the department store kohl's is making news with its holiday offer of a $5 toaster. Is was part of year-long effort to capitalize on Black Friday interest in super-cheap kitchen appliances,reports the Wall Street Journal. We have't tested the Toastmasters brand toaster, $5 after a $10 mail-in rebate,but our latest toaster and toaster oven tests include several inexpensive models. So we can tell you the bare minimum you have to spend to get a decant batch of toast. In fact, $15 seems to be the sweet spot.While it narrowly misses our recommended list, the $15 Proctor-Silex Cool-Touch 22203 two-slice toaster made very nice, evenly-browned toast every time. It lacks some convenience features, like defrost and bagel settings, and its housing is made of plastic, a cheaper alternative to metal. But what do you expect for that price? You'll need to spend $35 for a model that actually makes our recommended list: the Hamilton Beach Digital 22502. The extra $20 gets you those bagel and defrost settings, plus a metal housing that will look a bit sleeker on the countertop. Performance was very good or better in every complaints for this model that included defective displays and premature breakages. So the tradeoff for the low price could be long-term performance and durability. Want a toaster that does it all? The Calphalon Stainless Steel 2-Slot HE200ST (1779206) tops our Ratings of two-slice toasters. It was particularly good at toasting at a range of intensitiesnice if your family members have widely disparate preferences. And at $60, it's actually pretty well-priced, especially compared to models we tested that cost $100, $200, and even $300.