The design of the toaster hasn’t really changed in the 100 years since the pop-up version was first introduced. They still rely on temperature sensors and timers, despite the explosion of bread varieties available today. And that means the standard toaster doesn’t necessarily cook fruit breads or sourdoughs like it would with a simple white slice.
Breville, makers of some of the best coffee machines, believe they have found a solution in the form of the Breville Eye Q, the Australian brand’s new toaster that uses a patented optical sensor that judges the doneness of toast by the color of the bread. That is, use your ‘sight’ to get the perfect toast.
According to Breville, the sensor “monitors” the slices up to 10 times per second, and once the preferred browning level is reached, the bread will rise gently instead of jumping.
Plus, unlike other toasters, because it bases its cooking on color rather than time, it won’t burn or overcook the second (or third, or fourth) batch of slices you place in the Eye Q. This can happen in standard toasters because the elements are already heated and toasting begins as soon as the slices are inserted into the slots.
there are seven settings shades to choose from, but you can also opt for a “slightly more” color if you’re not happy with the result (a feature already available on existing Breville toasters). The brand says you may need to experiment a little initially to find what your perfect preference might be, but the promise is that your toast, whether it’s white, multigrain, sourdough, raisin, rye, or a non-standard bagel, bun, or other type of bread, will never burn.
Watch that expensive toast
Breville told me that it took the company’s engineers 10 years to make this toaster and they almost gave up about five years ago due to the high cost of the technology at the time. The built-in optical sensors still make it a premium product: $299.95 / £249.95 / AU$399.95 for the two-slice model and $399.95 / £349.95 / AU$599.95 for the four-slice model; Without a doubt, it is a price for toast connoisseurs… if such people exist.
However, the use of an optical sensor in a toaster is certainly revolutionary and, interestingly, the Eye Q uses only one pair placed on one side of the two-slice toaster, not both as I expected. That’s because Breville says its research shows that most users will toast the same type of bread in both slots, so the sensor only needs to monitor one slice while the rest of the technology ensures even heating throughout. You can see the sensor’s green light flashing in the video clip below.
Additionally, Breville says that if both walls had sensors, the size of the toaster would increase, and the single-wall design allows the Eye Q to be barely larger than most other standard two- or four-slice models.
If you want to toast a single slice, Breville has carefully marked the slot where you should place it. If you make the mistake of using the other one, you won’t get the results you want and your toast will likely be a little undercooked.
For artisan breads, the Eye Q sensor has also been programmed to include a special sourdough mode. This takes into account the thicker slices, crispier crusts and denser bread of such loaves and automatically increases the browning time. To ensure the exterior of the toaster has a clean and minimalist look, this functionality is available by long pressing the main control button.
The traditional defrost/reheat button has been replaced by a time mode (activated by pressing the main button twice) that allows users to set a time to heat foods such as cakes and pastries.
A life-saving feature
If you’ve ever danced with death by sticking a knife or other utensil into your toaster to free a stuck slice (there are an estimated 700 toaster-related deaths each year), Breville solved that too with the Eye Q. Not only are the slots a little wider than those of the standard toaster, but the bread guides automatically (and smoothly) slide down into the toaster. Press the main control button. When the toasts are ready, they rise at the same speed and appear to be placed higher inside the machine, so even the shortest artisan slices can be removed easily.
Cleaning has also been simplified. The top of the toaster is a non-stick ceramic-coated material that slopes inward, so simply brush crumbs into the grooves where they collect on Eye Q’s Catch-All Crumb Tray. Unlike other crumb trays on standard toasters, which only cover a narrow section along the bottom of the appliance, the Catch-All offers complete coverage, so practically all the pieces fall on him to clean them.
No more burnt toast
So how does this compare in real world tests? Well, first full disclaimer: I’m pretty much the perfect market for Eye Q, since I stopped using my toaster a long time ago. I got tired of having to watch the bread because the slices invariably came out oversized. And if I walked away, my smoke alarm would most likely go off. So my old toaster usually sits on a shelf and is used maybe once a year when I treat myself to a muffin.
I’m not going to say that Eye Q is the next best invention after sliced bread, but now I want to eat toast every morning, especially since I can’t stop watching the slices fall into the toaster and rise again (see video clip below). I have used it for seven days at the time of writing this article and the first time I used it was to experiment with sourdough.
I like it very lightly toasted, but even on the second setting, the crust was overdone. The following cuts seemed perfect to me from the first moment. The white bread toasts beautifully for me in the third setting. The raisin toast was not burnt at all. I’m a toast convert now!
As fantastic as the toaster is, its high price will probably keep it out of the reach of all but the most devoted toast lovers. Eye Q is available to buy right now in Australia in four colourways: Black Truffle, Sea Salt, Stainless Steel and Noir (which replaces a white stripe on the bottom of the Black Truffle with a dark grey), direct from Breville and authorized retailers. Availability of the Eye Q in the US and UK has yet to be confirmed, although Breville says it will be available “before the end of the year.”
