Vintage-Style Buydeem Toaster Review (with Sonia's help!)
I already own a toaster, which you've probably seen in the background of some of my photos; it's a bright red number from Cuisinart, and we've been really happy with it.
So when Buydeem" rel="nofollow">Buydeem reached out to ask if I would review one of their products, I almost said no.
But then I remembered that Lisey is moving out to go to airplane mechanic school in the fall, and she's going to need all kinds of items for her apartment.
And since she's working hard to save up all her money for tuition, I knew she would be happy for any free items she could get.
So I said yes!
This Buydeem" rel="nofollow">Buydeem toaster has super cute vintage styling; Sonia fell in love right away.
And since it fits so well with her vintage aesthetic, I asked her to help me with photos for this post. 🙂
Women in 1950s ads were always over the moon (or they looked very surprised!) about their new appliances, so we tried to channel that energy.
What's good about this toaster?
I love the look of it! It reminds me a little bit of the Smeg aesthetic, but it's way, way less expensive.
A two-slot Smeg toaster costs $170!
And Buydeem" rel="nofollow">the Buydeem four-slot toaster is less than $60.
Other good features:
- the slots are nice and wide; nothing gets stuck
- the slots are long enough to hold bread that's been baked in a wide pan
- it has two crumb trays which are easy to remove for cleaning
- it has a quiet "pop" when the toast is done
- Did I mention it looks beautiful??
- four slots are handy for larger households
Does the toaster work well?
I have to say, this does not do quite as good a job of toasting as our Cuisinart toaster does; the main issue is that sometimes one side of the toast is not as brown as the other side.
Also, the timing on the toasting dial is a little unusual. With most toasters, the dial numbers coordinate with minutes, so if you set it on "3", then your toast is in there for three minutes.
(Edit: apparently this is not always true! It's been true for my own toasters, but I must have just happened to buy the type where the minutes matched up. See here: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/a-toaster-dial-is-for-minutes-not-level-of-toasty-ness/)
The Buydeem toaster is a little different; if you set it on 4, the toast is only in there for about two minutes.
Of course, you could get used to this over time, but it is a little weird at first.
In conclusion...
If you are mainly going for top-of-the-line toasting quality, I would give the Cuisinart toaster (around $70) a slight edge over this one.
Its looks aren't quite as fun as the Buydeem, but it is still nice-enough looking to leave out on your counter, it's pretty affordable, and the red color we chose is a fun pop of color in our neutral kitchen.
But!
If you really want a retro 50s look for your kitchen and you don't want to spring for the Smeg, I think the Buydeem toaster is a great deal and it does cost less than my Cuisinart toaster.
Many thanks to Sonia for helping me out with this post!
Sonia could easily have a TV career! I am not interested in a toaster, but Sonia's pictures made me smile much! What an original and beautiful young woman you have brought up!
I love your photo re-creations! That was the perfect start to a morning full of grumpy little boys. Kudos to Sonia and you for your creativity and yay for a new toaster for Lisey!
I was today years old when I realized the levels on toasters were for minutes and not levels of toastiness... (insert surprised emotion face here)
same!
Yes, lol.
I want a real 50s (well, 40s) toaster because they are still better than anything made today.
https://youtu.be/1OfxlSG6q5Yer
I grew up using my nana's 1920s toaster with the flip down sides--it worked great.
I basically only have vintage appliances in my kitchen, except for the fridge. (I do NOT have time to defrost a fridge.) They are 80 years old and still going strong. My pink stove was low-end at the time and yet is way better than anything made today. I also have a Mixmaster (aqua), Dormeyer blender (aqua) and so on.
Got my great old vintage toaster (General Electric brand) at a thrift store for $2 10+ years ago after bad luck with “modern toasters” from the 1980s and beyond! It’s probably from the early 1960s, made of chrome and brown Bakelite-like plastic, and it works fine. I cleaned it really well, made sure the cord was safe, and am not very fussy about toast, anyway.
Speaking of appliances, could you direct me to posts or your recommendations about frugal food processors? And robotic vacuum cleaners?
Sonia looks great. I hope they hire her!
That video is extremely funny to me because that's the toaster I have right NOW. I love love love it, and my son has called dibs on it When The Time Comes - LOL!
Too funny.....we just bought this exact toaster from Amazon two weeks ago. So far, so good.
Oh, that's so funny!
You're blowing my mind with the idea that the numbers on the toaster dial usually represent minutes. I never knew that! I thought it was like... units of toastiness.
So did I!
Oh, wait! Apparently I'm wrong about that! https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/a-toaster-dial-is-for-minutes-not-level-of-toasty-ness/
This is odd because I know when I first read about this, I checked my toaster with a timer, and it checked out, minute for minute. I must have just had one that happened to match up.
