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 ...?  :)))

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sarah977 i didn’t say ordinary toaster is expensive, but Smeg is, the one Lisa  linked

[Jo13]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

@Lisa723

@Jessica-and-Henry0

@Robin4

@Marit-Anne0

and everyone else in this chat (will this tagging thing ever work properly? Your names are not coming up.)

Thank you for making me laugh out loud throughout this thread. After a week of reading through depressing profile photo posts​ and removing my listing of four years as result, I cannot tell you how much I needed this. I love how all of us hosts around the world can share our sense of humour across languages and cultures and everything else. You are the bomb shizzle.

 

For the record, here in South Africa a toaster is the standard two/four slice pop up toaster. But at home we use a flat-plate (no grill lines) sandwich press. It works for bread slices, sandwiches, quesadillas, mini pizzas, hot cross buns, and all sorts.

-Jo

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

I have a four slice traditional pop-up toaster. Mine is new, but I had a similar one before that lasted many years. I have never had complaints about it, nor guests breaking or misusing it. The only thing is that they never clean up crumbs when they use it, but I guess that would be the same with any toasting contraption. It has the little trays underneath, so it's pretty easy to clean. I have to admit I bought this one because it looks good (I have the matching kettle and microwave) and the colour goes with my kitchen, but it works well and came with a longer guarantee than most. Oh, the other problem is that one of my cats sometimes steals the toast!!

However, I do think that your sandwich maker, or whatever you want to call it, is more versatile. I have a small one of these too, but it lives in a cupboard and never gets used. I've never had guests ask for one. I agree that if you have a small space and a budget rental, you don't want to fill it with uneccessary gadgets. If most of your guests are happy with this option, then fine.

There will always be one or two difficult guests who find stupid things to complain about. I had one middle aged American couple who complained that I didn't have a stove top espresso maker and called my caffetiere/French press 'dangerous' (I also have a couple of coffee machines they could have used instead). They also said it was 'ridiculous' that I didn't have a waste disposal unit in the sink, even though I explained NO ONE in the UK has them. The sugar should have been white, not brown. The switch for the hallway light should be in the bedroom, on and on and on. You just can't please some people.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Huma0

your toaster's design is matching your rooms 🙂

One interesting observation....American guests will travel around the world and will expect the same things  everywhere they go - wall mounted showers, pop up toasters, the same faucets, locks etc...  but... for example Asian guests will not expect rice cooker, Indian guests will not expect wok pot in Europe.... and they manage to cook without it and don't complain or suggest their hosts to buy it. You have no idea how much American guests said that they had a veeeery hard time to shower with hand held shower rose and we should have wall mounted one 🙂 They didn't think or ask WHY we don't have it  (  there is a reason) and in Croatia it's not common to have it in a bathtub anyway. Of course, it is clearly visible on our photos.... but.... 🙂

And no, in Croatia we don't have waist disposal in the sink either, our plumbing isn't wide enough for it.

When I travel I want to experience a different culture, a different way of life.... I don't want and don't expect to see the same things as I have at home, that's the whole point of traveling 🙂

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

I agree. Why travel if you expect everything to be the same as at home?

I have hosted a lot of American guests and the majority of them have been wonderful, but I do have to say that the majority of them have been young. It's the older ones who seem to find anything that's different to back home more challenging.

Asian guests like to use rice cookers, but many of them bring their own! The last lady was Japanese and had a one-portion microwave one that I was very jealous of, but she said she got it in the equivalent of a pound/dollar shop. That reminds me, she has already booked to stay again, so I will ask her to bring me one! 

It also reminds me that I have a microwave rice cooker and maybe I should get it out of the cupboard when the next Asian guests stay. You are right, they don't complain about it, but it would be nice to offer it to them in case they are just being too polite to ask.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Huma0

"...It's the older ones who seem to find anything that's different to back home more challenging...."  EXACTLY!  You can't learn the old dog a new trick hehe :))))

Croatian / European kitchens are much smaller then in the USA, especially those in short term rentals... so even if I would like to offer a lot of different, international appliances I just have no space for them. And no time between bookings to clean them. For example I bought electric water cooker (all guests asked for it so oookkk....) but as our water is very "hard" now I have to clean it/boil with winegar after every single guest... and that's the reason why people in Zagreb don't have it and use it at home.

