Safe Toasters for Elderly People – The Best 4 Choices Reviewed

Although many young people are looking forward to growing older so they can experience things they aren’t usually allowed to, the fun business stop when things are getting out of hand.

As we grow up, we realize how hard many simple tasks can be. One of the main issues that challenge older people is the difficulty of pulling up some modest jobs we never thought anyone would have a hard time doing it.

From memorizing the smallest of details to keeping up with the complexity and sophistication of modern technology, the simple chores of elderly people’s daily life don’t get easier.

Since modern technology was meant to make our life easier, many manufacturers started considering their older audiences when they’re making new products.

One of the prominent examples where brands make an easier to use, less complicated, and safer appliances for the elderly were toaster ovens.

With that said, today, we’ll be reviewing the best of those safe toasters for elderly people that you can find on the market shelves. Let’s head in and see what each of them offers.

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What’s a Toaster?

Before we head on the main questions, we need to sort this one out. A toaster is a simple operated and easy to use device, that’s mainly used to lightly toast bread and other pastry.

Toasters give the bread the crisp, make it tastier, and provide it with its signature darker color.

What Are the Types of Toasters and the Differences Between Them?

There are two types of toasters on the market that have some similarities and differences.

The first one is the regular pop up slice toaster, and the second one is the countertop toaster oven. Pop up toasters are almost exclusively used for bread slices and sometimes bacon as it’s shaped as bread slices.

They’re easier to use and usually more affordable and they don’t take much space in your kitchen. On the other hand, countertop toaster ovens allow for more variety of food to be toasted and they occupy a larger space in the kitchen.

Unlike pop up toasters, they can toast more than just slices of bread. However, they usually come at a higher price tag, and they’ll demand their own zone in your kitchen, although some brands are making more compact ovens recently.

There is no huge difference between the two in terms of functionality as they do the same job. It’s only a matter of convenience, depending on your cuisine habits.

Why Would You Buy a Toaster for Elderly People?

Toasters can make our seniors’ life much easier by giving them a safe and reliable method to prepare their breakfast with fewer things to worry about.

Fewer Hazards

The combination of open-flame ovens and an older person who can totally forget about it is a recipe for an inevitable disaster.

The best part about toasters is that with their safety measures and features. Consequently, they’re usually a much safer option to go for especially if the one using it is getting a bit more on the forgetful side.

More Comfortable to Use

One of the main differences between the regular ovens and the countertop or pop up ovens is where they’re placed in your kitchen.

Regular ovens are usually placed at or below the knee level. This results in continuous squatting or bending over whenever you’re checking on food, introducing food into the oven, or taking it out.

This isn’t only dangerous because the oven and the food are very hot, but also because most older people are going to have a hard time bending over a lot of times to check on the food.

Unlike the regular oven, all toasters, are placed over the counter at the torso level, making them a vastly more comfortable alternative compared to regular ovens.

Easily Operated

Although modern technology provides many features that sometimes make things more complex or hard to deal with, most manufacturers tend to make toasters as smart and simple as possible.

This itself can be a huge advantage for toasters against other cooking appliances. In most cases, you can still find toasters that require no manual to use, and all you need to do is place your bread slice and wait.

However, some of these technological innovations can be more beneficial to an older person than we might think.

What Features Should You Look for When Buying a Toaster for an Elderly Person?

A toaster is a simple kitchen appliance, however, there are a lot of aspects to consider while shopping for a toaster, especially if an elderly person is going to use it. These added features can render the toaster much easier and safer to use.

Automatic Shut-off Timer

Although having a shut-off timer is becoming an essential safety measure in all appliances, it becomes more crucial when it comes to elderly people.

As we get older, our minds tend to be less aware of our surroundings and we become more forgetful. This makes leaving food to cook unattended at the risk of being burnt or even worse, such cases can easily start a fire.

With shut off timers, you’ll have to worry less about leaving the job of operating the toaster to your old loved ones. A good toaster will have its power shut down if it was abandoned for about 40 minutes.

