Cuisinart CPT-160 Review

Below we expound upon the CPT-160's performance in our tests compared to the toaster competition.

Performance Comparison

Bread Toasting Quality

Like all the models we tested, the CPT-160 made respectable slices of toast but with significantly more inconsistencies than most other models. It scored low in this metric, falling well behind the top-performing Smeg. It made toast with conspicuous white areas near the crust and often charred one vertical side while leaving the other reasonably light. While most people wouldn't scoff at this toast, its inconsistencies were evident enough that even the less finicky toast eaters would notice them. The last thing you want is picky Aunt Bertha complaining about her toast when she comes over for breakfast.

Ease of Use

The CPT-160 has fairly basic, intuitive controls. Its mode buttons have adjacent lights that turn on when pressed, making it clear which mode is currently selected. The shade knob is continuous and doesn't click into each setting, so it is a bit more challenging to choose the same setting each time. The lever feels a bit flimsy to use, and the unit doesn't have much weight. Rubber feet prevent sliding when pressing buttons, but lifting the lever to pull smaller items out of the slot tends to lift the entire toaster rather than just the stubborn English muffin. It has a very wide and easy-to-clean crumb tray, but the tray removes from the back of the unit, which is a bit of a bother.

Bagel Toasting Quality

The CPT-160 shared common bagel toasting issues with many of the other models in our test. It often toasted one half of each bagel slice a few shades darker than the other. Some cycles produced inconsistencies across slices, toasting one piece much more than the other. The bagel mode does not turn off the outside elements, leaving the backsides of bagels toasted rather than in their ideal warm and gooey state. All of this translated into an average score for the group.

Frozen Food/Defrosting Quality

This model's defrost mode takes frozen goods and slowly warms and thaws them before ramping up to full toasting temperature. Generally, we found that models using this technique performed much better in our frozen food tests. While the CPT-160 performed acceptably in our tests, it did not perform as well as other models that utilize this technique. It struggled to make even toast from frozen bread, churning out slices with large white splotches. Even on higher shade settings, the defrost function toasted frozen waffles on the light side, but they were toasted all the way through. This relatively poor frozen bread and mediocre frozen waffle performance earned the CPT-160 a lower score in our defrosting test.

Should You Buy the CPT-160?

The CPT-160 is a basic toaster that provides basic functionality at its core. With its reasonably low price, few people will find it a dissatisfying purchase, but there are certainly better options and better values to be found.

What Other Toaster Should You Consider?

This Cuisinart is kind of cute, but that is all it seems to excel at. The Amazon Basics KT-3680 is less expensive and scored significantly better during testing for both bagel and toast quality, making it our toaster of choice if budget is a concern or you want a basic model that gets the job done. If your goal is the best of the best or you want something that looks a little bit different, then the Smeg 2-Slice is the toaster of choice with top marks for toast and bagel quality and drop-dead good looks.