Best long-slot toasters for bagels and breads

A long-slot toaster solves one problem a regular toaster can't, but often creates another. It can accommodate sourdough, bagels, and oversized artisan breads, but may leave you with toast that is burnt on the edges and pale in the center.

We tested top-rated long-slot toasters to find the ones that deliver consistent, even browning across fresh and frozen breads. These are the models worth buying if you want reliable results, along with options for smaller kitchens, and an aesthetic pick that performs well and looks great on a kitchen countertop.

Our top picks for the best long-slot toaster

Best overall: Breville "A Bit More" — See at Amazon

Best budget: Dash ClearView — See at Amazon

Best upgrade: Zwilling Enfinigy 2 — See at Amazon

Best retro: Smeg 4-Slice — See at Williams Sonoma

Best overall

Our verdict: The Breville 'A Bit More' toaster is the most reliable long-slot toaster for even browning, especially if you regularly toast sourdough or bagels. It's expensive, but it gets the job done right every single time.

Breville's Long Slot Toaster has a polished and modern look. The 'A Bit More' toaster is made of brushed stainless steel and the control buttons are clearly labeled with words and steady LED lights. We appreciated the progress light parallel to the browning switch, which removed any "how much longer do we need to wait?" guesswork.

It offers a lot of customizations without feeling overwhelming. The Breville toaster successfully toasted standard slices of bread and sliced bagels, and thanks to the "Frozen" control option, we got an even brown on frozen slices. However, the "A Bit More" button really sets it apart. If your toast pops up and you're not happy with its level of brownness, you can hit "A Bit More" to give it a slightly longer toast cycle that's calibrated to darken the bread one more shade without the risk of burning.

Another thoughtful design feature is the High Lift lever. This feature helps lift the toast away from the heat source so you don't burn your fingers. The lever also has a "Lift and Look" notch that will lift the bread mid-toast so that you can check on its progress without interrupting the cycle. Plus, the crumb tray is flat enough to be fully concealed when using the toaster and spacious enough to catch any errant crumbs or seeds.

This toaster's price feels reasonable for its overall quality. We recommend it for families, shared living situations, and any household that really enjoys toasted bread products.

Read our full Breville Long-Slot Toaster review.

Best budget

Our verdict: The Dash ClearView toaster is fast and compact, making it great for small kitchens and rushed mornings. It's not the most durable model we tested, but you get speed and visibility for the price.

It's compact. This streamlined model can easily be tucked away into a small countertop corner or kitchen cabinet, and its plastic facade hides scratches and dings.

It's intuitive to operate. You just push down on the side lever to toast a room-temperature piece of bread. You have settings for bagels or frozen bread, and the temperature knob provides seven browning levels. We were impressed by the Dash ClearView's speed: it toasted a bagel in just 2 minutes and 20 seconds and fully frozen slices of bread in 2 minutes and 35 seconds. By contrast, the Breville that earned our top-rated position required 3 minutes and 5 seconds to toast frozen bread.

You can watch your bread's progress. Our favorite feature is a window that allows you to monitor toasting. If you don't like surprises, you'll find the window as reassuring as it is fun to watch.

Best upgrade

Our verdict: The Zwilling Enfinigy toaster is built for consistency and handles everything from bagels to thick slices with ease. It has a premium look and a price to match.

It's a sleek design. This toaster's gentle curves and matte stainless steel finish feel crisp and modern. LED lights illuminate the control buttons, and the setting symbols are cleverly designed and easy to interpret.

It can handle any type of bread. The Enfinigy 2's slots are spacious and can handle irregular bread slice shapes, multiple standard slices, and bagel halves at once. The 1.5-inch-thick cavity can accommodate thicker slices and oversized bagel halves.

It toasts very evenly. We found that the toast level was even on all tested breads, the timing was efficient (two and a half minutes for frozen bread and just over two minutes for bagels), and the concealed crumb drawer right at the front of the machine made post-toasting cleanup simple. The temperature knob offers seven browning options, and the push lever can be used to lift the bread out of the slots safely and smoothly.

Best retro

Our verdict: The Smeg 4-slice is a design-forward toaster that actually performs.

A very pretty toaster with retro flair. If aesthetics are as important to you as performance, Smeg's toaster delivers. These retro-inspired items are as photographable as they are useful. The Smeg 4-Slice Toaster comes in eight enamel colors, all with a sleek stainless steel control panel. The toaster features a push lever, a temperature knob with a reheat setting, a Defrost button, and a Bagel button. We did notice that the decal representing the Bagel button is more reminiscent of a baguette than a bagel.

Not only top in looks. We experienced quick and easy toasting for standard bread, frozen bread, and bagels — the dark gold color of each toasted bread product was as photogenic as the toaster itself. The extra-wide slots can easily fit multiple bread slices and bagel halves, and the lever knob smoothly lifts the finished toast away from the hot surface when you're ready to plate. Our testing proved that, at least in the case of the 4-Slice Toaster, Smeg isn't just a pretty face.

