Why is it impossible to find a decent toaster ?

Why is it impossible to find a decent toaster ?

Author
Discussion

ExPat2B

Original Poster:

2,157 posts

199 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
Toasters, they are a mainstay of british culture, there must be on average one per household in the UK, and yet it seems no-one makes a decent quality toaster that can actually evenly and reliably toast 4 slices of bread.

I get that bread dryness and the ambient temp will affect the total time to toast the bread, but surely this is not beyond the wit of man to resolve ? could sensors not weigh the bread and adjust time ? Could you not take an IR reading from the surface to check it was hot enough ? could you not use smoke detector ionisation technology to detect if it was burning ?

And evenly doing 4 slices of bread seems impossible, you will always end up with one slice not done as well as the others and one side more toasted than the other. And when you peer inside a toaster its obvious why - the basic element design means not all the wires heat up evenly, some are closer to the bread than others.

And don't even mention Dualit, they are just as bad as everyone else but you pay 140 fking quid for a toaster that doesn't even pop up and has to have the timer wound by hand everytime and still burns toast and fails to toast 4 slices evenly as it has exactly the same element design as all the others.

marshalla

15,902 posts

200 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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HD Adam

5,143 posts

183 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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It's because the designer & engineer behind the toaster had dreams of working for Ferrari or NASA and ended up making cheap kitchen appliances for Ronco or K-Tel.

They put a setting on there that deliberately fks your toast and burns your house down.

Barsts furious

dazco

4,280 posts

188 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
ExPat2B said:
Toasters, they are a mainstay of british culture, there must be on average one per household in the UK, and yet it seems no-one makes a decent quality toaster that can actually evenly and reliably toast 4 slices of bread.

I get that bread dryness and the ambient temp will affect the total time to toast the bread, but surely this is not beyond the wit of man to resolve ? could sensors not weigh the bread and adjust time ? Could you not take an IR reading from the surface to check it was hot enough ? could you not use smoke detector ionisation technology to detect if it was burning ?

And evenly doing 4 slices of bread seems impossible, you will always end up with one slice not done as well as the others and one side more toasted than the other. And when you peer inside a toaster its obvious why - the basic element design means not all the wires heat up evenly, some are closer to the bread than others.

And don't even mention Dualit, they are just as bad as everyone else but you pay 140 fking quid for a toaster that doesn't even pop up and has to have the timer wound by hand overtime and still burns toast and fails to toast 4 slices evenly as it has exactly the same element design as all the others.
I have a Dualit, it is in the cupboard because i realised it was crap.

This is brilliant. http://ao.com/product/bta830uk-sage-by-heston-blum...

Bill

52,472 posts

254 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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I get on very well with our Dualit. SWMBO struggles though, bless her.

Rick101

6,959 posts

149 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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I concur. Very strange that what should be a relatively simple thing seems unachievable.


Currently with a Dualit but nothing particularly good about it. Damn things doesn't even pop up.

tuffer

8,849 posts

266 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
My Dualit one was good until the F-i-L forced the timer round to end stops after he decided his toast was done enough. Fitted a new timer and all working fine but now the end slices do not seem to cook so well. Time for a new one.....which reminds me, must pick up some Crumpets.

Dr Murdoch

3,427 posts

134 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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Watching this thread just in case anything interesting pops up.

HRL

3,329 posts

218 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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Well I was just about to purchase one of these today: http://www.johnlewis.com/magimix-2-slice-vision-to...

Perhaps I'll give it a day or two in case someone comes up with something better...

Only two slices but as toasters go, it's meant to be a good one.

ExPat2B

Original Poster:

2,157 posts

199 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
Rick101 said:
I concur. Very strange that what should be a relatively simple thing seems unachievable.


Currently with a Dualit but nothing particularly good about it. Damn things doesn't even pop up.
I think this is a market segment that is crying out for a decent inventor, someone like Dyson to take a look at and revolutionise. The basic design of a toaster has remained unchanged since 1919, there has to be a better way.

2ono

552 posts

106 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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Just got a Kitchenaid toaster at the weekend, I haven't used it yet, but the toast doesn't pop up, it is motorized up and down gracefully. That was what sold it to mesmile

Tidybeard

539 posts

188 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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I now go without toast completely, having hurled my Dualit against the wall in a fit of protest against the sheer unfairness of having to move the small lever slightly to lift the toast out. It's utterly unreasonable and unrealistic for me to have to manually activate the toast ejection system and I refuse to accept it.

My Grandfather didn't fight in three world wars so I would have to perform extremely small and insignificant movements to feed myself. I'd rather starve.

dazco

4,280 posts

188 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
2ono said:
Just got a Kitchenaid toaster at the weekend, I haven't used it yet, but the toast doesn't pop up, it is motorized up and down gracefully. That was what sold it to mesmile
My Heston toaster does this, it looks very posh.
It also has a button called 'a little more' that takes it down for another 30 seconds.

motco

15,918 posts

245 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
ExPat2B said:
Rick101 said:
I concur. Very strange that what should be a relatively simple thing seems unachievable.


Currently with a Dualit but nothing particularly good about it. Damn things doesn't even pop up.
I think this is a market segment that is crying out for a decent inventor, someone like Dyson to take a look at and revolutionise. The basic design of a toaster has remained unchanged since 1919, there has to be a better way.
If it were Dyson it would be outrageously expensive, made in primary colours more suited to a kindergarten, and could well be promoted with claims that are hard to substantiate. (Never loses suction, for example...)

A better toaster is certainly needed though.

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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I was browsing for toasters yesterday and came to the same conclusion as the OP.
Getting 4 average sized slices of bread to be toasted evenly still appears to be an impossibility in the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

Swervin_Mervin

4,429 posts

237 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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Our Kenwood has always done a sterling job. Only trouble is it's been getting a bit long in the tooth for some time now (it must be 16yrs old at least) and takes an age to do its thing. The only reason it's still here is because I can't bring myself to replace it with something which will inevitably toast nowhere near as well, even if it can do it much quicker.

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer but finding a 4-slice toaster which toasts the whole slice is like looking for a unicorn. They all seem to leave the top of the slice undone.

dazco

4,280 posts

188 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
Swervin_Mervin said:
Our Kenwood has always done a sterling job. Only trouble is it's been getting a bit long in the tooth for some time now (it must be 16yrs old at least) and takes an age to do its thing. The only reason it's still here is because I can't bring myself to replace it with something which will inevitably toast nowhere near as well, even if it can do it much quicker.
Coincidentally I saw something about this on theTV the other day.

You may be doing yourself out of a taste sensation.

The lady on the telly said that if you get a slow toaster the toast is not as nice because what the toaster is doing is cooking the whole of the slice, whereas fast toaster will toast the outside while keeping the inside fresh. Which is the optimum toast condition

Makes sense to me

AB

16,969 posts

194 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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More annoying is most toasters that won't fit a slice of Warburtons in due to it being longer than 'normal'.


Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Monday 1st February 2016
quotequote all
AB said:
More annoying is most toasters that won't fit a slice of Warburtons in due to it being longer than 'normal'.
yes

See my previous post.