We have this coffee maker and really like it. There's no carafe; it has an internal reservoir that holds the coffee and keeps it warm. It never tastes burned and bitter the way coffee in a glass carafe on a warming plate tastes after 30 minutes or so

Here is a link that might be useful: Coffee maker

Toaster oven: Breville Smart Oven or Compact Smart Oven. We have the Compact , and I sometimes regret not getting the full size model (they even have a smaller one than the Compact), because the extra oven space would definitely come in handy for holiday meals especially.

Coffee maker: Technivorm! We love ours! Brews coffee super fast, and good and hot.

edb2n- didn't know they made coffeemakers without a carafe. That sure solves the whole cleaning up glass shards at 5 am problem.

cat_mom- we have a toaster oven that I tend to use, but I don't know if the girls could use it without getting burnt, so I let them use the pop-up toaster. The Technivorms are interesting. Does is make cheap coffee taste better?

We had a Kitchenaid 4 slice toaster that was cold. Took a long time to toast anything. I SUSPECT that 4 slice toasters do not, unfortunately, use twice the power as two slice ones. Thus they take longer.

When it died and i couldn't fix it, I bought a Cuisinart 2 slice toaster that required the toast be flipped somewhere in the cycle else it would char one side and not the other. Whoop-de-doo.

The next one will probably have the word "commercial" somewhere in its name. For us, neither Kitchenaid not Cuisinart are quality brands any more (except for the Kitchenaid mixer, the best there is).

We have also bought the overpriced coffee makers that don't work well. I'd rather have a twenty dollar Mr. Coffee that works than a towering piece of art that doesn't.

Coffee isn't a design statement. It's a hot drink in the morning, and you get your results by buying decent beans or grounds. The rest is snobbism.

I have a cuisinart toaster oven that I picked because it makes great toast. Bought mine at Costco and love it. We have a double wall oven too but sometimes we just like using the toaster oven.

I had the Cuisinart coffee maker that edb posted it was great. Then I had a delonghi coffee maker(linked) which I also really liked. Now I am just using french press which will not work for you because it cant hold enough. I have done this because I am tired of coffee pots needing to be replaced every 3 - 4 years.
Friends just bought a bonavita which they love and they say the coffee is really hot- yeah! I will wait and see if it lasts before investing.
Toasters- ugh- I have the, apparently, the same cuisinart toaster as cold weather. It toasts one side of the bread and burns the other. It is a 4 slice, but only two slots have been working for the last 3 -4 years. I dont bother replacing because I have mastered the toast and flip - lol.
I will follow this thread to see if anyone has one that really works- and isnt a dualit for $200.

I also love the Cuisinart Coffee on Demand. Looks great to have out on the countertop and makes great coffee!

Maybe not pretty but handsome, I think: the Waring medium duty commercial toaster. There's also a version with long slots that works better with long slices of bread. No doubt Amazon also has them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Waring

Thanks chesters_house! I may get the two slice version!

I have the big Breville, and we get a ton of use out of it. But I don't think any toaster oven makes toast as good as a toaster. I had a Bosch once upon a time that made toast as good as my mom's from when I was a kid. And I've had some very meh ones. We're getting a speed oven in the remodel, and I've heard of people making toast in them, but I'll likely get a two slicer and put it in a cabinet to pull out when I want toast (not all that often).

re: coffee makers, I'd only buy one with a stainless carafe anymore. Maybe one with the reservoir linked above. No glass, ever. I like the stainless carafe to carry it into my office occasionally. (But I'm the only one who drinks coffee).

How do you clean the reservoir in that one, I wonder?

I got a Kitchenaid 4-slice with credit card reward points, something I never would have spent actual money on due to cost....but I LOVE it! I have not been using it long, though, and it has fully electronic controls which just screams trouble. But for now I love it and it looks so awesome on my counter.

We're still mid-remodel but I wanted to dump our messy old black toaster oven to minimize clutter. I deliberately got a gas range with a small oven on top for quick reheats and thought that a Breville or something similar would be unnecessary in my tiny tiny kitchen. So I picked up a 2-slice faux stainless toaster from Oster at Target over the weekend figuring I wouldn't overanalyze this one. So far it's been a great choice - toasts almost instantly, as opposed to the toaster oven. And it was a bargain - I think even the 4 -slice version is only 39.99.

I'm also on the hunt for a simple, reliable, attractive coffee maker. Simple is key since my husband is a big coffee drinker as well as a technophobe. But I don't want some hulking black plastic thing messing up my sleek almost-done new vibe. So I'm eyeing this blingy Krups model, linked below, just because it seems pretty. There are mostly good reviews, but some bad, although that applies to literally every item I research online these days.

Here is a link that might be useful: Silver Krups coffee maker

We got a Cuisinart 2-slice toaster, but it comes in a 4-slice version. Works well. We don't leave it out because we only use it on weekends.

Thanks everyone for the input. It sounds like Cuisinart is a good choice for the coffeemaker and the toaster is likely to be junk no matter which I choose, so just pick something cheap that looks decent and let my kids eat one-sided toast. I'm pretty sure they just eat toast to watch the toaster eject the toast anyways.

Love, love, love my Cuisinart coffee maker. The wonky retro one with the toggle switch. We're on our second one (carafe issues, not the maker) and I never get better coffee anywhere. We bought a fancier one when we reno'd and I ended up giving to my sister.

I have the medium Breville and boy, do I enjoy it. So glad I was talked into it here, because it seemed like a lot of money at the time. Now it just seems like a bargain.

