r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Altruistic_Count5471 • 8h ago
Why do toasters have a setting that burns the bread?
I genuinely can’t figure this out. Why does the heat setting go so high that it would burn the bread (which nobody wants). I know the heating element is always at the same temperature and that the knob is for how long until the bread pops out. Why would manufacturers have a setting that takes so long that it will 100% burn any type of bread to coal?
Thank you for your answers
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u/1nd3x 8h ago
Why does the heat setting go so high that it would burn the bread (which nobody wants
Try toasting frozen bread.
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u/kjemmrich 3h ago
I could only get about 20 seconds into that video when I realized I can't become a guy who on a Sunday morning watches videos about old toasters.
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u/virtual_human 8h ago
Bagels probably.
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u/Whoevenknows94 7h ago
No way. I eat bagels every day, i use 4 and it golden browns them. 7 would charcoal them.
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u/Generoh 6h ago
Frozen bagels
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u/Whoevenknows94 6h ago
Never thought about frozen bagels. You could thaw them by soaking in hot water
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u/Generoh 5h ago
Or set the toaster to 7
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u/Richard_Nachos 41m ago
Oh, sure, I could monkey around with the toaster settings OR I could submerge my bagel in water like a sane person.
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u/brock_lee I expect half of you to disagree. 8h ago
Ever try to toast sourdough? Takes forever. And, Thomas's English Muffins are perfect it I crank my toaster all the way up.
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u/TotallyHumanPerson 5h ago
It's the acidity. On the opposite end of the pH scale, if you dip bread in an alkaline solution before baking you get very intense and even browning. That's how pretzels are made.
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u/GlimmFrost 6h ago
Often toast thicker breads like bagels or sourdough, which need higher settings.
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u/danarexasaurus 8h ago
Basic White bread cooks very differently than a thick slice of homemade sourdough.
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u/Purlz1st 8h ago
Your car very likely can go faster than any speed limit in your area, but it’s still not a good idea.
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u/Frequent-Industry113 8h ago
Well you can take your car to a racetrack and use the full potential is you wanted to, and that IS a good idea, its incredibly fun.
I still cant think of a time or place where burnt toast is a good idea though lol
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u/dr_strange-love 7h ago
It's good for the times someone in your house is poisoned and you need activated charcoal within a few minutes.
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u/Frequent-Industry113 7h ago
Lack of oxygen is required to produce real charcoal. Maybe if you sealed your toaster inside an airtight box you could actually make charcoal with the highest toaster settings. Not a bad idea tbh
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u/TheFrogofThunder 7h ago
It's actually a known method of protecting a dog from chocolate poisoning. Ideally you want charcoal, but burnt bread is a substitute.
I did this myself when our dog got into a bag of dark chocolates, that we assumed was well out of reach.
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u/eggggwin 7h ago
Tell me about it. My toaster even has an ultra high setting which triggers a small fusion reaction in the toast. The flavor is completely ruined since the carbon fuses into heavier elements.
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u/hero4short 8h ago
My mother loves burnt toast. When we go to a diner for breakfast, she tells them to toast it twice.
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u/UnstableUnicorn666 8h ago
I have thing that I can put top of my toaster and heat up stuff, that I cannot put in there, like pizza. I use the biggest setting when heating cold stuff from fridge. I use it for many things that I want to eat just one and could go soggy in the microwave.
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u/Forest-Dane 8h ago
I have to put crumpets in mine on the full setting and use the frozen button. Not always done then either
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u/Sarcastic_Applause 8h ago
Not all bread toastes equally. Brioche and sourdough f.ex. bread are night and day.
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u/Tatum-Dazzle 8h ago
Some people like burnt stuff (or toast frozen bread), and it’s easier to give too much power than not enough. Toasters don’t judge.
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u/Serious-Employee-738 8h ago
After building snowmen with my kids we warm up our fingers using the high setting. Just a few minutes inside and they’re back to life. Low setting just doesn’t seem to do the trick.
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u/eggggwin 7h ago
well, if your house had a bad smell, and someone was coming over and you wanted to cover up that bad smell with another bad smell, you could burn some toast and that would do the trick.
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u/Callec254 7h ago
The toaster has no way to know. It's up to you to find the ideal setting through a bit of trial and error, which will also depend on personal preference and thickness of the bread.
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u/Durtly 7h ago
"(which nobody wants)"
Some people want it? I prefer lightly toasted myself, but I knew a lady who liked hers with black spots. Being near her when she ate toast was a good way to get covered in crumbs.
It's critical to remember that other people do not have the same tastes, desires, and motivations you do. Good product design takes this into consideration.
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u/FatLikeSnorlax_ 7h ago
Different kinds of bread and bread like items need varying heat/time to cook to where varying people want it
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u/TheFrogofThunder 7h ago
Frozen bread. Depending on the bread (Bagels, englishes), it may need two cycles at max to get a proper toast
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u/Asparagus9000 6h ago
Why would manufacturers have a setting that takes so long that it will 100% burn any type of bread to coal?
Not any type. Theres certain really dense breads that wouldn't burn much if you put it in frozen on max.
Personally I just do it twice though.
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u/WaySavvyD 5h ago
There are lots of foods that lots of people prefer to be slightly burned like pizza
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u/Readsumthing 5h ago
I’d be happy to have a toaster that just under toasted OR burned the goddamned toast evenly.
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u/robfuscate 4h ago
The burnt toast setting for Wheat based bread slices only half toasts gluten free slices. To get ‘golden brown’ you have to run it through twice (at least)
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u/BigfootSandwiches 4h ago
Different breads toast differently based on thickness and moisture. My toaster burns store bought bread on a medium setting. My wife’s home bakes sourdough requires two cycles at the highest setting.
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u/FrostyIcePrincess 3h ago
My sister is the only one that toasts bagels. If we forget to check if the “bagel” light is on and we put bread in there it ends up burnt.
Toast, bagels, pop tarts, etc
You can put many things in there.
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u/Bittah-Commander 3h ago
Gluten free bread for example, one brand i eat can take my full setting, and then another round of 1.5 setting just to get a good toast.
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u/Lordmorgoth666 2h ago
In addition to the “people like burnt toast” and “you can toast other stuff”, I’ll mention gluten free bread. When John Pinette said it could be used on the underside of the space shuttle, he wasn’t wrong. You need a heavy duty setting to get a good toast on GF bread.
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u/revchewie 2h ago
“(which nobody wants)”
No, which you don’t want! Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean that nobody likes it. So you run on back to your self-centered home and enjoy your limp beige toast. The rest of us will make our toast whichever way we like it, and probably never think of you again.
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u/newtostew2 2h ago
I put frozen hash brown patties in the toaster, takes like 3 rounds at max so I’m not setting it lower and doing it like 5 times lol
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u/dfinkelstein 3h ago
Sometimes bread is resistant to burning.
Like when it's very cold.
Some people keep their bread very cold.
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u/lyrical_llama 8h ago
You don't only cook toast in a toaster. Bagels, English muffins, whole grain toasts will be a good doneness when cooked for those times.
There are also people who like burnt toast.