KitchenAid Artisan KMT223

This toaster is fraudulent. Artisan? well it's pretty but wont toast artisan bread any better than a much cheaper toaster.
It wont toast a decent sourdough even on the highest setting, you have to take it out and do it again.
The crumpet function doesn't work either.
I could have saved $100 and bought a good old sunbeam.

For a caramel brown finish it requires the highest setting. Very slow cooking time. Often requires second cook. Dries out the toast to a crumbly crunchy mess. Loud beeping that cant be adjusted. Disappointed. We make our own bread and were looking forward to quality performance. Way too expensive for the item.

I went for a KitchenAid toaster hoping that a top tier brand would toast the bread evenly. Unfortunately the money seems to go into lots of features and not into the basics of toasting. This KitchenAid model 5AKMT223CU was slow to toast and uneven. After 18 months of having to monitor the toasting and turn the bread over half way, the unit began to set off the residual current circuit breaker (safety switch) whenever it was used. No amount of shaking out crumbs would fix this. I replaced this with a relatively inexpensive Sunbeam unit that toasts both sides the same without fuss. The Sunbeam does not have a crumpet feature so the inner and outer heating elements are identical. Oh and my email to [email protected] went unanswered.

Bought the toaster direct from KitchenAid 15 August 2020 and it went OK for a little over one month. Then it simply blew the house fuse each time it was tried. (Had little use until then as used only every 2nd day and was clean and still as new)

Contacted KitchenAid via their website to see about a fix to the problem. Other than a generic response on 26 September advising the matter will be followed up within 15 working days have not heard anything.

Another contact was made 22 October 2020 alluding to the unsatisfactory response and seeking...

I bought this direct from the KitchenAid website as they had the colour that I wanted, Pistachio. I already have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer in this colour so ordering both the Toaster and the Kettle completed the set.
I so wanted to love this toaster... but very disappointed. The very loud beep when it begins and ends is annoying. The toast takes a long time to cook and to us the bread is very dry when it is finished. I usually cook bread on setting 4 then put it down again for a little while to get it to how I like it, but setting 5 is too dark....

Toaster looks good.
It toasts evenly.
Automatic lowering / raising of toast works well. The sides then push in to centralise the toast.

Only downside is that the toaster makes a very loud beep when you start toasting.
And then the same annoying loud been when it finishes. It can be heard through the whole house early in the morning.

I am tempted to find the beeper and just disconnect it or stick some chewing gum over it.

Stainless steel version not that easy to clean. I would opt for the enamel / plastic varieties instead.
Was hoping for top notch quality considering price. It's definitely better than average but probably not worth the price.

Bought this toaster nearly 3 years ago and at the time thought it could be better at toasting, considering the price tag, then it actually was! I now find it is starting to play up, I'm having to turn it off at the power because the toast gets stuck and not toasting and pressing the cancel button does nothing. It eventually decides to work but for how long? I wont be purchasing a Kitchenaid Toaster again, the quality just isn't there.

we have found this to be an excellent toaster! My favourite setting is 3 and hubby likes 4. We enjoy perfect, evenly toasted bread to our liking every time. Love it!

Excellent toaster. I love the heat settings and the toast itself gets consistent heat coverage. I’m very happy with the purchase and would definitely recommend it to family and friends.

Edit: The toaster up/down mechanism failed but Kitchenaid replaced the applicance without too much fuss, although a little slowly.

I bought the kettle and toaster at the same time and I am very happy with the products. Some reviews are I believe are over critical, though some models may have a design fault they are generally rectified. This applies to anything you buy. My only criticism is being unable to register the products on-line, it wouldn't recognise my address and insisted I had the wrong serial number of the kettle.

We toast crumpets, Italian bread, sour dough bread, turkish bread, sliced bread-none of the settings work well, either it does brown enough or it burns, we have had the toaster for over 6 months, have tried every setting to no avail. We are very disappointed and think fondly of our last toaster, a fraction of the price and toasted well, we had wanted a bigger toaster so bought this one- it has put me off Kitchen Aid for life!

This toaster is turning into one of the biggest disappointments of my life!! Very picky about my toaster and thought I'd do the right thing and buy a 'good one'! Toast takes ages to cook however and often it is unevenly toasted when apparently its ready. Have to have it on setting of at least 6 as otherwise nothing happens to the bread......You can forget about crumpets - who has an hour to waste to get the right level of toasting! The heating elements seem ''uneven" in that one side is often 'redder' than the other....... very close to putting...

I bought a Kleenmaid 223 toaster in March 2017 took it back to the place of purchase in August 2017, neither element was working, they were very happy to replace it (Harvey Norman Moorabbin) I have just tried toasting a piece of toast and the elements have stopped working again. I don't think I will replace it with another one, they are not the cheapest toaster you can buy, they certainly don't work any better than a cheap one or last as long as a cheap one.
I don't think I will buy another Kleenmaid product they are trading only on past product performances.

I was pleased with myself for buying a premium product that had a 2 year warranty. Of course, the toaster ceased working just outside warranty. No different to the less expensive brands, which have a 12 month warranty and then stop working after 12 months. My kitchenaid food processor has also stopped working just outside warranty

I bought my KtichenAid "Artisan" toaster and matching kettle a few months ago. It looks fantastic (mine is a beautiful dark red); however after my trusty old Sunbeam "Cafe" Series which I'd had since 2006, this one took a while to get used to. It is solid and well made, and I love the electronic display and push button instead of a lever to operate. I do find the unit is very sensitive to the type of bread used, and it took some trial and error to get to "know it". For example, dense rye or grain bread has to be used on at Setting #5, where...