Our top picks compared

During our testing, we learned that an even toasting pattern matters more than extra features—this is what separates a toaster you keep from one you'll replace.

What to look for in a long-slot toaster

Settings: Since slot toasters are, by nature, simple devices to operate, we recommend paying attention to how the best long-slot toasters label the temperature and programming buttons. Is it easy to tell which button does which task, and does the temperature knob offer enough browning options? Is there a "Stop" button to quickly end the toast? Can you add extra cook time without starting a whole new toasting cycle?

Levers: Burnt fingertips are a common risk of slot toasters, so we advise choosing a model with a high-lift lever. This will guide your toasted bread upward and remove the need to stick your fingers even slightly inside the slots.

Crumb catcher: The best long-slot toasters can be effectively cleaned by turning them upside down over a trash can and giving them a good shake. Still, a crumb tray is a useful tool for consolidating crumbs, seeds, and other disposable bits. Whether the tray is positioned at the front or back of the toaster, all types work effectively as long as you remember to empty them.

How we test toasters

Setup and footprint

We first evaluated the out-of-the-box experience, including unboxing, crumb tray installation, and outlet requirements.

With long-slot models, footprint matters as much as capacity. We discovered that you can get the advantages of a long slot toaster — specifically its narrower footprint and ability to accommodate oddly-shaped breads — without sacrificing counter space if you choose the right model. Of our four top picks, the Dash ClearView toaster has the smallest countertop footprint, making it a smart pick for apartment dwellers and anyone who's short on counter space.

Performance and consistency tests

We timed how long it took to toast two standard, room-temperature slices of fresh sandwich bread to a "medium" brownness, then repeated the test using frozen bread on the defrost setting to evaluate how well each machine manages heat and moisture evaporation.

In toasting fresh bread, we looked for uneven grill marks caused by inconsistent heating elements. We also confirmed that speed doesn't necessarily equal quality. While the budget-friendly Dash ClearView long-slot toaster toasted frozen bread impressively quickly (2 minutes and 35 seconds), it couldn't match the edge-to-edge, uniform browning of the Zwilling Enfinigy 2 or the Breville "A Bit More."

For frozen bread, a good defrost cycle provides precise timing to thaw it before crisping it, rather than blasting it with raw heat. Less dependable toasters blast frozen bread at high heat, burning the crust while leaving the center cold and soggy. The Breville's slightly longer, calibrated cycle (3 minutes and 5 seconds) yielded a perfectly crisp exterior without leaving a soggy, unthawed center.

A true bagel function should toast the cut side while only gently warming the bottom crust.

To test each toaster's bagel mode, we used sesame bagels because sesame seeds are the ultimate lie detector for a fake bagel mode. If the bottom heating elements don't power down, the seeds will burn. The Zwilling Enfinigy 2 had our favorite bagel mode.

Cleanup and maintenance

After running our bagel test, we pulled the crumb trays. We looked at whether the trays were designed well enough to catch tiny, errant sesame seeds or whether debris was scattered inside the toaster's cavity.

Flat, fully concealed trays positioned at the front of the device — like the integrated drawers on the Breville and Zwilling models — made post-toasting cleanup and maintenance significantly more efficient and less messy than with standard trays.

Long-slot toaster FAQs

What's the advantage of a long-slot toaster?

As its name suggests, the difference between a "long slot" toaster and a "regular" toaster is the length of the slots. For a toaster to be considered a "long slot," it should be able to hold two pieces of standard sandwich bread in a single slot with little to no overlap, or one piece of irregularly sized artisanal bread.

Is there a toaster that toasts evenly on both sides?

Yes, the Breville "A Bit More" toaster consistently toasted evenly on both sides during our hands-on testing, delivering the most perfectly balanced browning across all bread types. As a premium alternative, the Zwilling Enfingy 2 Toaster also produces slices that are almost identically browned on both sides.

How is a toaster oven different from a long-slot toaster?

A long-slot toaster is a dedicated appliance solely for toasting sliced bread and bagels, whereas a toaster oven is a multifunctional mini oven that can bake, broil, roast, and toast. Because it's larger in size and has an open cavity, a toaster oven can handle open-face sandwiches, pizzas, and roasted vegetables, but it will take up significantly more counter space than a standard long-slot toaster.

What's the best way to keep your long-slot toaster clean?

The best way to keep your long-slot toaster clean is to regularly empty the removable crumb tray and wipe down the exterior with a damp cloth. For a deep clean, follow these steps:

1. Unplug the toaster and let it cool completely.
2. Remove the crumb tray and wash it with gentle dish soap and a sponge. Do not put it in the dishwasher.
3. Turn the toaster upside down over a trash can and give it a firm, gentle shake to dislodge trapped crumbs.
4. Wipe the exterior with a damp cloth, and use stainless steel polish on metal models to maintain their shine.
5. Ensure the crumb tray and cord are completely dry before re-inserting them.

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