Sunday, 7 October 2018

Toast.




If you are fortunate enough to own a toaster with settings that say 'Underdone, Perfect, and Burnt'; think yourself lucky. Ours is far more complicated.

Our trusty (un-trusty) machine has a timer that goes from 1 to 7; 1 to 7 of 'what' I'm not sure. It also has three buttons which say réchaufer (reheat), décongeler (defrost), and stop. I've never used the first two, but the stop button is handy when black smoke comes from the inside.

Lady Magnon loves her toaster. She also loves our kitchen smoke alarm, which she uses as her own private toast-timer.

Personally I like my toast to be more 'well heated bread' rather than 'thin black slices of charcoal', and I always leave them to cool before applying their thick slices of butter.

These days I also find myself putting out a large selection of toppings whilst waiting for the bread to be cooked. I can never make my mind up until the last moment, so there is usually Marmite, Peanut butter, Anchovy paste, red pesto, different types of sausage and paté, cheese, and ham, in front of me. This was indeed what I faced yesterday morning, and I eventually plumped for the Peanut butter.

Only afterwards did I remember that I had kept some of last night's pasta leftovers which I'd planned to eat for my breakfast.

Life can be so difficult.


37 comments:

  1. Could it be time for his and hers toasters. Leftover mince on toast for supper here.

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    Replies
    1. I always used to use a flat metal toaster that went on top of the oven, over a gas flame. It made perfect toast, but eventually fell apart. I might try to find a replacement.

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    2. Cro, try camping shops... they still exist!
      And I've left you a couple of "blog post length" comments on yesterdays Fuel post... I think it might clear up the "confooshun".... a little.

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  2. We've got a toaster just like that! I really need one that has two settings - Sue's toast (warm bread) and Paul's toast (charcoal).

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    Replies
    1. We have a four slice toaster with two separate settings - works well.

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    2. When you find it Sue; let me know. That's exactly what I'm after too!

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  3. A toaster is one of the only modern gadgets I have in my kitchen although even that is kept out of sight. I occasionally have toast but never for breakfast as I am not keen on the aftertaste of toast. If I have toast I stand over the toaster and intervene by pressing the button when I think it is ready. I do this two or three times until I have something between warm bread and charcoal.

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    Replies
    1. That's exactly what I have to do; I never rely on the unreliable settings.

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  4. As I am the only one who makes toast, ours is permanently set to 3.... as I was about to make myself some breakfast toast at 11AM Incontinental time... I used the stopwatch function on my iFone... the toaster went clunk at 1minute:30secs... fortunately I was watching it.... because, it being Sunday morning, it took me 20 seconds to work out how to stop it!! So it would seem that the number equate to intervals of 30seconds....
    in the interest of good science [and providing I remember] I will continue timing and report back.

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  5. I like the idea of using a smoke alarm for the toast. 1-7 may relate to that expression about having '7 shades of shit' beaten out of you during a physical attack.

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    Replies
    1. If I set it to 7, it would certainly kick the shit out of my toast.

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  6. My wordy, if there is any leftover pasta then reheated-on-toast goes to top of the list for breakfast fayre around these parts. I do love carbs with my carbs! I typically veer toward the savoury to start the day, in spite of my delicious marmalade adventures this winter. Lately I've been fiddling with my own substitution for Peck's Paste, the "anchovette" spread, as a good salty kickstart. Got to love that Stop Button. The numbers become mere suggestions once the toaster heats up after its first round.

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    1. I buy anchovy paste in tubes which is superb on toast. It's a sort of poor man's 'Gentleman's Relish'.

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  7. Unless I'm having banana and muesli I have toast (setting 4 for my home made bread) with Marmite on one piece and peanut butter on the other. There's already enough decisions to be taken in the morning without taxing my brain on what to put on my toast.

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    Replies
    1. That's often what I end up doing; one with Peanut butter, the other with Marmite. I only ever have two slices of toast.

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  8. and remembering to turn the setting down after each pair of slices or it overdoes the subsequent lot....

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    Replies
    1. I don't really have anything to do with the numbers, I just play it by ear.

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  9. I now feel the need for toast. And yes, I'll wait by the toaster until it's right, popping it up occasionally to check it. I have a slight weakness for cinnamon/raisin bagels, which are put into the toaster. Mmmmmm. -Jenn

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    Replies
    1. I have never really understood the fascination with bagels, they always seem rather tasteless to me. My preference is for good Sourdough bread, cut to about 1.5 cms thick.

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  10. Love the helpful, but wordy, toaster from Red Dwarf.
    All bets are off on the numbers front if you start from cold the first time and like us often use frozen bread.

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    1. My first ever toaster was bought expressly to BURN toast; the smell was the only thing to totally mask the cigarette smoke in our study at school. It did the job perfectly.

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    2. I love this idea. It reminded me that joss-sticks were used to mask the smell of more... aromatic smoke ... in my university days. Not by me of course.

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    3. I have heard about such things, but 'not me' either.

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  11. I have toast every morning, a multi grain that takes a long time to toast to just before burnt. I always use the same setting, however, and accept whatever I get.

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    Replies
    1. You obviously trust Mr Toaster more than I do. Think yourself lucky.

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  12. I have never owned a toaster and always do toast under the grill .... I remember a famous chef said that it’s the best way to make toast ! ..... and, you always get the perfect piece of toast. XXXX

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    1. I honestly think the best toast ever was cooked on the top of our AGA. It had such a nice texture and taste.

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  13. Our toast is done on top of our AGA. We haven't owned a toaster in years. We got our AGA in 2005. It does make the best toast... but you do have to watch it as different types of bread toast faster than others. We generally do butter and cinnamon sugar on ours each morning, but I've been known to do peanut butter and occasionally smashed avocado.

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    1. I'm rather surprised to hear that you have an AGA out there in Texas, but how very wise. Yes, it makes the best toast. Ours was quite old, and ran on coal.

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    2. Ours runs on gas and we absolutely love it... especially in winter. The cats and I stay snug and warm by it's side. (However, it does get a little warm in the kitchen during a Texas summer)

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  14. The best toast is done with a glass!

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  15. Mmmm, cold toast with marmite, avocado, sweet B&B pickles, mayo and brown lentil sprouts. A perfect lunch.

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    Replies
    1. You obviously eat very well. Sounds good to me.

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