It does exactly what it's suppose to - pure and simple - I put the bread in and toast pops out! It's my little bagel browner and I love it!!!

Toasts evenly, doesn't keep jumping up if you pushed it down a second time (which I rarely have to do with this toaster), fits bagels, and an elegant look to boot. I'm very pleased.

Bought this to replace a broken toaster. Good size, easy controls, even toasting, fits bagels with ease. Very pleased with this purchase.

Great color, easy to clean crumb tray. Bagel setting does what it says. Easy to use.

It is easy to use and toasts quickly and fairly evenly. You can control how dark you want it. It also has controls for bagels and muffins so that you only toast the one side. There is a warm button as well. It is compact so that it doesn't take up as much space as some of the other newer ones and does better than a toaster oven.

This toaster is great! Besides being the perfect color for my kitchen, it has slots that are big enough to allow me to toast bagels in the morning and has a special setting for such an occasion. I also love the warm functions, it is great for keeping thigs warm without burning them! All in all I am so glad I purchased this item, it has been a great investment and it has completed my kitchen (since I have red small appliances) I love it and highly recommend it!

Toaster performs all required duties in an excellent manner. Would highly recommend to anyone in search of a toaster!

I have not used this toaster very long and do not use a toaster very often, but so far it is very nice and seems to toast more evenly than others I have had.

After reading every toaster review I could find, my instinct told me not to spend over $15 on one. It seems that this is one category of appliance that modern technology, alas, has not improved upon. In fact, I have yet to find a toaster that is at least as functional as the ones manufactured 30 years ago. But this pretty toaster won me over. I agree with the other buyers that, after "guess-timating" and "babysitting" this item while in use, it can ultimately present a good piece of toast; however, not without human intervention. There seems to be a missing link between "too light" and "cremated." Caveat emptor.

I've tried two of these toasters from two different retailers, purchasing them ten months apart.

I bought the first one and had the same problem as others here apparently have. That is, the toaster didn't toast.

On the highest setting, the toast came out barely toasted (and unevenly so, to boot), requiring two rounds through the toaster to produce toast. On the lowest setting, it came out as if it was never in the toaster at all (i.e. the same temperature it was when it went in).

10 months later, after convincing myself that the first was a fluke (and still really wanting a toaster that matched my other Kitchen Aid appliances - silly, I know), I tried again and bought the same model again.

This one works just as poorly.

I can't even describe my disappointment. As I told my wife, "I just don't understand it. It's made by Kitchen Aid!"

Apparently, FOR THE WAY IT'S MADE(tm) doesn't apply to this product.

There are two things that I like about this toaster:
(1) It toasts evenly; and
(2) It toasts second batches like the first shortly after the first is done (a common deficiency in many toasters).

Oh yeah, I like the color. That's three things. It did give off an odd odor for about the first ten toastings or so, but the smell has pretty much disappeared. It was pretty unpleasant, especially at first.

I know $40 doesn't sound like alot of money now a days but this toaster isreally cheesy looking, flimsy, very lightweight and knocks over if you pull on cord and it either barely toasts or it burns! VERY disappointing for a Kitchenaid product. I will never buy another appliance thru Amazon thats for sure! I am now strictly a go to the mall and see for myself consumer!

I really like this toaster, it has openings for the wide slice, even fits bagels. Easy controls make it easy to get the bread toasted the way you like it. It also looks great on the counter, and compliments my other kitchenAid appliances.

Works great!!!!! Warms and does a great job at toasting. I tried another brand of toaster and it burned the toast no matter what setting it was on - so I am very pleased with this one.

This toaster was a major disappointment! 1) The "warm" feature does not work 2) Even with shade control at "full dark", it does not fully toast an English Muffin, requiring a second toasting, 3) The slots are too short and will not accept a full size slice of bread. I returned the first one as "defective", the replacement performed the same way.

After returning a toaster from another company, we thought this sounded good. It was a bit more expensive but we hoped it would be worth the extra. We were disappointed. It is very slow and tends to toast toward the top of the slice of bread. If you put it back to toast more, it burns. This is certainly not worth the money.

I bought this to match all of my orange Rachael Ray cookware (knives/pans). The color is a bit different but close enough. Anyway, it toasts very well. You do not have to turn it all of the way to dark for it to be dark. If you like your toast semi-dark, I would keep the dial in the middle. I haven't made any bagels on it yet but I am sure it will do fine. The feature for warm and "bagel" function is neat. You slice the bagel in half and put it in the toaster. When you push the bagel button, it will only brown the cut side so the botton of your bagel does not get toasted. It is also very pretty. I like orange and it has a glossy finish. It is a high quality Kitchen Aid product. I especially like the cord keeper on the bottom so you can store the cord when not in use.

I am very happy with this toaster. I especially like the "bagle button" feature which allows only one side to get toasted and avoiding burning the whole item to be toasted. I thought the cord was a bit short but nothing I can't live with. It has wide slots and a removable crumb tray for easy cleaning. I would recommend this toaster to anyone.

I brought this product to Toast my Whole Wheat Bread that i "Always" eat, but to my suprise, it does not toast Whole Wheat Bread. After i brought the product and could not toast my bread, it was then when i read one of the reviews here at Amazon where that was mention. I was so upset, i sold the toaster (at a lost) to one of my co-workers, then purchased a Oster Toaster Counter Forms 6335 (which was my first choice initially)from Amazon, and i am very happy with that product. Shame on KitchenAid for selling that product that did not work to my expectation.

KitchenAid KTT340ER Wide Slot 2 Slice Toaster- Empire Red
Very high quality. Best feature is the uniform browning of the toast.
Should last a lifetime.

