Is the $300 Toaster That Everyone Is Talking About *Really* Worth It? Here Are My Thoughts

For three days, I have questioned how to start a story about whether or not a $300 toaster is worth it—writing and deleting ledes. One opening line began: You may not have woken up this morning and thought, “I need to revolutionize the way that I toast,” but that might be a mistake. Another used some puns and idioms and metaphors as a quippy way to say that this toaster is the best thing since sliced bread. But I think the best way to begin telling you why the Balmuda Toaster ($329) is worth its price tag is by just jumping into it. Shall we?

Balmuda The Toaster — $299.00

This is the best toaster—ever.

Given that the Balmuda toaster comes with a rather steep price tag, I want to outline all that it can do, which is much more than just toast. The Japanese-designed toaster utilizes steam technology to skim the surface of the bread, while holding the moisture inside of whatever you’re making. Really: This technology helps to keep toast from tasting like a crouton, all told, but it also makes reheating things a breeze as well. Grilled veggies hold their form—never turning slimy—and sandwiches get all melty—but not dried out—like they would at a sub shop. According to the brand, using this steam technology also helps to bring out the flavor of the foods that you’re eating, so for those of us—raises hand!—whose cooking talent level is at toast, this is a big perk.

Additionally, the toaster has different modes that are calibrated for specific foods, so that there is temperature regulation throughout whatever you’re cooking. When using it, you pour a small spout of water into the keyhole that is at the top of the machine and then you select from artisan bread, sandwich bread, pizza, pastry, or oven mode depending on what you’re making. This ensures that your toast becomes artful: Day-old pizza becomes indistinguishable from the night before, and croissants are so warm and flake-y and buttery that you’ll feel as if you’ve just wandered out of a bakery in Paris.

So would I recommend buying this splur-y toaster oven? Resoundingly yes, if it’s in your budget. Every morning, I use the sandwich bread function to make my daily peanut butter toast, and I can say that it’s unquestionably better than the previous toaster I was using. Not only do I not get any weird burnt bits, I also notice that the sourdough tastes fresher even when it’s been sitting on my counter for a week. And beyond that, there are great protein-packed dinners that don’t require me to bust out my big pans for my small family.

The ease with which it takes to turn these seemingly fine-ish foods into delicious, fully-formed dinners is, to me, a rare moment of true wellness wherein the payoff is so much greater than the output.

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