Sage Appliances (also known as Breville) offer a range of automatic and manual toasters. This is a review of the Sage ‘A Bit More’ 4 slice toaster.

Here’s my video review of this toaster:

Check out this toaster on Amazon.

Sage’s appliances are known for the high quality finish and thoughtful tricks. This toaster is no exception; as with most of the range this toaster is finished in brushed steel, with a chunky appearance and large buttons. The ‘tricks’ in this case boil down to these features as far as I’m concerned:

• The A Bit More button – when pressed the toaster cooks the toast for just 30 seconds longer. Doesn’t sound like much but it removes that “I’ll just pop it in again…” then forget about it and come back to charcoal toast.
• Crumpet toasting – this engages the inner elements to heat up stronger than the outer elements. In other words, to cook one side more than the other. In the case of crumpets, this means crispy tops and slightly softer bottoms (!). Also works great on bagels!
• Lifting handle – pull up the handle during cooking to take a peek. But crucially the cooking process doesn’t stop. Instead of cancelling the toasting, it just carries straight on.
• LED-lit timing slider – as the toaster toasts, this LED timer blinks down to pop-time. Simple but effective for knowing how long is left on your toast.

All little features that add up to inventive design.

As ever with Sage products, these come with a price tag that puts them above run-of-the-mill appliances. At time of writing it’s £99. A lot for a toaster, you can likely pick one up for a little over £10. But it’s the clever gimmicks that end up being more than gimmicks – the LED timer, the ability to look at the toast while cooking. And the button that gives it it’s name – A Bit More is exactly what it needs without sending it straight to burned.

I think it’s a great gadget – if you think about how many times you use a toaster in a week then per use that can make the maths stack up.

PS numbers on toasters don’t refer to the time 🙂

Browse the full range of Sage Appliances here.