A toast to toast.

• Position: What's New? - From DeLonghi America Inc.

* When the first pop-up toasters came into being many decades ago, they were a simple operation. You put in the bread, depressed the lever, and a couple of minutes later, the bread popped up, now at some degree of brown-ness and crispness. Years went by, and consumers, seeking variety, turned to English muffins, Pop Tarts, and anything else that would fit into the slot and go down to be toasted. Therein began the toaster revolution, as it was discovered that bagels were too fat to fit, while precooked frozen foods like waffles and French toast could be heated up in it instead of made from scratch. So, the homely little appliance that had sat upon the kitchen counter for so many years had to be redesigned to fit the new demands.

Today, toasters have become Space Age implements bristling with numerous buttons, dials, and sensors. One of the most versatile is the Chrome Toaster from DeLonghi America Inc., Saddle Brook, N.J., with a panoply of electronic features to make toasting a virtual art form. Extra-wide, extra-long slots not only have the capacity to accept just about anything someone might think to stuff into them--including four slices of bread for the truly hungry or impatient--but they contain self-adjusting grips to keep whatever is being toasted centered so that one side doesn't get burnt while the other doesn't get browned enough. The thermostat has six settings to produce whatever degree of doneness is desired, backed up by an electronic temperature sensor that monitors the heat and adjusts the timing accordingly for consistent results. A trio of buttons down the side allow users to cancel the entire program should they decide that they made a programming error; toast a bagel so that 70% of the heat goes to the inside and 30% to the outside, ensuring that it is browned through and through; and defrost frozen items--English muffins, waffles, etc.--thoroughly before heating them up, so there are no icy centers.

Hand in hand with the technology comes convenience, with an ultra-powerful and...