OK now I'm starting to think we live in the matrix - I've spend the last 24 hours (unemployed currently, you see) looking at toasters and designs, with the same idea. And because my toaster just broke.
The state of toasters seems quite dire. Most are basically the same mechanism internally with different style covers.
Some quick learnings/thoughts:
- why are they open at the top? Some expensive Japanese toasters are more like grills or ovens, and sealing in steam seems to be key to their hyped results.
- commercial toasters and some like west bend have 'drop thru' toasting, where the toast drops out of the bottom when done instead of popping up. Nice design.
- Two slot toasters always power both slots even when toasting one slice.
- Many toasters don't allow you to change the timer mid-toast. I mean you can change it, but it doesn't do anything until next cycle. Also few indicate how much time is left.
- crumb trays don't work for many toasters, they're too narrow compared with all the places crumbs fall.
- expensive 'old school' toasters like Dualit just don't have the features, and are too clunky.
- the toasters with windows toast much more slowly (use tube heaters instead of a 'grid' of nichrome) and the window is useless anyway since the heater element makes everything orange.
- One thing I find amusing is some reviewers are testing these $100,$200 toasters with regular supermarket chorleywood bread. I mean at least toast some actual bread, not foam.
> - One thing I find amusing is some reviewers are testing these $100,$200 toasters with regular supermarket chorleywood bread. I mean at least toast some actual bread, not foam.
If you didn't make the biga, poolish, or starter, it's not really bread. It’s just processed wheat product. </pointless elitism>
A $200 toaster is already elitist, especially given that they don't seem to actually toast any better than the cheapest models. So why test with 'poor people's bread'? lol.
Seriously though, I have a bread machine, maybe the cheapest model (lidl equivalent) which I love because of how easy it is to repair, and I make my own bread with little effort for maybe 1/2 the price of supermarket bread, and a world of difference in quality.
Well I agree, and also disagree. Bread-machine bread is fine, esp. if you change the program, to proof overnight instead of over an hour or whatever. Maybe not as good as hand-made sourdough with a carefully curated cultivated starter, etc, etc, but for the low effort involved it's a massive improvement over chorleywood supermarket bread.
> - Two slot toasters always power both slots even when toasting one slice.
> - crumb trays don't work for many toasters, they're too narrow compared with all the places crumbs fall.
Always thinking what a waste of energy when only toasting a single slice.
> - Many toasters don't allow you to change the timer mid-toast. I mean you can change it, but it doesn't do anything until next cycle. Also few indicate how much time is left.
Never knew time-left could be implemented, but would definitely be a nice feature.
Only 1 of these features are enough for the consumer to consider buying this new toaster.
As others have commented, toasters are already highly cost-optimized, and 'perfected', in terms of economics, marketability, etc.
Even the cheapest toaster works well enough, and most of the more advanced features either don't really work consistently or are not compelling. So to command a higher price, it's really a veblen good, some kind of status symbol etc, and any extra features need be 'backup' for that; "oh no, we didn't buy it just to status-signal, it has this feature ...".
I think there are a couple of features that could be attractive though. Faster toasting. And if the reviews etc are to be believed, steam-toasting like the Japanese toasters. More efficient could be a thing - only power the slots necessary, and enclose them to stop the heat escaping. These features seem mutually supporting.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned but nothing you mentioned there excited me at all about toasters other than the "sealing in moisture" part. That seems like something practical that could be value added (make you say "hmmm") to the common denominator here; middle-class person who wants really nice toaster and is willing to pay say up to $150 for one made in the good ol' USA. Maybe it's because I'm a gen x person
Because of convection, heat rises, and allows the non-toasting part of the frame, etc., to remain safe to the touch. It would be very bad to take an existing toaster and try to operate it on its side.
Plus, the simplest way to get even toasting is even heat on both sides of the bread (except when you do Bagels).
I can see an argument about hot air rising, leading to unevenness, or about hot air drying out the bread, but 'the toaster would get hot' doesn't make sense to me.
Regarding horizontal toasting, that is something I had in mind. I might hack my broken toaster to try this out.
The state of toasters seems quite dire. Most are basically the same mechanism internally with different style covers.
Some quick learnings/thoughts:
- why are they open at the top? Some expensive Japanese toasters are more like grills or ovens, and sealing in steam seems to be key to their hyped results.
- commercial toasters and some like west bend have 'drop thru' toasting, where the toast drops out of the bottom when done instead of popping up. Nice design.
- Two slot toasters always power both slots even when toasting one slice.
- Many toasters don't allow you to change the timer mid-toast. I mean you can change it, but it doesn't do anything until next cycle. Also few indicate how much time is left.
- crumb trays don't work for many toasters, they're too narrow compared with all the places crumbs fall.
- expensive 'old school' toasters like Dualit just don't have the features, and are too clunky.
- the toasters with windows toast much more slowly (use tube heaters instead of a 'grid' of nichrome) and the window is useless anyway since the heater element makes everything orange.
- One thing I find amusing is some reviewers are testing these $100,$200 toasters with regular supermarket chorleywood bread. I mean at least toast some actual bread, not foam.