Imagine you've baked some amazing bread and things don't go to plan afterwards..
Now, it doesn't have to be as dramatic as your loaf and limb burning in a tragic toaster-instigated house fire. Yet, the slippery slope of toaster upgrades can begin for any number of smaller, reasons... usually centred around the fact that you want to make the most of your home made bread.
For our household, it actually did start with the toaster catching on fire... but we were struggling with the old toaster before that.
Our problem with the old toaster was self-made...
I don't want to blame the hard working folks who designed and built our old toaster for our problem. Ok, sure, it caught fire, but that was simply a sign it was time to retire it. It had given us years of faithful service.
I'm just glad I was there to put it out! I didn't need a caffeine shot that day, that's for sure. :-)
Interestingly, I let it cool, gave it a good clean out (not that it was particularly bad before since I empty the crumbs fairly frequently) and replaced a fuse on the circuit board, it was back to normal.
But.. we still had problems with the toaster being pretty... undersized for the foot-long slices that my home made loaves were routinely making.
Now, we all know that we can cut the slices to fit into a typical toaster, and that works well. However, since Ren and I often make toast for breakfast and have to rush out the door in the morning... I like long slices of toast to nibble on my way to work. It's so much less hassle than several small slices. Ren just likes anything that avoids additional steps, and one long slice is enough for her.
Why I think two long-slotted toasters are better than four individual slots for regular sized slices....
Doing four regular sized slices at once, with the option to do two long slices was something I'd been dreaming about. As my loaves became bigger, I was sticking my longer slices in all manner of weird and wonderful arrangements into the toaster (usually diagonally with the tip sticking out the top). I don't know what it is, but I enjoy having the particularly long slices of rustic toast with a good soup on a cold day.. but the untoasted bit (or at least, less toasted end) was a soggy, structurally unsound implement for soup.
Canberra has a lot of cold days. When a long slice is evenly toasted... I think it's a long handled, edible, bread flavoured soup spoon. Naturally, I really wanted a long-slotted toaster that actually does a reasonably even toasting job across the whole slice.
That's...not necessarily a small ask.
This is where the urge to upgrade beyond a basic toaster gets stronger.
You've made your bread over hours, perhaps even days, so you don't want to trip and fall right before the finish line. Often, that last stretch involves the toaster.
The sad thing is, that no toaster is perfect, and price isn't always an indicator of performance. I've seen some horrifically expensive toasters do charred edges at the crust, with barely a brown tinge in the crumb. The longer slotted toasters were (and can be) notorious for their uneven toasting too. Conversely, I've seen a dirt-cheap toaster do an amazing job with no bells or whistles whatsoever.
Ultimately, we chose a reasonably "smart" toaster where it indicated progress with lights, had a "frozen" button to automatically adjust to frozen bread, but still allowed you to adjust the toasting level to taste, pop it up when needed, and such.... With that said, I did not want an app, or wireless, or Bluetooth anything... I think that's just ridiculous for a toaster.
Meet our Breville "Smart Toast Four Slice Long Slot" toaster (not that's not long shot, hehe). Actually, we've had it for a few years and I'm happy with it. Some of the online reviews weren't so great, citing some uneven toasting, but from our experience, aside from the occasional charred edges (due to unevenly cut slices) we have no complaints whatsoever of ours, and it does great job of toasting a wide variety of home made breads. Ultimately, I just like how it gives the bread that satisfying toasty crunch.
I'm not saying that this is the ideal toaster for you. It was quite expensive at nearly $230 Australian back in 2021. However it's not the most expensive available, even today... and has lasted longer than my friend's $400+ monstrousity.
Do I really have to upgrade?
Of course not. I'm only saying that it has helped us. Your toaster may be more than adequate, but this of course depends on the bread you're baking, and how you want to both present, use, and eat it.
If you're using long slices to eat sandwiches one-handed while "on the go", then yes a long-slotted toaster will help. You can even toast bread in your oven.. but it's slower to do in the mad morning rush. Conversely, if the best flavour is your goal, then a somewhat flaky toaster can ruin it at the last second, and that's a bitter (and charred) pill to swallow.
In short, our head-long pursuit of good bread at home has forced us to consider upgrading yet another piece of gear in our kitchen. I've already stated my views on the best bread knife in the unoriginally titled article:
Why the best bread knife might not be a bread knife
So now that we've sliced the bread with our ideal knife, it was time to discuss the ideal way to toast it. :-)
All the best in your bread baking, and toasting endeavours!
Ham.