Problems with toasters

[kh8913]

Hello,

I'm Khash and I'm studying Industrial Design. As one of my projects, I'm thinking of redesigning a toaster.
I'm trying to address problems we have with our toasters as the first step and make it hopefully more innovative as well.
Maybe some time in the future, your problems can be solved with a good design solution and be produced.

As a starting point I mention mine. I think uneven toasted bread is one think I really like to be addressed. I like all parts to be as crispy as they should be. What are your problems?

 

[Chef Kat]

The crumbs should be able to be removed better! Some have a slide-out tray but others have to be turned over so you can shake it. That always irritates me.

 

[Addie]

Ditto on the crumb tray. I have a Toastmaster and it sits on the top shelf because of the crumb problem. It also doesn't toast the whole piece of bread equally on both sides. One side is totally toasted to my liking and the other side is half toasted and very pale. So my son gave me a toaster oven. Does the job for me.

I also want the sides on my toaster to be cool. The whole toaster heats up. I have to wait for it to cool down before I can put it away. Better insulation for the outside would be very nice.

 

[Kayelle]

I finally canned my regular toaster for a toaster oven. For one thing, the toaster wouldn't brown my toast brown enough even on the highest setting. I only have room for one or the other, and the toaster oven won.

 

[Dawgluver]

Breville is the gold standard for lots of things, but they don't do so well with toasters.

It takes forever to toast. One side is browner than the other. It's hard to retoast when the toast is pallid. And did I mention it takes forever?

What's nice is the outside stays cool, and it looks good. It has a crumb tray.

 

[Katie H]

I finally canned my regular toaster for a toaster oven. For one thing, the toaster wouldn't brown my toast brown enough even on the highest setting. I only have room for one or the other, and the toaster oven won.

I'm with you, Kayelle. We love our toaster oven. It toasts the bread evenly and can toast 4 slices of bread at once. More, if I use both racks. Crumbs aren't a problem because there's a slide-out tray in the bottom that makes quick work of any crumbs that may happen.

 

[Kylie1969]

We toast our bread under the griller...toasts the bread evenly and just better overall

 

[Kitchen Barbarian]

Sunbeam made the best toaster ever manufactured in this country

I have a toaster right now that works better than any I've had in decades, under certain conditions. However it's not a patch on the Sunbeam T-20, which is 70 year old technology.

PROS
It does a pretty good job of toasting evenly, and toasting to the same level of brownness from one slice to the next (a common problem with toasters is that you have to keep turning it up with each successive piece of bread - the first piece of toast comes out perfectly browned but the 2nd one is much paler)
It has an "INTERRUPT" button to pop your toast out now instead of having to wait to the end of the cycle or pull up on the lever
It has floating side holders that can automatically accommodate extra wide items like bagels or very thin slices of bread

CONS
There is a recessed line all the way around the top of the toaster that I guess is supposed to be decorative but all it does is collect crumbs that you can never brush out.
The cleaning tray in the bottom is only part of the bottom - it leaves side edges that don't pop down, so you have to shake crumbs out the top as well as cleaning the drop down door on the bottom
Unless your bread is perfectly evenly sliced, the automatic width adjusting sides don't work properly and your unevenly sliced home made bread will burn on one side and remain snowy white on the other. Well, ok, maybe not snowy white - but it won't cook properly because it won't center properly in the slot. If it's wider at the top than the bottom (or vv) it won't toast evenly top to bottom either.
The frickin' cord is way way too short. That's a common problem on most countertop appliances these days.
The darn thing sprays crumbs out the bottom while in use like nobody's business.

 

[CWS4322]

Sunbeam made the best toaster ever manufactured in this country

I have my great-aunt's Sunbeam. It is ancient, but the best toaster I've ever had. I love it.

 

[lyndalou]

Ditto on the crumb tray. Slao should be teflon coated for easier cleaning. Better yet, dishwasher safe.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I wish I had my grandparent's old toaster. I don't know what the brand was, but it had a slide knob timer, like a kitchen timer, but a slide rather than a dial. You could get perfect results every time, because it relied on a clock mechanism rather than dissimilar metal heat expansion to determine when the correct cooking amount was achieved. As the heat was constant, varying the cooking time determined how light or dark you toast would be. And it cooked both sides of the bread evenly. I haven't seen another toaster like it.

I too am dissatisfied with today's toasters. Toaster ovens work better, but use more energy. It seems so simple to me. I wish there was a toaster sold with a clockwork timing mechanism available now.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Addie]

I'm with you, Kayelle. We love our toaster oven. It toasts the bread evenly and can toast 4 slices of bread at once. More, if I use both racks. Crumbs aren't a problem because there's a slide-out tray in the bottom that makes quick work of any crumbs that may happen.

I have had toasters that the crumb tray slides out, but stops. You can't pull it out all the way. You have to wipe the tray out while still attached to the toaster. I want to be able to take it out and wash it. Like the one on my toaster oven.

 

[Addie]

I have my great-aunt's Sunbeam. It is ancient, but the best toaster I've ever had. I love it.

I had one of those. Like so many things in my kitchen, it managed to walk out my door and into the door of one of my kids. I can't tell you how many times over fifty years I have had to refurnish my kitchen while my kids were furnishing theirs. And I still am doing it. Spike has my sewing machine, 12" Shun chef's knife, large whilte mixing bowl to my old Sunbeam stand mixer, my Depression batter bowl, and too many other things to mention. My daughter has my large stock pot, a set of very sharp steak knives, set of pretty glass salad bowls, etc. My youngest son has my silver condiment tray, my crystal cut glass sugar and creamer set, etc.

 

[Kylie1969]

Sunbeam do make good toasters

 

[CraigC]

Haven't had a toaster in over 20 years. Toaster oven has given good service during that time. We just don't toast a lot of commercially sliced bread.

 

[Kylie1969]

We have a Tefal 4 slice toaster with a crumb tray sitting in the cupboard, and has done for years now...as I said, we use the grill under the oven...does a great job

 

[Kayelle]

My grandparents had a "Flopper Toaster" like this that sat on their breakfast table. I loved watching them make toast with it. Now that was a toaster!

 

[Dawgluver]

My grandparents had a "Flopper Toaster" like this that sat on their breakfast table. I loved watching them make toast with it. Now that was a toaster!

We used that type of toaster when my family rented various older cabins on Lake of the Woods when I was a kid. As I recall, you had to toast each side separately, but it made great toast!

 

[Kayelle]

Yep Dawg, you had to turn the bread over. I can almost smell Grandma's home made bread toasting. They loved their homemade orange marmalade on the toast...me not so much as a little kid.

 

[Skittle68]

I love my toaster- it can accommodate thick or thin slices, toasts really evenly, and my favorite feature: the bagel setting. I love having a bagel that is beautifully toasted on one side and soft and chewy on the other. My only gripe, is that since only one side is heating it takes longer to toast. So I crank it all the way up, toast my bagel perfectly, then forget it on the highest setting and burn the toast the next time I use it. It would be nice if it automatically accounted for the fact that it takes longer to toast on the bagel setting. It also has a frozen toast and frozen bagel setting, which I've used before for a toaster strudel. Worked great.