I'm disappointed in this toaster. It takes two cycles to toast an english muffin!

Some others have written negatives about this little jewel's ability to handle bagels and bread for toast. I have to disagree. My wife and I found it does the best job of any toaster we've seen at any price. Excellent!

I have never seen such a diverse difference of opinions about the same product as has been made about this toaster. I am now on the second KitchenAid toaster which performs exactly as the first one did. It doesn't brown (even lightly) English muffins when set all the way to the darkest setting. I have to put them in a second time and watch to make sure they don't burn. I think $50.00 is too much money to pay for that kind of performance. From what other reviews state, it sounds as though these toasters have been manufactured in different locations and to different specs. I wish I knew how to get one from the factory that makes them the "right" way. I have (since purchasing this toaster) read similar "bad" reviews going back several years. One would think that KitchenAid would have fixed this problem. Take your muffins and bagels to the store and test drive this baby before buying.

I did not have an issue with the browning, as setting it on the midrange setting gets it just right. So this may be a hit or miss issue.

I've always liked KitchenAid products and this one is no exception. It 'browns' bread, bagels or English muffins evenly on both sides.....a lot of other brands of toasters are not this consistent!
This toaster is a great buy for the price too! You can't go wrong when purchasing any KitchenAid product.

This a great toaster. It toasts bread the way we like it. It does a great job on bagels. Just as advertised. It also looks nice on the kitchen countertop. We were a bit disappointed that with a name like Kitchen Aid, it was manufactured in China. Then again, what isn't?

Alright, so Amazon is urging me to write a reviewe for this toaster. It's only the 2nd toaster I've owned. I threw out the previous one, a Sunbeam, because I broke it and a decor change was in order. It was white while this Kitchenaid is black. I decided to go with this toaster because it appeared to be the highest quality simple black 2-slot toaster on the market. I only toast bread with, never bagels. I don't know how its toasting accuracy is compared to others (including mine because I never paid too much attention). But the controls work nice and smoothly. I just wish the slots were a tad bit longer. There's a similar model that has much longer slots but it's too long overall for my counter and it's also significantly higher priced I believe.

So anyway, I hope this helped. I gave it 4 stars because of the slot length and because I haven't been able to verify the bagel performance. And nothing deserves a perfect score as there could always be something just a little better.

I purchased this toaster after reading about it in Consumer Reports, it was rated #2or #3, It performs terrible, the toast levels are nonexistent you have to move the lever all the way to the "dark" side to get minimully toasted color. Directions say the moisture content of the bread will cause the toast to come out different, i found that that was of no consequence to the outcome. I would love to return it to Amazon; however we discarded the box by mistake with the Christmas wrappings.

I like heavy grain breads and this toaster is a disaster for toasting such breads. You must set the browning to darkest for the first toasting and then retoast. Always. The bread never comes out toasted the first time. What bothers me most is that the bread will burn if you forget to reset the browning to midway for the second toasting. And,no, you can't do two passes with a midway setting. The midway setting requires three passes.

I'm also disappointed with this toaster because the toast browns unevenly. I have yet to get a piece of toast (even white bread) that is evenly browned on both sides or even edge-to-edge on either side.

I do agree that it does a credible job on bagels.

KitchenAid should market this product as a bagel toaster only.

This toaster has the most elements for even heating, a great thermostat that works well, lot's of features and guess what? It really does a good job of toasting! Not just another cheap appliance, this is very well made and a good value.

I got this toaster as an engagement gift in Fall 2005. It matched my appliances and I was thrilled.
It never toasted well from Day One, and completely stopped workiing before 2006 had ended!
Total piece of junk.

Very happy with my tangerine KitchenAid toaster.

Pros:
Fun colors to chose from, toasts quickly and evenly, easy to use controls, compact size, cool to the touch, easy to remove/clean crumb tray.

Cons:
Gap in between metal top and plastic housing allows for crumbs to fall in between, stowaway cord hard to wrap around bottom without almost having to turn toaster sideways or upside-down, stowaway cord does not stay stowed very well and sometimes comes off bottom.

All in all, I'm happy with this toaster. Does a very nice job of toasting my bagels, bread, and whatever else we put in it. One reviewer commented on the fumes and smell. I experienced this for the first 4 or 5 cycles and then it totally went away... the only smell now is the sweet smell of some nicely toasted bread products!

I bought this model, and although it functions well, it gives off a truly noxious (plastic chemical smelling) odor in operation that fills the kitchen and other rooms of my home. I tried using it enough to overcome the odor which KitchenAid customer satisfaction says is a "coating" which will disappear after several uses. That never happened - it's as toxic now as it was when new.
Because the toaster is off the warranty period, KitchenAid says sorry! Shame on you KitchenAid. Some "Made in China" consumer products are not - I hope you do adequate testing of your products before wholesaling them to retailers to protect consumer safety. I'm a customer who had already owned the KitchenAid 5 Quart Professional Stand Mixer and Food Processor (these are good items). Will not sell this toaster at yard sale as it isn't ethical to pass this problem on to an unsuspecting it in the garbage. I don't like throwing away my money. KitchenAid has now lost this ex-chef as a customer, and a disgruntled consumer will tell at least five other people about their experiences as consumer research has shown - and you can bet I'll tell more than five people as a consumer and a contributing food service industry writer.

This is a GREAT toaster. It works as was advertised. I would purchase it again to give as a gift.

I really love this toaster--probably more than anyone should LOVE a toaster! It works great with a neat bagel function (no more black bagels) and warming feature, and provides a great pop of color in my kitchen.