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

By electric water boiler, do you mean a kettle?

That is really standard in the UK, and I guess maybe in some other countries. I don't know anyone here who doesn't have one even in the smallest kitchen.

It's fascinating to know how different this stuff can be in different places. I had no idea that in Zagreb you don't have these or what we would typically call a toaster. Personally I wouldn't mind. That's the joy of travelling - discovering those differences!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Yes, @Huma0  this... thing...

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

Yes, that's what I thougt you meant. Pretty much EVERYONE has those in their kitchens here and many of the hotels I've stayed at in the UK and other places in Europe also have small ones in the rooms, so I would also find it strange to stay in an Airbnb without one. It wouldn't be a deal breaker though! Do you boil water on the stove then?

[Huma0]

Oh and @Branka-and-Silvia0 we also have very hard water in London so limescale can be a problem with kettles. I haven't tried the vinegar, but citric acid is another 'eco' way to clean them. I find that I don't need to do it too often though.

Before my current kettle, I had a ceramic one (which I unfortunately broke after causing a mug avalanche from one of the cupboards - clearly in need of that morning caffeine shot). There was never a problem with limescale in that one EVER. Maybe it is the metal inside standard kettles that causes the problem.

Oh what glamorous lives we lead! Before I started hosting, I would never have dreamt of getting so into discussions about kettles and toasters 🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

hahahahahaha @Huma0  yes, really glamorous themes 😄 😄 😄

regarding differences... I was in England some 25 years ago and I was surprised by English faucets. One faucet for hot and one for cold water.  I had to figure out how to wash my face without either freeze or burn my hands and nose 😄 So, I checked your bathrooms now to find out is it still a norm in the UK or things are changed since. And I see you have 2 faucets as well.

So, I will not suggest you change it so I can PROPERLY wash the face ones I visit London :)))) ... but I would like to know why there are no mixer faucets in England? Just curious 🙂

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

You are right, it is annoying to have one hot and one cold tap instead of a mixer. However, mixer taps are very common here these days. I have them in three out of the four bathrooms and also in my kitchen.

The one exception, which must be the basin you are referring to, is the large pedestal one below. I desperately wanted this type of sink but they were way out of my budget, i.e. well over £1,000 at that time. So, when I found one for next to nothing on Ebay, I snapped it up straight away and didn't quibble about the tap holes!

It really does depend on how many tap holes you have on your basin/sink. They come pre-cut with one, two or three, so that determines what type of tap you have. If you have inherited a sink with two tap holes, then you are kind of stuck with separate hot and cold taps. There are special 'bridge' mixer taps you can use with two holes, but they are not so common.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

OMG @Huma0 you have a hardwood floor in your bathroom ... are you not afraid the water will ruin it?

I have beautiful tiles in my studio and they have small pieces of bamboo wood in them. Guests leave wet bath mat on the floor so it has already begun to rotten 😞

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

It's not the most practical choice, I know. So far though it has stood up well and it's been nearly ten years. The exception is a small area in front of the shower, exactly where the bathmat goes! However, it's not a soggy mat that has caused this but a small gap in the corner of the shower cubicle which took several attempts to fix properly. It is a shame, but at least it happened on the only part of the floor that is usually covered up (with the mat).

I don't think I would choose wood again though. I had bought a lot of this parquet because I hd the entire ground floor done with it, so when choosing the floor for this bathroom, I thought why not just order more of the same.

[Ben551]

@Huma0hey we had the same issue with our old house in Edinburgh.  We mastered the trick to having hard wood floor in a bathroom, after having a discussion with a giant Scotsman who knew far too much about bath mats to appear natural....

The trick is:  You use a wooden duckboard and a bath mat together!

With the duck board in place, you drape the bath mat over the top.  Then, when the mat gets soaked through it doesn't saturate the floor boards over and over.  That little layer of air space between mat and floor is what you need to protect the floor.

Now, if I could just remember the name of that Scotsman to give him credit... I'm going to go with "Donald".