Same, same!
(my mind is kinda blown)
I have a less than 2 years old Cuisinart which is already failing at its job. They just don't make 'em like they used to! However, I enjoyed this post. Sonia's vintage look and modeling savvy are both impressive.
Oh, Sonia. You rock.
About 25 years ago I got sick of cheap toasters breaking so I bought a Dualit, which is still going strong about five houses later. In fact I've given Dualit toasters as wedding gifts, engraved with the couple's names in a heart.
Frugal-ish? Buy it once?
You know what I'd really like is a really good can opener. I swear my grandmother had a wall mounted one that she bought in like 1946 and it worked great. Mine seem to fall apart every two years.
My grandmother had one of those, it was a swing a way. I bought one at Amazon because of my arthritis, I've had it about 5 or 6 years now and it still works well. Its a swing a way easy crank which has a long handle, much easier on my hand because I have trouble with my grip.
I bought a Wal-Mart special about 12 years ago and other than it being very dirty, it works great. Seriously, I think it cost me $12.97. I have never owned a toaster, even though dh has toast every morning. I use a sheet pan in the oven and broil it.
Swing-A-Way is the way to go. I've had several electric can openers and all did a terrible job. I've had ONE Swing-A-Way for 20 years (not the wall-mounted one). I think it cost $3 when I bought it. I've seen then recently for $8 at a local hardware store. I've given them to each of my kids when they've moved out, two to my sister (one for the house, one for their camper), and I have one in our camping gear, and one in our emergency stash. They never skip!
Sonia looks the part and she is super cute
Love Sonia's look and poses! She a natural!
We have a toaster oven as we cook only for two people and sometimes heating our regular full-size oven is just not necessary, like when you need to bake just two potatoes. Also, we have a tiny kitchen and appliances that can do double duty are a better choice for us.
My only peeve is that the doors seem to break even though we try to be careful. We currently have a Westinghouse one as it had to fit our counter, and have the features we like, and be reasonably priced. Don't remember what we paid for it, but it's been working well enough for at least 4 years. The handle came loose and I tried to superglue it, but it didn't stay perfectly fixed. We will use it as long as we can.
As for toasting, my husband uses a separate timer since the timing dial is hard to set below 10 minutes and some bread burns before others. Not a deal breaker though, he knows his timings well!
We are only 2 as well and love our toaster oven. So much so that when we had our kitchen re-faced the builder put a pull -out shelf in my pantry for it. Hence, more counter space!
One of the benefits of being older is that I remember seeing so many of those now-vintage ads the first time they came out, and yes, the models always looked delighted. Of course, with all the innovations made in home appliances in the 50's and 60's, maybe they really were delighted! Sonia did a great job, and this made my day. Very clever photo set up, Kristen!
I do not need a toaster. I do not need a toaster. We rarely make toast, as I don't eat gluten and my husband normally only toasts bread to help with messy sandwiches. I have a toaster I bought for $1 at a yard sale, age unknown, but it is a plain old black and silver rectangle. I love this Buydeem toaster, and in fact, love the red one you have, too. But I do not need a toaster. I'm going to keep saying that until the urge goes away.
Oh, I meant to add, my old yard sale toaster doesn't have numbers for minutes -- it has a color chart! I push the lever to lighter or darker color bars.
Sonia makes a great model!!
I have a Toastmaster that is older than dirt. It had a darkness dial.
Hope that Sonia is enjoying her new job!
We have a toaster oven rather than a toaster. One thing I took away from a fire safety presentation is that many house fires start with toasters—especially toasters on counters below cabinets. And really especially if the toaster is near (or under) paper towels.
Oh, interesting! The spot we took the photos in is not where the toaster usually lives; it was just the best photo spot.
Is a toaster oven less of a fire hazard since it's more enclosed?
I always had a toaster oven as well instead of a toaster. More versatile as it could be used for so many things. Good to know about the fire hazard though! Needless to say, I had to ditch the toaster oven and the toaster when we decided to RV full time. (However, lots of RV-ers have toasters and toaster ovens... It's all about what is most important to each individual and seeing as we don't eat much toast and I was using the toaster oven less and less in our "real" house, I decided it was on the chopped list.)
Sonia did a great job at modeling the 50s look!
The fire hazard comment reminded me of when I was a freshman in college. I had a toaster oven and I bought frozen bread dough. I was trying to bake it in the toaster oven .... the bread rose enough to hit the heating coils at the top of the oven .... thereby setting off a smoke alarm. We all had to evacuate due to my desire to bake bread in a dorm room. Yikes.
