Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Received the Cuisinart CPT-340 last week, but didn't have need of it until this morning. Because I'm a responsible practitioner of toasting (some would even say I'm expert level), I first took it through a couple of spins without any payload to burn off the typical first-use burning plastic smell. The first time, there was the expected strong smell of burning plastic, but by the second use, no smell was detectable, even standing directly over it while utilizing lycan-level smell detection. Once cleared for takeoff, I loaded up one side (the left, if you must know) with a couple of S'more Pop Tarts and set the level to 3, thinking that was about average. (Note: Of course I didn't read the instructions, mainly because I can't find them anymore. Things have a way of disappearing within the first 24 hours around here, and it's been several days since the toaster arrived, so it was every man for himself. If you have read the instructions, and they give you a Pop Tart setting, then by all means disregard this review.) After waiting for what seemed an interminable time, but in reality was probably a minute or so, they popped up, revealing top halves that were so burnt & blistered that I wondered briefly if the Cuisinart CPT-340 had magically teleported them to the surface of the sun. (See photo.) Using 3 for Pop Tarts was my first mistake. Using my bare hands to grab the steaming Pop Tarts was my second. Suffice to say that a pair of toaster tongs is now in my shopping cart. Well played, Amazon, well played. After allowing the Pop Tarts to cool enough that the trash can wouldn't combust, I threw out my deformed breakfast pastries, and popped in another pair, hoping they would be more fortunate at the lower setting of 1. The cooking time was noticeably shorter, and the Pop Tarts sprung forth, lightly toasted, but not entirely cooked, as evidenced when broken in half to check the filling, which hadn't melted. (See photo) I decided to go ahead and eat them anyway, mainly because I didn't want to still be cooking Pop Tarts when lunch rolled around. Next time I will use the 2 setting, since that seems to be the magic number. If it's not, I'll update. Other things I noticed while fiddling around with our new toasting device: 1. The "Cancel" button is not fooling around. If you push that bad boy, your toasting adventure is over. (I pushed it while doing the dry run, so no toaster pastries were inconvenienced during that test.) 2. The sides stay cool when toasting. (Duh, they're plastic.) 3. The toaster has an averaged-sized footprint, albeit a burning, hot one at the setting of 3.