“I don’t drink coffee I take tea, my dear. I like my toast done on one side.” (Englishman in New York) – Sting
Wikipedia.com defines toast as a “form of bread that has been browned by exposure to radiant heat.” And, it dates back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Interestingly enough, during this time, it wasn’t eaten; it was used as a flavoring for hot drinks. It was also used as a mechanism to keep hot drinks warm. The concept of eating toast, as described in the quotation by Sting noted above, only became popular in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Fast forward to today, and toasted bread (or toast) plays a major part in the modern meal plan, especially for children. A typical example of this includes soft boiled eggs situated in an egg cup with a slice of toast cut into fingers which the child dips into the egg yolk before eating.
Making toast: The three tried and trusted methods
There are several ways of making toast including:
- Placing slices of bread on a tray, selecting the oven’s grill setting, and placing the tray of bread in the oven to brown. Once the first side is adequately brown, then either the slices of bread can be taken out of the oven and eaten, or they can be turned over, placed back under the grill until the second side is crisp and brown.
- Slices of bread can be placed in a frying pan on top of a medium heat and can be dry-fried until each side is crispy brown.
- Thirdly, a commercial toaster can be purchased, slices of bread placed in the toaster until both sides have been toasted, and then they can be consumed as part of a meal.
The third method is the focus of this article. Therefore, the question that begs is how to choose the best toaster to suit your family’s needs.
Tips to help you choose a toaster for your kitchen
Now that the essence of this article has been defined, it’s time to consider the different types of toasters available to purchase. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of each toaster will be discussed.
There are essentially two types of toasters:
The pop-up toaster
It is worth noting that the pop-up toaster’s sole function is to make toast from sliced bread. It is available in different sizes, including a two-slice, four-slice, and six-slice machine. Its functionality is simple. All you need to do is to decide how dark you would like your toast to be, set the toaster’s timer accordingly, put the relevant number of slices of bread into the toaster, and wait for the toast to pop up when it is done. Both sides of each slice of bread are toasted simultaneously.
The countertop toaster oven
This toaster oven is a multi-functional device. It can function as a small countertop oven; cooking pizza, cookies, and even grilling or roasting meat.
In order to make toast in a countertop oven, all you need to do is to place the slices of bread on the oven’s rack and switch the oven on, allowing it to toast the first side. When the bread slices are golden brown, they need to be turned over to allow the other side to toast.
Final thoughts
Therefore, if you are looking for a compact machine that just makes toast, the pop-up toaster is the best toaster to buy. However, on the other hand, if you need a multi-functional machine that can be used to make toast and cook other items, the countertop toaster oven is the best suited to your requirements.
