But we all knew this anyway...

[Ultramatic]

 

 

<h1 class="_57726855" tabindex="0" data-scp="title hidden"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Why Your Toaster Will Eventually Fail You</span></h1>

Why Your Toaster Will Eventually Fail You

Students in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University dissected vintage toasters and our picks. Here’s what we learned.

www.nytimes.com

 

[oliger]

My toaster is indestructible. Avocado green & chrome with little flowers on the front. A 4 slicer from the early 70's. Much like everything else in my early 70's kitchen, it never fails.

 

[rp2813]

Hmmmm.

 

My big, heavy, beefy-looking KitchenAid Pro-Line toaster is about a dozen or more years old and toasting has been uneven for a while (both slots often produce toast that's done more on one side than the other).  At first I didn't like using a lever to manually lower and raise the slices, but in short order I appreciated the ability to raise and examine them for browning without shutting the thing off.

 

I think it's time to consider getting my transitional Toastmaster up from the basement.  It's the same as the ubiquitous 1940s model with brown handles and woven cord that so many of us used growing up, but the brown has been updated with 1950s styling in black and gold.  It's barely used and would likely outlive me.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

I would never, ever buy a modern toaster. My Toastmasters and General Electric toasters from the 1950's work flawlessly.

 

[ea56]

Three Words on Toasters

Get a Dualit!

I bought one of these English workhorse toasters about 3 years ago and I’ve never regretted it. It’s heavy weight, the elements can be easily replaced by the average owner if need be, and it toasts to perfection.

I like that I manually lower and raise the bread slices and I especially like the sensible, simple timer control. It can be set for up to 3 mins of toasting time so that even the moistest and densest of breads can be toasted on one cycle. And its powerful with 1250 watts of toasting power. And no automatic lift mechanisms to fail.

As the directions advise I always preheat the toaster for 1 min on the timer before I begin to make toast. The first batch usually takes just under 3 mins and each successive batch takes 2.5 mins to achieve a med dark color, which we prefer on our homemade bread. When we were still using regular vintage popup toasters I always had to run each batch through two cycles, requiring more attention than manually lowering and raising the Dualit and setting the timer.

Look on Ebay for a good used one, I prefer the older model to the newer ones.

Eddie

 

[ozzie908]

Eddie

I treated myself to a 4x slice Dualit the one with wider slots that take cages for toasting sandwiches The cages are also superb for doing Teacakes or crumpets as it makes getting them out easier. My mother is nearing 97 and her eyes are failing fast but she is able to use the toaster as I put some bright orange dots on the time needed for her slice of toast. Since having it we don't seem to burn as much as either due to resetting for a second round when its not done in the old pop up one. Yes they are not cheap to buy but they are built to withstand a catering environment so should last some years to come !!

Austin

 

[robbinsandmyers]

I love my 50's Toastmaster 1B16. Still works perfect. Just one more reason older is better

 

[ea56]

Ozzie,

My Dualit also accommodates the cages and we have two of them. They make excellent toasted cheese sandwiches.

Eddie

 

[tomturbomatic]

RE: reply #1

Is that a Toastmaster? I remember them from when I was working in Housewares at Rich's in the early 70s.

 

[oliger]

Reply #8

That's exactly what it is. A Toastmaster Hostess.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
There is a short video of the Dualit here:

https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/dualit-da0040-4-slice-classic-toaster-polished-stainless-steel?msclkid=5e6ffc30862d1462d8949d6ce840c56e&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20Smart%20-%20Low&utm_term=4578778784956946&utm_content=Smart%20-

 

[thomasortega]

Kitchen-Aid here

And no matter what, when it dies (or if I get tired of it) I'll go with Breville just to have everything matching and Breville has proven to me (food processor, coffee maker, milk frother, pizza whatever thing) that they have excellent quality. I don't expect them to last 20 years.

I used to love Kitchen-Aid and it was my brand-to-go for everything but lately they've been disappointing so I'm slowly replacing everything by Breville. Maybe I'll keep just the stand mixer because of the pasta roller. (But having replaced 3 stand mixers in 3 years, all of them with exactly the same problem, sooner or later I'll end up saying farewell too.

 

[good-shepherd]

I would never, ever buy a modern toaster.

The most aggravating thing these days is most everything is equally crappy across the board.

I would be willing to pay more for a well made toaster, 100% cotton socks or a decent pair of sneakers.

 

[foraloysius]

Dualit owner and fan here too. New toaster but old fashioned quality! I have the cages too but never use them. My Tefal optigrill XL makes the best cheese sandwiches.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

My late-brother-in-law left us a four-slice Chefmaster from Ollie's which unfortunately broke after a few months and I could never figure out how to pull out the crumb tray on it...

It was a bit too bulky for our little counter space, which is better suited for a two-slice, of which my fourteen-year-old Cuisinart still stands...

The only toaster in rounded chrome wth cloth covered cord that I would have experienced would had to have been my grandparents'...

What's the closest I could come to comparing my new with these vintages, or where could I find such? My local Salvation Army seems to only have newer ones, as does a nearby Goodwill...

Is this the same with toaster OVENS? (I have one of those, too)

-- Dave

 

[sudsmaster]

I remember back in the 60's being asked to fix a toaster.

The element was broken. Not knowing much better (I was still a teen then) I simply unhooked part of the element so I could twist the two ends together. It worked for a while.

My hunch today is that such broken elements might have been from somebody trying to extricate a stuck piece of toasted bread with a table knife or dinner fork.

But of course nobody would confess to that.

LOL

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Down under with a Sunbeam automatic beyond belief

I still have a Sunbeam automatic beyond belief toaster call it’s got a beautiful chrome finish on the main body and to Orange and caps although lately it seems like it’s become a little bit and efficient and not as accurate when doing toast but the convenience factor of just popping in Brad waiting for it to pop just done so elegantly and automatically it’s just wonderful, I’ll say, that toaster is more convenient than any other toaster you could buy today

 

[mattl]

I've been using a Kitchenaide one slot toaster that Kelly gifted me many years ago and it still works fine.  He switched his kitchen accents to black from white and we were having a discussion about toasters and a few days later I found a well packed white toaster sitting on my porch, been using it ever since. Think of him often.