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No, not that kind of appliance.

I’m talking about kitchen appliances. And not the big ones like refrigerators and dishwashers. No, I’m talking about toasters and blenders.

I’m talking about Breville.

Breville makes some of the best performing, coolest looking, and highest tech small kitchen appliances around.

You got a toaster for your wife on your anniversary?  You spent how much on a blender?

Oh yes.  And I’d do it all again.

But before you write me off completely, allow me to present the evidence:

The BTA820XL

This little number is the one that started it all for us.  3 words:  No toaster handle.  There is no lever to press down.  It is fully motorized.  Put your bread in the slot, press the button, and without a sound the toaster automatically lowers your bread and begins its task.  Curious to see how things are going, then just press the “Lift and Look” button and the toaster will lift the bread and give you a quick peek into its progress.  But you won’t have to wait long; this is the fastest toaster I’ve seen.

Still not convinced?  3 more words:  A Bit More.  Honestly, this was the feature that did me in.  How often has your toaster popped, but you realize that the toast is not quite done enough?  So you jam the lever back down again.  Unfortunately the toaster is still hot, so the stupid little temperature sensor thinks things are all done, and pops the toast right back up.  So you try to outsmart the toaster and give the toasting control a push to the right and mash the lever back down.  This works until you move on to some other part of your breakfast and forget that you’ve just pressed your toaster into the service of turning your bread into charcoal.  Which it does.  And then you’re left with either making a huge mess by scraping the burned layer off with your butter knife, or starting the process all over again.  Bleh!  Not so with The Greatest Toaster On Earth.  Just press the “A Bit More” button.  The BTA820XL dutifully, quickly, and in a fully automatically motorized way returns your not-quite-there-yet toast to the heat.  And what do you get?  In a few moments — your toast with “A Bit More.”

The BBL600XL

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This blender continues the love with more great design, more high-tech buttons and an LCD readout.  Yes, yes, it blends well, is sturdy, and has a powerful 750 watt motor and all the usual blender features.  But it also has a smoothie button.  What’s the big deal?  Don’t most blenders have different buttons with things like “puree” and “liquify” on them?  Yes, they do.  But most blenders aren’t this blender.  You see, the smoothie button activates the automated smoothie program in the eerily smart brain of the BBL600XL.  The LCD countdown timer starts and the blender gets to work.  While swirling your bananas, frozen strawberries, and whatever else you’ve stuffed into its gullet, the blender actually detects chunks of ice and measures the consistency of the smoothie to continually adjust the speed and spin pattern of the blades.  Seriously.  I’m not making this up.  Nor have I fallen victim to clever marketing.  I’ve tested the thing.  When it hits a block of ice or a frozen chunk of fruit, it will almost seem to attack the thing, keeping it in the blades until it has been obliterated.  If your mixture is a little thick or a little thin, the blender will adjust, delivering to you — at the end of the countdown — a smoothie that lives up to its name.