Dear toasters

[restofthetimes]

as in, expensive. Aibu to think there can't be anything appreciably or sufficiently different about the toast that comes out of a £199 2-slice toaster, compared to a £9.97 one - these are currently the dearest and cheapest options at J Lewis.....

To sweet for me but 100% with you on the butter. It's pretty much the only "premium" product I buy, I like the one with the salt crystals in it. And smother the toast. In work people have asked questions like "would you like some toast with your butter?" ha :)

Terry Pratchett Klaxon!

This is yet another example of ‘The Sam Vimes Boot Theory if Socioeconomic Unfairness’.

It runs thus:
*The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.*

Last toaster I bought was a cheap supermarket 2 slice value jobbie. The following week when using toaster my kitchen caught fire (ok it was just some slight wall burning but you get the picture). The toast didn't pop up or something and when I returned there were flames. Apparently said toaster couldnt handle fresh crusty bread or another that isn't precut and in a bag.
Stuck to using the grill ever since as a toaster hasn't reach top of my list of priorities as yet.
Would love one of those fancy 6 slice and a croissant warmer type ones. I would feel like an actual proper grown up.

NannyOggsKnickers
Not sure it applies to toasters (my nanas cheapie has been going for 23 years!!) but I do certainly agree with the theory In general.
It's sad and I've been on the poor side of it. It's also cheaper to pay your bills in advance/In a lump sum.
Cheaper credit for those who need it the least. Etc. so I mostly agree tbf.

I’m heartily disappointed that this thread isn’t your ‘ode to a toaster’ or even breaking up with my toaster letter.

The best toast I've had is Aga toast, but that isn't a sensible option.

Eye level gas grills also make good toast though.

Well no. A cheap toaster can't fit normal slices of bread in it or thick cut bread whereas something more expensive may have adjustable slots

Dualit all the way. Keeps the toast warm if you aren’t quite ready as it doesn’t pop up automatically and can be times to exactly the correct crunchiness.

That said I had one from Boots as a wedding present which lasted a food 15 years.

Nice to have not need.

Well there speaks an OP that doesn’t own a Bugatti toaster and kettle set! I wouldn’t know cos I don’t have a toaster, we just do it on the Aga. (After typing it I’ve realised even that sounds wanky, never mind)

@bixg I agree, re aga and gas grill but I haven’t made any the latter way since my friend an I snuck across from the sewing half of the home economics room, to the cooking half and tried to make grill toast which we set on fire

praisebe a lesson I learnt the hard way. In my defence the bread was thinly sliced.

The cheap toaster we have in the office catapults the bread into the air, you have to stand waiting and catch it when it’s ready I put a bagel in it once and it nearly caught fire...

I’ll know I’ve made it when I can afford a Dualit.

I'm going to break out the Dualit, and take my poor old Russell Hobbs to the charity shop. Will anyone even buy it? Crazy!

@restofthetimes I do love my Dualit!
What model do you have?

I have a dualit. It was a present to me, from me. It makes me a little happy, and does a good job as a toaster.

I’ve got a Kitchenaid toaster in pistachio
I bought it because I needed it so, so much
I gave my Dualit one to my niece

The second least expensive one!

I don't see the point of an appliance that only has 1 function of toasting bread. Waste of space.

See you’ve opened it, have you christened it yet?
I’ve got a Dualit 4-slice in cream. It’s been used at least once a day for at least 15-years and hasn’t broken yet.
I hate it when I stay at my parents and use their crappy cheap one as it toasts so unevenly and sometimes nearly pops the bread out of the toaster!
Enjoy your new toaster.

They generally last longer and make better toast but not always.

Forget toasters there is butter with salt crystals in it??? Where is this wonder you speak of Topshagger I neeeeed to know this!

After being tired of £20 toasters ending up in landfill not long after the warranty expires, I took advantage of a sale in boots and clubcard points and got one of the old school dualit toasters. In 13 years, we've paid £25 for a new timer, which we were able to replace ourselves very easily.

I don't think it makes significantly better toast but I do think it was a great investment environmentally. They're simply made with little to go wrong and, as well as the timer, you can replace the elements yourself, if one blows.

Sainsbury's farmhouse butter has Cornish sea salt crystals in. It's the one in the red and gold pack.

LIDL also do lovely West Country butter with salt crystals.