Fewer Buttons

Have you ever looked at your toaster or microwave and wondered what all of these complicated buttons do? If we can avoid features we don’t need or understand, older people may not be able to do the same job.

With excessive features and buttons, older people can get easily confused and overwhelmed. Since we don’t want that to happen, you should opt for a toaster with a simple user interface and fewer steps to operate.

Larger Display Screen and Clear Buttons

Another issue that most of seniors are dealing with is unclear vision. Older people may find it very difficult to read anything written in small letters.

Our advice here is to look for a toaster with a large display screen and timer readout. Also, keep in mind that the toaster needs to have large buttons with big letters to simply describe what they do.

Auto-Eject Wire Rack in Pop Up Toasters

When it comes to older people, even the easiest of tasks for us can be a challenge for them. This can also apply to the ability to take out the toasts without getting burned.

Seniors’ motor skills to fail dramatically with time. Consequently, all the tasks that require a steady or an accurate hand to pull up become naturally more troublesome. Let alone those with Parkinson’s disease who can’t even properly lift a spoon.

For such reasons, if you’re getting one of those pop-up toasters, they should have an auto-eject wire rack feature that forces the toast slices out of the toaster to prevent burns and other mishaps.

Larger Sized Countertop Toaster Oven

Similar to the pop-up model of toasters, if you’re going to get a countertop toaster oven for its multiple purpose features.

It’s advisable to root for a larger toaster oven and avoid the newly innovated highly compact ones. Although compact toasters are portable and space saving, an elderly person won’t likely need to change its place, so compactness isn’t a feature to worry about.

Older people’s houses tend to host many family gatherings, so a larger oven toaster would come in handy in those situations.

Front Crumb Tray Removal

Leaving the toaster riddled with bread crumbs and leftovers is a very bad idea. First of all, they will overburn causing charing smell and taste to all the next in line food, making them taste very bitter.

Secondly, they shorten the toaster’s life span and put it in the risk of getting malfunctioned or causing a fire.

A tray removal is essential for all the mentioned causes. For an elderly-friendly tray, it’s always recommended that the tray should be pulled out from the front side of your toaster.

An Important Notice Regarding Neurodegenerative Patients

It goes without saying that although this article might help you with advice and reviews about the best toaster for your elders. However, this only applies to seniors with a decent level of mental and motor health.

With that said, it’s always recommended to constantly keep an eye on older people everywhere, and especially in the kitchen if they suffer from any neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

Top 4 Safe Toasters For Older People in 2020

After reviewing dozens of toasters, we came up with this list of our top favorite toasters that are safe for the elderly.

Dash DVTS501RD Toaster with Stainless Steel Accents

Kicking off our list with Dash’s DVTS501RD toaster with its cool and unique features. We all know how sometimes our seniors are picky when it comes to their food.

With its unique see-through feature, they can simply watch their toasts from its clear windows allowing them to take out their toast whenever they feel it’s ready for eating. They can also easily clean the toaster with a front removable crumb tray.

The great features don’t end here. In addition to toasting bread slices, Dash’s toaster is designed so it can defrost and heat bagels, English muffins, and waffles all with special buttons for each setting.

Dash also offers a 1-year warranty against all kinds of manufacturers’ errors, a recipe book, and an online recipe database for free.

Pros

• Large window to keep an eye on your toast
• 7 toast shades setting
• Defrost, reheat, and toasts bagels with a push of a button
• Durable Stainless steel body
• Can be easily wiped with a clean towel

Cons

• Many users claim that it over ejects the toast when it’s done
• Small prints above the buttons may be hard to read for the elderly

Conclusion

If your idea of a toaster is about bagels, waffles, English muffins, specialty bread and not just toast, then Dash DVTS501 is everything you’re looking for.

It offers a multi-purpose toaster that can also reheat and defrost the food all the while staying very simple.

 

Hamilton Beach 31128 Easy Reach Toaster Oven

The second item on our list and the first from the reputable Hamilton Beach is the 31128. If you’re looking for a toaster that combines modern technology and design with large clear buttons and huge interiors, then you’re in for a treat!

