Counts · a kind of number
Settings and Levels
Filled mark: the listing names that part. Outlined mark: the figure is stated and the contents are not.
- Stated range
- 6 browning settings · 7 shade settings · 6-setting browning dials · 6 shade settings · 5 fan speeds · 3 heat settings · 10 power levels
- The question nobody answers
- What is one step?
- Is the unit defined anywhere
- Not by any listing in this catalog
Every listing that states one
| Listing | Category | Stated value | Does the listing name what it counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Basics 2 Slice Toaster, Black and Silver | Toasters | 6 browning settings | No |
| Cuisinart CPT-122BK Compact 2-Slice Toaster, Black | Toasters | 7 shade settings | No |
| BLACK+DECKER TR1478BD 4-Slice Toaster, Stainless Steel | Toasters | 7 shade settings | No |
| Cuisinart CPT-180P1 4-Slice Toaster, Stainless Steel | Toasters | 6-setting browning dials | No |
| Elite Gourmet ECT1027B 2-Slice Cool-Touch Toaster, Black | Toasters | 6 shade settings | No |
| Elite Gourmet ECT-3100 4-Slice Long Slot Toaster, Stainless Steel | Toasters | 6 browning settings | No |
| BLACK+DECKER T2569B 2-Slice Toaster with Extra-Wide Slots | Toasters | 6 shade settings | No |
| Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt 9-in-1 Air Fryer | Air Fryers | 5 fan speeds | No |
| bella 1.5qt Manual Slow Cooker, Surf | Slow Cookers | 3 heat settings | No |
| Chefman Countertop Microwave Oven, 0.7 Cu.Ft, 700W, Black | Countertop Microwave Ovens | 10 power levels | No |
| BLACK+DECKER Countertop Microwave Oven, 0.7 Cu.Ft, 700W, Black | Countertop Microwave Ovens | 10 power levels | No |
| BLACK+DECKER EM720CB7 Countertop Microwave Oven, 0.7 Cu.Ft, 700W, Stainless Steel | Countertop Microwave Ovens | 10 power levels | No |
| BLACK+DECKER EM925AB9 Countertop Microwave Oven, 0.9 Cu.Ft, 900W, Stainless Steel | Countertop Microwave Ovens | 10 power levels | No |
The most honest count in the aisle, and still not much of one. A setting count is at least a count of something physically present. What it never tells you is how far apart two adjacent settings are, or where the scale starts and ends.
The toaster problem
Toasters are sold on this figure almost exclusively. Three different phrasings appear in that category for what looks like the same control, and identical figures show up under more than one of them. One four-slice machine states the same shade figure as a two-slice machine, which is the plainest available demonstration that a setting count is not a size.
One listing counts its scale as dial positions rather than settings. That phrasing appears once in the whole catalog, so a string comparison across listings finds no match for it, which is exactly the failure mode this site exists to point at.
Power levels and fan speeds
Several microwave listings state a power level count, and the figure is the same on machines of different cavity sizes and different wattages. A power level count and a wattage are different claims; a count of levels does not divide a wattage, because no listing says it does, and this site does not perform that division.
One air fryer states a fan speed count. It is the only fan speed figure in the catalog, so it has nothing to be compared against, which is a recurring shape here: the more specific a claim gets, the lonelier it becomes.
What is published about controls
Product safety standards for household appliances are developed and published as consensus standards; UL Solutions describes its standards development process at the link below. Federal test procedures for covered products sit in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Neither body of documents defines a shade, and neither is a statement about how a control should be labeled in an advertisement.
The machines this lands on
- An element in a slot — A slot with a heating element beside it and a control that has positions on it.
- A cavity and a magnetron — A cavity with a door, a control panel and, in most of these listings, a turntable.
- An element and a fan — A heating element, a fan that moves air past it and a container underneath.
Where the regulated part of this page comes from
What cannot be compared here
These figures count positions on a control. Two controls with the same number of positions may cover different ranges, and two controls covering the same range may be divided differently. No listing in this catalog states a range for its scale, so the only thing any of these figures reports is how many places the knob stops in.
Put two of these side by side in Count Compare, or find out how many listings print the same one in Same Numbers Check.