I got a kick out of Sonia's modeling. Well done!
Sonia's hair looks so cute!!!
Sonia is adorable--much cuter than the toaster.
My current toaster test is whether it will hold poptarts in place, and not let them slip through to the bottom when they are supposed to pop up. Yes, I enjoy the occasional poptart. The joy is spoiled when I have to shake or strategically tilt the toaster to get them out when they are done, usually in small pieces with jelly smeared on the heating elements.
Oh, interesting! We did not try a pop-tart in this toaster; I do buy them sometimes because my girls enjoy pop tarts even though I don't. And that's because they remind me too much of pie crust, which is a thing I don't like.
Funny that they haven't done double-jelly poptarts and other variations, (unless I missed it). The flavors are quite creative sometimes, some not sounding so appetizing.
Love the vintage photo shoot!
Thanks for the info. Sonia makes a great model. Beautiful photos as always. You are alwayys full of surprises. I mean that in a good way.
Those pictures are priceless! Our toaster was salvaged from an acquaintance redoing her appliances because they "no longer make my heart sing." Well, getting her very high end toaster for free made my heart sing. I have a very expensive stove that I wish would die so I could replace it with a stove that does not have a display that rivals that of a jet, but I would not give it away just to make a change.
Ooooh, a free high-end toaster is a fantastic hand me down.
I apparently have very low expectations for my small appliances. None of them are expected to make my heart, or any other organ, sing! Lol! HOWEVER, my Kitchen Aid comes the closest.
"a display that rivals that of a jet" — Lindsey, you're one of the people whom I read the comments to find 🙂
These photos are spot on! And Sonia could easily be a model.
I thought vintage ‘50s-‘60s toasters were like those chrome GE toasters with a slightly rounded look instead of a sharp rectangle. I had one that lasted many, many years. After going through three grocery store bought replacements in 10 years, I have a good one again. This proves your theory about quality being frugal.
BTW, I find uneven toasting can happen if you only do one slice, and several of my cheapies specified which slot to use when making one slice.
Great photos...almost thought they were old photos for a minute.
Oh! I haven't tried doing two slices at a time; maybe that is the key.
LOVE the pics! Great job Sonia! Can you tell me what the outside surface (colored part) is? Plated? Painted? Thanks!
Love the photos and styling. Has Sonia thought about modeling at least part time to earn money for college? She’s not just extremely pretty; she is extremely photogenic (cheekbones!)
I remember my mother in law telling me that when she was a new bride after World War 2, when “the boys” came home and everyone got married and started households, appliances were hard to come by! You had to get on a wait list for toasters,refrigerators,etc.! Due to supplies being used up in the war.Maybe that’s why the models looks so thrilled!!!!!! Lovely post! Sonia could be a model!
We have this toaster! We have the minty green color. My thoughts are very similar to yours, although I have had some issues with bagels not quite fitting in the slots if they aren't cut perfectly. We are still getting used to the numbers too.
LOVE Sonia's style!
Everything in my kitchen is 'vintage' or at least is old ROFLMBO. Freezer was second hand from a fellow resident in the park at least 7 years ago. Fridge, and oven, are at least 20 years old, and possibly original to the house (1986). Toaster is at least 20 years old, and as long as it works......same for the electric can opener (which looks like crap LOL but works). Microwave is going to be replaced but it's about 5 years old now (the newest appliance I've got if you don't count the Instant Pot, bread maker, and Keurig).
Everything works, although I do pray to the appliance gods re fridge and oven/stove LOL.
This could really appeal to us if we needed a new toaster, but we don't. We use our toaster very seldom. Instead we wrap bagels and bialys in foil and warm them in the oven, instead of toasting them brown
Wow! Sonia looks the part for this. I did a double take because I was like is this a model stock photo? So fun. I would be swayed by how cute it looks.
Sonia looks amazing!
I've never heard of Buydeem so this is good to know. A couple years ago I bought a pricey Breville toaster in the hopes that it would outlive me AND make perfect toast every.single.time. Alas, toasters are like people and will disappoint. Plus the toaster beeps loudly which makes me jumpy and crabby in the a.m.
I love the vintage photos and Sonia should model!
I purchased a toaster several months ago. It was small enough to fit on my plate and is an ocean blue. My oldest spied it and said it was ugly. I said it cost me a whopping $2.58 on Amazon after using a gift card and looks great to me. He said, oh, well, for that price, then yeah.....
Even though others have said it before: Sonia's look is so spot on! So cool!
I'd never heard that about the toaster dial numbers correlating to minutes. All my toasters' manuals have said it's for how dark you want your toast. So there's a new urban legend for the annals. I've learned something, even if it isn't factual!