It's finally here folks... The Toaster thread!

Forums › Off topic › It's finally here folks... The Toaster thread!

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#249330 6-May-2019 13:25

I am sure we can all agree that scorching carbohydrate-based comestibles and slathering them with agitated bovine juice and/or other toppings as needed is - alongside birth, death, love and sex - an essential part of human existence.

We had one of the "cheaper" two-slot Dualit toasters as a house-warming present 6 years ago and it served us reasonably well until it bit the dust about 3 months ago.

Having been very happy with our Breville Coffee Machine and Food processor and not wanting to stretch to the *ludicrous* mark up on the Dualit Classic 4-slot machines here ($700???!! Really NZ????), I bought a 4 slot Breville in the sale for $99 which I was pretty pleased with...

Well turns out it kinda sucks.

Toasting is not even, it is too slow and the settings/timer is too low for stuff that needs a lot of toasting. Granted, Vogels does seem to be primarily asbestos-based given its phenomenal ability to withstand direct heat, but any toaster worth its salt should be able to brown off a piece of Linseed Toast-cut in one run, rather than needing nearly two full cycles at "max."

If the Dualit Classic line is still as good as my old housemates one (they bought it when we moved in together. way back in the day...I recently paid them a visit some 20 years later and it was still going strong!) then maybe the horrorshow price in NZ is worth it?

What about you guys? Are you happy with your toasters? If so, what do you have?

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#2231604 6-May-2019 13:37

Saw this the other day on youtube:

The Antique Toaster that's Better than Yours

What brilliant engineering (apart from the lack of double-insulation!)

I have a motorised Breville pop up toaster - have to be careful cleaning it or you can get crumbs in the motor unit - the toaster in the clip above does the same thing - but even better.

The Sunbeam Radiant Toaster in the clip above has a pretty foolproof auto pop up/down mechanism.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Dingbatt

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#2231605 6-May-2019 13:39

I have wondered whether there are newer guidelines for toasters that mean they no longer cook toast anywhere near as quickly. The elements don't seem to glow as much.
We have a 20 year old machine at the beach that cooks much quicker than our 4 slice Russell Hobbs.

For Vogels, I have taken to nuking it in the microwave first.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

networkn

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#2231610 6-May-2019 13:43

Be very careful with toast. There are guidelines that recommend toasting the minimum you possibly can.

The darker it is, the more harmful it is.

Rikkitic

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#2231611 6-May-2019 13:46

For me the job of toasters has always been a simple one. As long as it singes the bread and lets it appear in due course I am not too particular. In the past I have liked the fact that it was relatively easy to repair burnt-out elements by crimping the broken element wires together, which always impressed the people I did the repairs for.

But then we got a 'fancy' four-slot Sunbeam. It did what toasters are supposed to do for a couple years, and then it dutifully died when it reached its planned obsolescence date. I took a look at it but it is now a 'modern' frankentoaster, filled with unnecessary chips designed to be unreplaceable. I have also experienced something like this with a washing machine. I have successfully repaired those that get their programs from perfectly functional mechanical dials, but now we have an electronic one that regularly needs to go to the repair shop for hundreds of dollars. How this is supposed to be progress I don't know, but of course this thread isn't about washing machines.

I have a deep distrust and corresponding dislike of modern AI appliances that seem mainly designed to need repair or replacement at frequent intervals. I have no need to talk to my toaster, though I kind of liked the one in Red Dwarf. But I just can't see the point of saying 'hey toaster, start grilling some bread' as I am pulling into the driveway. Who needs it?

Anyway, we bought a super-cheap two-slot machine from the Warehouse which immediately failed. They were happy to replace it and so far the new one is doing exactly what it was designed to do, which is toast bread. No voice commands, no auto- this or that, no Bluetooth control, no overpriced nothing, just elements that come on, heat up, and toast bread. Now that really is what I call progress!

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msukiwi

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#2231612 6-May-2019 13:47

Red Dwarf talking toaster.

Now that is toaster nostalgia!

Rikkitic

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#2231613 6-May-2019 13:47

networkn:

Be very careful with toast. There are guidelines that recommend toasting the minimum you possibly can.

The darker it is, the more harmful it is.

Eating meat will give you more cancer than toast does.

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#2231614 6-May-2019 13:50

Dingbatt: I have wondered whether there are newer guidelines for toasters that mean they no longer cook toast anywhere near as quickly. The elements don't seem to glow as much.
We have a 20 year old machine at the beach that cooks much quicker than our 4 slice Russell Hobbs.

