As I understand the consensus above, those do not fit in a standard popup toaster. Which conforms with my own experience. They are designed to fit the standard dimensions of sliced American white bread.
We got a Breville a couple years ago for a bit over $50 and it seems basically satisfactory. It can do bagels too. I prefer a toaster ovens anyway, but my wife likes to have a toaster.
I always buy cheap toaster ovens, never more than $30 or so. They toast any size bread, bagel, muffin, etc., and last at least ten years. And they take up no more counter space than a pop-up toaster. Then again, mine doesn’t get used every day. If it did, it might have to be replaced every couple years (I’m guessing).
Well, yes and no. The actual counter space taken up by each one is nearly the same, but that stack of dishes, or that casserole, or whatever in front of the pop-up toaster doesn’t need to be moved if I’m using the toaster. So the toaster oven has an ‘invisible footprint’ that’s a bit bigger than the appliance itself.
We bought this one back in November and are quite happy with it. Only $42. The one-slice version is even cheaper: $35.
I’ve read a few of the negative reviews, and haven’t noticed any of the problems they report, except that it seems a little slower than our previous toaster, which we used for more than five years. (It’s discontinued; we didn’t pay anything like the price that the one seller is now asking.)
We have a Professional Series toaster. “Professional Series” is the model name, it’s not by any stretch a commercial toaster. That said, it has served us well for many years. The one we have is a 2 slice, wide enough for bagel halves and deep enough for fresh baked loaves. A similar model is listed for under $30 at Home Depot.
Oops. The second one is a two-slice model, obviously. Sorry.
I thought you meant the toaster that said, “Here’s to our wives and our girlfriends. Let’s hope they never meet!”
That is the exact same toaster oven I have. I came to post the same–it’s the best toaster I have ever owned.
The controls are high quality, so the oven is as good as a regular oven and you can bake small things in it. Though it occupies a small amount of counter space, it is deep, so you can fit a few pieces of pizza in it if wanted.
And it has presets for multiple things, such as toast and bagles, with quick access to controls to bump time or heat up and down.
The finishing touch? A button that says “a little more please” that you can press at the end of a cycle.
I have an older version of this toaster (T-Fal Avante). I like it a lot, though it is a little above your $60 limit. Toasts well, has a bagel setting, has a lift handle to lift smaller slices out of the toaster, etc. I stayed at a B&B once that had the 4 slice version, so I am guessing it got a lot of work. Mine is over 6 years old and still going strong.
I second the “Professional Series” toaster. We’ve been using the 4-slice model PS77451 for almost a year, and have no complaints. Wide-slots. The darkness setting is labeled 1 thru 6, but there are actually 36 clickable settings. I prefer 9-clicks for toast, and 12-clicks for bagels. Evenly browns from crust to crust everytime. There’s also a bagel (one-side hot), reheat, and defrost options.
They do offer a 2-slot model, which looks like it has the same options, for around $20.