This toaster oven with its extraordinary roll-top door offers a huge space inside the toaster to be utilized. Additionally, it also guarantees a safe and easy reach to the food.

It comes with multiple cooking settings in addition to toasting such as broil, bake, pizza, and convection, which cooks food 25% faster than regular ovens.

Pros

• Fast cooking by the convection fan
• Easy access to food by the roll-top door
• Huge interior space enough for big meals
• Easy cleaning stainless steel

Cons

• Power button might get stuck with excessive usages
• A bit pricey

Conclusion

This toaster is an all-round efficient toaster oven that’ll suit families of large numbers or an elderly with an appetite for pizzas and bigger specialty bread.

Cuisinart CPT 420 Touch to Toast Leverless 2-Slice Toaster

Another toaster on our list is the Cuisinart CPT 420 slice toaster. This toaster is also available as a 4-slice model which is called CPT 440.

When it comes to CPT 420, it can’t get easier than that. This slice toaster is one of the very few pop-up toasters on the market that operates by a motorized lever simply through touching the toast button.

Among its features are the 7 defrost settings for various thicknesses of frozen bagels, toast, French bread, and other pastries. This is all possible due to its extra-wide slots.

All that comes with a cutting edge design and brushed stainless steel body that provides extra durability to the pop-up toaster.

Pros

• Can toast all kinds of pastries due to its wider slots
• Has 7 different defrosting settings
• Supports an easy to read digital display screen and loud-beeping alarms
• The leverless design ditches all stuck lever issues

Cons

• The cord on the toaster is a bit short
• Some users didn’t like the level of darkening it provides to the bread
• The slots are wide but aren’t deep enough for some types of homemade artisan bread.

Conclusion

Cuisinart CPT 420 is a smart, simple, and easy to handle toaster that can efficiently do the job you’re expecting it to do. It also looks fantastic on the counter.

Hamilton Beach 31156 2 in 1 Countertop Oven and Long Slot Toaster

Last but not least, we have Hamilton Beach’s best of both worlds. This hybrid 2-in-1 toaster is a countertop oven with a built-in single long slot pop up toaster.

For many people, this wonderful idea is everything they’ve been looking for. It can broil and bake in the oven while toasting bread slices in the pop-up toaster. The manufacturer also claims that it can toast 40% faster than most competitor toasters.

The oven toaster is packed with an auto shut-off timer that can be set up to 60 minutes of cooking time. Moreover, the spacious interiors with its double racks allow for multi-task cooking.

The toaster has a shade selector feature that allows you to decide how dark you like your toast. It also comes with a removable crumb tray, a baking pan, and a rack.

The only downside about the elderly using this product is its “stay on” feature. This feature simply gives you the option to disable the automatic shut off the timer if you need a longer baking or broiling time.

While such a feature can come in handy for regular users, it can be extremely dangerous in case of forgetful old people, let alone all the late-stage Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

Pros

• 2 in 1 combination brings both types of toasters in one device
• Elderly-friendly features such as auto shut-off and easy to figure knobs
• Excellent quality for money

Cons

• The stay on option can be quite dangerous on forgetful seniors
• Many users claimed that rear heating issues that can be replaced for free by Hamilton Beach

Conclusion

This perfect multipurpose hybrid toaster solved the long debate of toasters. However, it’s recommended for seniors who maintain a decent memory and attention.

The Verdict

When it comes to a toaster that’s elderly-friendly, it has to get the job done without much fuss or complex steps. For that reason, I think that Hamilton Beach 31156 2×1 Countertop Oven and Long Slot Toaster is an excellent choice.

This hybrid toaster oven has it all. From the benefits of the multi-purpose oven and the bigger meals, it can prepare to the simple, convenient, and super fast toasting of its built-in pop-up toaster.

However, if you’re tight on budget and you just want a small yet efficient toaster that’s safe for your seniors, then the Dash DVTS501RD Toaster with it’s a see-through window and large simple buttons will do the trick for you.