For Vogels, I have taken to nuking it in the microwave first.

Yeah, I've wondered the same.

Once both our kids got to toast-eating age we purchased the four-slice version of the two-slice toaster we'd had for years (Sunbeam, I think?) - from the outside it looks the same (well, one is a little bigger!).

As yet another Vogel's-consuming family, it's a real frustration - for the first set of bread to go in, it has to go down twice, even though set to the maximum (second and subsequent loads aren't an issue). This was not the case with the seemingly identical two-slicer, which is still going fine - just a dog when toasting for four.

Edit - must try the warming in the microwave thing.

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#2231617 6-May-2019 13:51

Rikkitic:

networkn:

Be very careful with toast. There are guidelines that recommend toasting the minimum you possibly can.

The darker it is, the more harmful it is.

Eating meat will give you more cancer than toast does.

As a vegetarian I assume I can therefore increase my "well browned" toast consumption accordingly!

Geektastic

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#2231618 6-May-2019 13:51

Dualit all the way.

I have a red 4 slice one. They're easily repaired if required and the toast is actually better IMO - and I live on toast!

Geektastic

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#2231619 6-May-2019 13:53

networkn:
Be very careful with toast. There are guidelines that recommend toasting the minimum you possibly can.

The darker it is, the more harmful it is.

And, of course, the tastier it is....

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#2231620 6-May-2019 13:53

Dingbatt: I have wondered whether there are newer guidelines for toasters that mean they no longer cook toast anywhere near as quickly. The elements don't seem to glow as much.

OSHA strikes again perhaps?

I would happily increase my risk of catastrophic house-fire or electrocution in exchange for swift and reliable browning of my bread.

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#2231621 6-May-2019 13:54

Geektastic: Dualit all the way.

I have a red 4 slice one. They're easily repaired if required and the toast is actually better IMO - and I live on toast!

Did you get the full blown, old-school "classic" or the slightly more modern (and much cheaper) versions?

Rikkitic

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#2231633 6-May-2019 13:58

Item:

Dingbatt: I have wondered whether there are newer guidelines for toasters that mean they no longer cook toast anywhere near as quickly. The elements don't seem to glow as much.

OSHA strikes again perhaps?

I would happily increase my risk of catastrophic house-fire or electrocution in exchange for swift and reliable browning of my bread.

Easy. Just hook it up to the multi-phase oven power. All that extra voltage will really light it up!

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clinty

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#2231635 6-May-2019 13:59

msukiwi:

Red Dwarf talking toaster.

Now that is toaster nostalgia!

you bet me to it :)

Clint

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#2231636 6-May-2019 14:06

msukiwi:

Red Dwarf talking toaster.

Now that is toaster nostalgia!

Sorry for the thread hijack, but had to post this:

Does anyone want any toast? (youtube link)

Such a great sequence:

"TOASTER: Howdy doodly do!  How's it going?  I'm Talkie -- Talkie Toaster,
  your chirpy breakfast companion.  Talkie's the name, toasting's the
  game.  Anyone like any toast?

LISTER: Look, _I_ don't want any toast, and _he_ (indicating KRYTEN)
doesn't want any toast. In fact, no one around here wants any toast.
Not now, not ever. NO TOAST.

TOASTER: How 'bout a muffin?

LISTER: OR muffins!  OR muffins!  We don't LIKE muffins around here!  We
  want no muffins, no toast, no teacakes, no buns, baps, baguettes or
  bagels, no croissants, no crumpets, no pancakes, no potato cakes and no
  hot-cross buns and DEFINITELY no smegging flapjacks!

TOASTER: Aah, so you're a waffle man!"

Also, fun piece of trivia - Talkie Toaster was voiced in this episode (S04E04 - White Hole) by David Ross, who was the original Kryten (S02E01 - Kryten)

As for toasters, we have been through a few in the past few years, when we had a cat who had the delightful habit of pissing in the bread slot. There are few smells worse than the early morning smell of burning cat piss (and it takes forever to get rid of). So when I failed to rectify the issue with our "full priced" Breville toaster, I went for a "cheapie" from K-Mart, a 4-slice (side by side, not lengthways) for about $40. It's been fine - though the gradient of toasting is like the shower, with a few mm on the dial separating it from "raw" to "burnt to a crisp", but then I've never found a toaster that doesn't do that. It's not particularly fast, but again I've never worried about speed in toasting. Personally, when your cat is using your toaster for a toilet, price wins out over any other feature...

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