I like my Cuisinart 4 slice toaster. Have had it for a few years and it works great.

Cal Quail: the reservoir has a handle on the top. It lifts right out and you just wash it in the sink or dishwasher.

I have a Cuisinart 2-slice toaster and it's great if you only want one side of your bread toasted. Oh wait, that's the bagel feature, right? Okay so this is a dedicated bagel toaster.

I had another Cuisinart for about 4 years before it started just toasting on one side. Decided it was time for a new one. New one did the single-side toasting, took it back (Macy's) and got a new one. Same thing. Why the hell don't they just call it a Bagel Toaster? I'm too annoyed and lazy to take it back so I just flip the bread mid-cycle.

Edited to add: Why don't I just try a different brand? Have you noticed how ugly toasters have gotten lately? I make toast nearly every day so the toaster resides on the counter. Some toasters are too ugly to live.

This post was edited by linelle on Wed, Jun 4, 14 at 21:46

I replaced a Cuisinart with the Waring because mine would toast bread too light even on dark, and then unless I watched it closely, pop up charred stuff if I sent it down again. If I wanted to watch bread toast, I 'd be better off sticking a long fork in the bread and hold it over fire (good toast that way actually -- my grandmother's method).
No advice on coffee makers. I use a Melitta pour over.

I lived in England for 6 years and made toast either under the broiler or on a long fork in front of the gas fire. I'd rather not return to those days.

Cuisinart makes better coffee makers than toasters. For $50-60, mine is great.

When I was pregnant with my first born 7 years ago, I accidentally dropped my carafe and of course it shattered.
My mom, knowing a baby was just around the corner and my hands would be full bought the linked coffee maker for me.
We love it. It is simple, keeps coffee warm without burning and it costs 40 dollars.
The only down side is that the one we got doesn't have a programmable timer, only an on/off button. We just prep it the night before and we push the button when we first wake up and in a few minutes we have coffee. They do sell models with the clock and programmable feature though. Still less than 100. They have them a Walmart, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.

My toaster is a white Proctor Silex toaster I think we may have received as a wedding gift 12 years ago. Cheap, has always worked efficiently and quickly, never had burned toast, fits bagels, etc. The comparable version they currently sell is 30.

So there you go, both for less than 100. You may be more particular about the curves and lines than I am though. All I care about is that it works well and the color goes with my kitchen. Speaking of which I should really replace my toaster, my appliances are no longer white!

Here is a link that might be useful: coffeemaker without carafe

I'm not particular at all about looks really, although that Krups linked above is pretty dang nice looking for a coffeemaker! I'm thinking black/stainless so it matches appliances.

Our coffeemaker and toaster were both from Walmart. I paid $5 for the coffeemaker on clearance and $7 for the toaster. They started out white, now the toaster is yucky yellow around the slots and has scuffs that don't come clean. The coffeemaker still comes clean, but coffee on a white coffeemaker cannot be ignored for a considerable amount of time. I think it gurgles and sputters coffee out while it's going, because I wipe the stupid thing off every day, and when I get it out, there are more spots.

Times and clocks aren't important. We don't use a timer now, because I put it away every day. We're hitting the time of year now where everything with a digital clock in our house is off because the power flickers at least once or twice a week, or daily when it gets even hotter.

linelle- I agree about ugly toasters. The toaster isn't important enough to me to perform flawlessly, form over function here. Just make the bread crispier than when it went in and don't burn down my kitchen and look decent in the process. I'm not really that particular about my coffee either. I don't drink it for the taste, I drink it so I can function before noon and I like the smell when I open the container. We're not serious coffee drinkers. Folgers is good enough for us.

I also have the one sided toast Cuisinart toaster. In the middle you have to flip it if you really want toast on both sides, annoyingâ¦

I remember reading on the forum some time ago about a toaster above all others and yet I don't remember the name of it, just people enthusiastically swearing by it. It was very expensive though and probably why I didn't bother putting it in my memory vault⦠But the way they were going on about it you would have thought man I better take out a loan and get one of these!!! Anyone else recall that?

Another recommendation for the Cuisinart.

I have a 10-cup toaster and a 4-slice coffee pot, but they are top secret. Eat your heart out!
Casey

The toaster may have been a Dualit Combi that I was trying to think of. Shamelessly expensive. I don't have one but would like to use one to see if it's really "all that".

I have the Breville two-slice toaster #BTA820XL, and love it. One of my favorite features is the "slo-mo" descent and rise of the toast. It is just so cool. Plus it means no more launching of the toast across the room when it pops up. I also like that the toaster is 900 watts (1800 for the 4-slice version), and that it is solid die-cast metal housing. I'll link to the toaster on Amazon, where it rates 4 stars out of 5 (both the 2-slice and the 4-slice version are on the same link in Amazon). There are indeed some negative reviews of this toaster among all the positive, but I think that is the case with any small kitchen appliance. My experience has been very good with the 2-slice Breville toaster.

Edit: I forgot to respond about the coffeemaker. I have tried the expensive Capresso, which never made good coffee, lasted just until the warranty was over, and cost way too much. Now I have an inexpensive Hamilton Beach, which does the job, though a coffee aficionado would probably find fault. Anyway, America's Test Kitchen has a video of a coffee maker testing. It's about 5 minutes, and is interesting: America's Test Kitchen Video about Coffee Maker Testing

Here is a link that might be useful: Breville BTA840XL 4-slice Toaster

This post was edited by akchicago on Sun, Jun 8, 14 at 10:54