The Cuisinart CPT-440 is a smartly designed, convenient toaster that can stand out from the majority of other toasters both in design and in performance. As one of the industry leaders, it's no surprise to see Cuisinart delivering yet again with a high quality toaster packed with useful features such as a completely lever-less design and independent dual control settings. This automatic toaster is controlled entirely by its button interface and is not only simple to use and operate, but can still carry out more functions than the majority of less technologically advanced toasters. Moreover, with a price tag of just $75-85, the CPT-440 is certainly not on the expensive side, meaning that this toaster could be perfect for you to place in the middle of your kitchen.

Without knowing how much the toaster actually costs, one look at the Cuisinart CPT-440 would make you believe that it is much more expensive than it actually is. With two design colours; either brushed stainless steel or polished chrome, the CPT-440 has such a luxurious aesthetic about it. The absence of levers on the side of the toaster gives it a really sleek, attractive appearance that could fit in well with many other of your kitchen appliances. The inclusion of blue LCD screens gives the toaster some colour, making it stand out much more and giving it a sort of futuristic feel. The bright display also allows you to view the progress of your toast while it is ongoing; a clever feature that makes you feel as though the toaster is much more advanced than many others.

While the CPT-440 is still a toaster like any other, its clever design makes it feel like much more and it certainly stands out more than the majority of toasters you’ll see. In terms of the design of its toasting abilities, the CPT-440 has four very wide slots that can fit up to four slices in at any given time, while also being wide enough to accommodate bagels, English muffins and other foods that can be toasted. In fact, with its advanced bagel toasting features, the Cuisinart CPT-440 is designed with bagels in mind. Having four slots for toasting also allows for independent control settings to be included that enable two separate toasting cycles to be ongoing at any given time. Cuisinart are clearly focused on convenience with the CPT-440 and its clear that it was designed to make life easy for the user.

If the Cuisinart CPT-440’s clever design had you thinking that it would be packed with smart, useful features that make using the toaster easier, then you would be correct. If the CPT-440 gets jammed while in use, its automatic shut-off feature will turn itself off to prevent any overheating from occurring. From a safety point of view, this feature is vital and almost completely wipes away any threat of a fire starting as a result of the toaster. Though the toaster is powered by 1800W and can become quite hot, compared to many other toasters it is quite safe to touch, even directly after use. Using its four slots wisely, the CPT-440’s dual-control settings mean that both sides of the toaster can be used for different functions at any given time. For example, one person could be making toast with two of the slots while somebody else is toasting bagels with the other two; a really convenient feature that can be a lifesaver in busy homes.

Speaking of bagels, there are three function buttons that can change the heating processes of the toaster based on what you are making. These are the bagel, defrost and reheat buttons, all of which perform differently to the standard heating process for making toast. While the enhanced bagel toasting has clearly fantastic results, the defrosting function could be more effective. Instead of levers, the CPT-440 has two toast buttons that are what begin the toasting process, as well as cancel buttons directly underneath them that make it super easy to void the toasting cycle.

Furthermore, the two LCD screens have buttons underneath them that allow you to select between seven different browning shades for your toast, making it easy to make toast complete to your own personal preferences. However, if your desired shade of toast is not covered by any of the pre-set shade options, you may be forced to cancel your toasting cycle while it is ongoing in order to get the shade you want. Overall though, the CPT-440 has enough innovative and creative features to give you a wide variety of options when it comes to making toast.

With its completely lever-less design controlled purely through the use of buttons, the Cuisinart CPT-440 is an automatic toaster that manages to function much better than the majority of toasters. With one press of the toast button, your bread will be lowered into the toaster completely automatically, almost as if the toaster has a mind of its own. Unlike many toasters, the CPT-440 has its own countdown timer that gives you an idea of how long your toast will be in the toaster for, which is just a helpful feature that makes using the toaster so much easier. Despite not being controlled by levers, the CPT-440’s lift carriage does a superb job in lifting the toast from inside the toaster, allowing you to easily take your toast out without any risk of burning. This is even the case for English muffins too, which are notoriously difficult to remove from many toasters.

However, the CPT-440 lifts them high enough to allow you to safely take your muffins out without needing to use prongs to prevent the risk of burning. The toaster’s removable crumb tray is suitably placed and easy to use, making cleaning the toaster a simple job that should not cause any inconvenience at all. In terms of toasting performance, the CPT-440 should do enough to satisfy most users. There are toasters out there that can provide more evenly cooked toast than the CPT-440, though the majority of users do not complain at the quality provided. Some have also argued that the toaster’s shading options are not dark enough and that even the darkest pre-set shade is not as dark as they like it. This may mean that you’d have to toast your bread twice, which may cause you some inconvenience. However, the Cuisinart CPT-440 does tend to remain consistent in its toasting, meaning that once you familiarise yourself with the toaster, you should be able to make your perfect toast every time.

In summary, the Cuisinart CPT-440 is one of the most cleverly designed automatic toasters we’ve ever seen, and for a price of just $75-85 you could pick yourself up a really attractive and versatile toaster that would look great in any kitchen. While its toasting performance can be matched by other toasters, it is definitely satisfactory, and you should be pleased by the results you see. Since the CPT-440 is so easy and convenient to use, we can definitely imagine this being a toaster that could last you a long, long time.