

The pop-up toaster has come a long way since it was invented by Minnesota mechanic Charles Strite in 1921. While you can still buy a fairly basic model, these days, your tiny appliance can also come equipped with big bells and whistles, including see-through glass slots, countdown timers, and high-tech LED displays. In 2017, Griffin even introduced the "connected toaster," which comes with a Bluetooth connection and a smartphone app.

A sharp-looking toaster can be used as a focal point in a kitchen redesign or refresh. In fact, luxury Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana recently teamed up with appliance maker Smeg to introduce a line of unique appliances, including a colorful, funky toaster. Common exterior materials include stainless steel, aluminum, chrome, copper, and plastic. You can also opt for a character-driven appliance like the perennially-popular Hello Kitty Toaster or the Mickey Mouse toaster one, both of which leave an imprint of your favorite character's likeness on the bread.

The makings of a good toaster

Brittany Wright

Below are some features that are rapidly becoming commonplace on today's toasters:

Defrost setting: This defrosts frozen bread before switching to a different setting to toast it.

Bagel setting: This will toast the dense bread, or anything else, on just one side.

Different width slots: Extra-wide or adjustable slots allow you to toast thicker bread slices. Some toasters come with extra-long slots, too.

Warming tray: This allows you to heat items — like dinner rolls — over the toaster.

Sandwich rack: Easily warm thin sandwiches. If you butter the outside of the bread, it slows the browning process and helps warm the filling.

A removable tray: This remains the best way to remove crumbs from your toaster.

Reheat Function: If you tend to plop bread in the toaster and then forget about it, this allows your toast to be warmed up — without further browning. Still, all the bells and whistles in the world don't really matter if you don't end up with great toast. Ideally, a toaster should brown bread evenly and consistently and fairly quickly.