The Oster Counterforms 2-Slice Toaster 6335 is compact, efficient and safe enough even for children to use. Part of Oster's new Counterforms collection, this unit features the exclusive "Luminart" exterior finish, which gives it an almost stainless-steel-like appearance. The attractive shimmery surface also hides fingerprints and smudges, stays cool to the touch, and reflects light in a rippled pattern.

The toaster itself measures 7-3/8 inches wide by 10-3/4 inches long by 7-1/2 inches tall and has two 5-1/2x1-1/2-inch toast slots with self-centering guides that hold bread and other food items upright for even toasting.

We particularly liked the smooth plastic panel that encases the top, where toasters traditionally get very hot. The metal parts are recessed slightly so that your fingers don't touch metal surfaces when retrieving the toasted slices. Another handy feature is the locking toast lift, which raises the toasted slices up and then locks in the up position so you can use both hands to remove the slices.

The controls consist of seven push buttons conveniently located on the front panel. There is also a traditional dial shade selector with settings from 1 (light) to 7 (dark). The options for toasting include a standard toast button, which is the default option, as well as buttons for waffle, pastry, bagel, frozen, warm and cancel. The specialty functions are activated by depressing the specific button and then pressing the carriage lever to lower the food. When the toasting cycle has completed, you'll hear a beep and the carriage lever pops up automatically.

We liked the fact that the unit resets itself to the default toast setting if 10 seconds pass before the carriage lever is depressed again. This lets multi-user households choose their own options without worry that someone else has left the machine on the wrong setting. In addition, the blue buttons light up to indicate which function is selected.

The Oster Counterforms 2-Slice Toaster performed extremely well -- toasting even hard-to-toast English muffins in less than 3 minutes (on setting 6). The variety of functions, cool-touch exterior and easy-to-use toast lever are sure to please.

Warranty
1 year, limited