Question for Americans - what is the PROPER toaster ? :)

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

So we have this budget toasters in our apartments, I have one at my home, my daughter has it, my mother has it and we have the same one in our holiday home. We use it all the time for sandwiches and for toasting the bread  🙂

Our American guests said we should get a PROPER toaster !

I would like to know what the hell is it? Is it something like Mercedes among toasters? Does it bake the bread, make sandwitches and bring them to you in the bed? Does it babysit too ...?  :)))

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

That looks like a toasted sandwich maker or a mini-grill - it's not a toaster as I would recognise one. This is a toaster in the UK...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

in Croatia, both models are called toasters ,  but I don't like those vertical ones because you can't toast sandwiches (ok, maybe very slim and small ones) and it's hard to clean the crumbs.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

I know what you mean but I don’t think the toaster you use will crisp bread, toast one side of bagels till crispy, leaving other side soft?  In UK/Ireland and also in the US your item would be a sandwich maker.. 😁 you can’t win them all! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0

no no no, you are wrong, you can toast crisp both sides with my toaster, it toasts from both sides ... and.... if you want just one side crisp and the other side soft then you put 2 slices of bread on top of each other ... AND you can fry bacon or waffles as well! We even gilled shrimps in it on the balcony 😄

It's multi-purpose-kitchen-aid hehe. Unfortunately, my guests didn't discover all its possibilities, they have no clue what a miracle of technique it is  😛

[Michael935]

Yes, the pop-up are ubiquitious in the USA because the grill type takes much longer to toast and it has to be watched.  When making breakfast for six, the grill is very slow.  With pop-up the person pops in the bread, minds other things- the cooking eggs and bacon -  the pop-up makes a big noise, the toast removed, and two more immediately inserted til 12 pieces of toast are done.  The grill IS great for sandwiches and if it is only two people eating - why bother with another thing to clean.  So votes for both!!

[Ben551]

Yep what @Gerry-And-Rashid0 posted is also considered a proper toaster in NZ too, used for cooking “naked toast” and later apply spreads or jams. I double checked with the wife and she says folks here would call the other kind a grill or "toastie maker" in NZ (means toasted bread with fillings).

I’ve never really thought about it, but with  the pop up toaster I tend to load and walk away, knowing it will pop up when done. With the grill, I think I’d feel like I had to stand there and watch. Now that’s not to say people don’t burn toast in a vertical one, but I think I feel more.... competent using something that guards against my tendency to burn things 🙂

It would depend if you were making naked toast or toast with a filling. Vertical for filled toast = messy...

[Ria16]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 That’s a nice looking jaffle maker 😉 

[Beth80]

The wonders of languages and cultures! What you have @Branka-and-Silvia0is a sandwich maker or mini grill like @Gerry-And-Rashid0 said. What they showed is a toaster. Just a toaster, no grilling, no baking and certainly no breakfast in bed. Here in Brazil I had to choose which appliance to buy and bought the grill like yours. So much more practical but I must say I miss the happy sound of my  toast popping up to brighten my morning. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Beth80

toast popping up to brighten my morning 😄  lol  ... like the smell of coffee brighten my mornings 🙂

Yes, it is much easier to clean, those vertical ones are always full of crumbs and if someone toasts sandwiches in it then it's a complete mess...

In fact, I am amazed how people are addicted to kitchen appliances nowadays...  I have small kitchens in my apartments and no place to store a microwave, rice cooker,  2 kinds of coffee makers, waffle maker, sandwich maker, toaster, juice maker, mixer, electric water cooker... etc etc....  so every one of my international guests have all he is used to having at home  .... and even if I have a storage place for all those appliances the question is - is it really necessary for 2-nights-average-stay ??? I mean... I charge 35€ studio and 50€ for the apartment and there are hundreds of restaurants in the neighborhood...

What appliances do you offer to your guests if you are off site host?

[Ann72]

LOL, I love your posts!  My toaster story:  a Japanese man and his daughter came.  I have the typical American pop-up toaster.  The father decided to make his own toast one morning, so he got out the bread, put butter and jam on it, and plunked the whole affair in the toaster.  Toaster ruined.  I couldn't stop laughing.

I want one of those grill affairs you have!  Wouldn't have room for it in my NY apartment, but I could put it in the cabin in Maine.

My guests get two kinds of coffeemakers (French press and electric drip), a microwave oven, and a toaster.  I also have (but not on the countertop) a food processer, a blender, and a mixer.  Oh, and I just got an iced coffee press for 20 bucks!  Millennials are obsessed with iced coffee!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Oh, @Ann72 I had to google for "iced coffee press" .... but all I have found is a video where french press coffee is poured in a glass of ice .... did I miss something? 🙂

If you order iced coffee in Croatia you will get it in a tall glass, and it is an espresso coffee, ice, ice cream and whip cream on the top. Not recommended for people on diet 🙂

Love your story with Japanese guest 😄 One of my guests washed my toaster under the tap water so I had to throw it away, it was full of water haha

I googled for Japan/toaster and Balamuda toaster came up... it's 3 month waiting list for it, imagine! 🙂

http://www.bravotv.com/blogs/fancy-japanese-balmuda-toaster-has-three-month-waiting-list

[Ann72]

That Japanese toaster!  Maybe that's why the guy thought...?  Anyway, using steam is an old way of reviving bread - if your baguette is a little dry, just rub a few drops of water on it, put it in the oven, and voila! it's all better.

The thing about iced coffee, apparently, is that you're supposed to use concentrated coffee, so it doesn't get all weak and watery from the ice.  This thing does that, and then if you want hot coffee you just add boiling water.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFLY64U/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ann72

tnx for that video, I discovered I have it in my Airbnb! 🙂   I bought it as a simple version of filter coffee maker or for making a tea.... didn't know it can be used for cold brewing 🙂 Never heard of cold brewing before..

Here in Croatia, we don't drink filter coffee or french press etc.... we drink espresso like in Italy, or instant coffee or moka. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

Henry and I have a balmuda toaster which we absolutely love 🙂