Verdict

Built to take the annoyances out of toasting, the Haier I-Master Series 5 Toaster 2 Slice has an anti-dust lid that sits on top when it’s not in use and extra-deep slots that will take large slices of bread. It’s simple to use, covers the basics (and a bit more), and toasts evenly on repeat.

Introduction

How many of us have a toaster that won’t take a standard slice of bread and soon looks mucky? The Haier I-Master Series 5 Toaster 2 Slice is designed to fix both of those problems: it’s a toaster that has a lid that sits on top to prevent dust from dropping in, and its deep slots will take any size of bread.

Design and features

• Anti-dust lid
• Seven toasting levels
• Lift and look lever

The Haier I-Master Series 5 Toaster 2 Slice is the first that I’ve seen to come with its own lid. Sitting on top when the toaster is not in use, this lid prevents dust from falling into the toaster, and it means you’ve got a cleaner top to look at, rather than the usual crumbs that adorn most.

As with Haier’s recent line-up of home appliances, the Haier I-Master Series 5 Toaster 2 Slice is finished in matte black. It’s been done nicely, but if you’re after a bright splash of colour to liven up your kitchen, you’re out of luck.

This toaster has extra wide and deep slots, which can accommodate larger slices of bread, and thicker items such as bagels and crumpets.

Simple controls sit on the side of the toaster. Slide the lever down, and the toasting level lights up, with plus/minus buttons to select the level between one and seven.

Once you’ve found your perfect level, you can press and hold the Favourite button to remember your setting; next time, tap this button before you toast and the Haier I-Master Series 5 Toaster 2 Slice will recall your settings.

While toasting, you can slide the lever up to take a look at your bread while it’s toasting. If it looks done, just hit the Cancel button; if it needs more time then let go of the lever and keep toasting.

This is a surprisingly handy mode that prevents the old problem of ejecting bread too early to have a look, and then forgetting to change the toasting setting, eventually burning it.

There are a couple of extra options. First, the Crispy Side button turns off half of each slot and is designed for toasting bagels (or anything else that benefits from being cooked on one side only).

I like the clear labelling on the slots, which shows you which way round to insert items, so that you’re toasting on the correct side.

There’s also a Small Slice button, which is designed for smaller bits of bread, such as those from a brioche bun. There’s no option for dealing with frozen bread on this model, bar manually turning up the toasting level.

Underneath is a slide-out crumb tray that will let you dispose of the bigger items, and the toast can be shaken out over a bin to remove smaller bits inside.

Performance

• Toasts evenly
• Works well with large slices of bread

First, it’s worth saying how good the deep slots are. So often with supermarket bread, I end up with a tiny bit of bread sticking up beyond the slot, which usually involves either trying to stick the bread in sideways or turning it over part way through. Here, there’s none of that and even large slices fit in properly.

I found that I had to toast on setting 5 to get my bread toasted as well as I liked; below this, I found that bread was a little too light. My first toast, with the toasting running from cold produced evenly-toasted bread.

I then repeated the test on the same setting immediately and got pretty much the exact same results, which is impressive.

Latest deals