3 ms·

I've lived with two of these (at home growing up, and later via a roommate) and I hated both of them. The toast slot is too narrow. You can't heat a bagel - we

I've lived with two of these (at home growing up, and later via a roommate) and I hated both of them. The toast slot is too narrow. You can't heat a bagel - well, technically you can force it in there, but it won't come back out with some help from a utensil. They get flakey and you end up bouncing the toast a dozen times to get it to lower. Yes, I know there's an adjustment, but it's finicky and annoying. It's a toaster for crying out loud. Yes, the design is ingenious, but there's a good reason they aren't made anymore.

MostlyStable 3y ago
I'm pretty sure that the reason they stopped getting made was influx of dramatically cheaper toasters, at a time when the idea of paying top dollar for premium kitchen tools was not very common. I'm also pretty sure that fixing all of your issues would not be hard with a modern re-design. It would just result in a ~$100+ toaster. The crazy thing is is that _there are more expensive toasters than that_, that are basically identical to cheap toasters except they look better. I'd _gladly_ pay $100 for a new toaster that had the features of the Sunbeam and was well made enough to not have the finicky features bits you mention. And paying for premium kitchen tools is _common_ now, to the point where even people who don't really care about cooking will still have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a Vitamix Blender.
- stickfigure 3y ago
  > fixing all of your issues would not be hard with a modern re-design I'm not so sure. You could probably make the slot wider, but it's still a 100% analog device that operates via heat expansion of metals. The adjustment is going to be finicky. People expect toasters to "just work" without maintenance. As soon as you add digital electronics to automate the analog adjustment... why bother with the complicated analog part? The only major advantage this toaster has over a spring/timer device is that the toast (usually, but not always) goes down by itself. Pushing down on a toaster spring just doesn't seem like that much of an inconvenience. Have you ever owned one of these things? Did you genuinely like it?
  - MostlyStable 3y ago
    That is not even close to the biggest advantage. The biggest advantage is the sensor instead of a timer for how long to toast. If I had to pick one advantage, it would be that one. The fact that it also means that the raising/lowering is automatic is gravy in my opinion.
    - stickfigure 3y ago
      Have you actually owned one of these machines? They do not, in my experience (two different units over many years) toast more reliably than other toasters. The primitive analog "sensor" just isn't that accurate and a simple timer actually turns out to be pretty effective.
      - ethbr0 3y ago
        I've yet to get a bad piece of toast out of mine, in comparison to other toasters I've owned. The lack of bagel-width is annoying, but widening the slot on a redesign shouldn't impact any other components.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Toasters are one of the more obvious appliances to show how bad things have become. Outside of getting one of those conveyor-belt continuous restaurant toasters, I simply cannot find a new toaster at any price point that does a good job of making toast. Even low-end toasters from the '60s outperform high-end toasters these days.
  - NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
    Remember when a complimentary toaster was the gimmick that banks offered to new customers opening an account? I believe that the toaster was also a very stereotypical wedding gift, as well.
    - susiecambria 3y ago
      And blankets. My dad did marketing for a bank years ago. We have lots of blankets (!). I don't remember the toaster as I do the blankets, but I do know they were premiums.
  - phonon 3y ago
    https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnvq9/balmuda-toaster-review https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnvq9/balmuda-toaster-revie...
  - XajniN 3y ago
    I bought this thing [1] a few years ago, still works very well with consistent results. The brand is called Breville in the US [2]. [1] https://www.sageappliances.com/eu/en/products/toasters/bta825.html?sku=STA825BAL2EEU1 https://www.sageappliances.com/eu/en/products/toasters/bta82... [2] https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/toasters.html https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/toasters.html
DANmode 3y ago
...is it because people are trying to jam shit in them other than toast? ;] Ovens and toaster ovens are where bagels "belong" - otherwise, you just end up with a sloppy toast-hole that may or may be great at cooking toast!

MostlyStable 3y ago

I'm pretty sure that the reason they stopped getting made was influx of dramatically cheaper toasters, at a time when the idea of paying top dollar for premium kitchen tools was not very common. I'm also pretty sure that fixing all of your issues would not be hard with a modern re-design. It would just result in a ~$100+ toaster. The crazy thing is is that _there are more expensive toasters than that_, that are basically identical to cheap toasters except they look better. I'd _gladly_ pay $100 for a new toaster that had the features of the Sunbeam and was well made enough to not have the finicky features bits you mention. And paying for premium kitchen tools is _common_ now, to the point where even people who don't really care about cooking will still have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a Vitamix Blender.

stickfigure 3y ago
> fixing all of your issues would not be hard with a modern re-design I'm not so sure. You could probably make the slot wider, but it's still a 100% analog device that operates via heat expansion of metals. The adjustment is going to be finicky. People expect toasters to "just work" without maintenance. As soon as you add digital electronics to automate the analog adjustment... why bother with the complicated analog part? The only major advantage this toaster has over a spring/timer device is that the toast (usually, but not always) goes down by itself. Pushing down on a toaster spring just doesn't seem like that much of an inconvenience. Have you ever owned one of these things? Did you genuinely like it?
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  That is not even close to the biggest advantage. The biggest advantage is the sensor instead of a timer for how long to toast. If I had to pick one advantage, it would be that one. The fact that it also means that the raising/lowering is automatic is gravy in my opinion.
  - stickfigure 3y ago
    Have you actually owned one of these machines? They do not, in my experience (two different units over many years) toast more reliably than other toasters. The primitive analog "sensor" just isn't that accurate and a simple timer actually turns out to be pretty effective.
    - ethbr0 3y ago
      I've yet to get a bad piece of toast out of mine, in comparison to other toasters I've owned. The lack of bagel-width is annoying, but widening the slot on a redesign shouldn't impact any other components.
JohnFen 3y ago
Toasters are one of the more obvious appliances to show how bad things have become. Outside of getting one of those conveyor-belt continuous restaurant toasters, I simply cannot find a new toaster at any price point that does a good job of making toast. Even low-end toasters from the '60s outperform high-end toasters these days.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  Remember when a complimentary toaster was the gimmick that banks offered to new customers opening an account? I believe that the toaster was also a very stereotypical wedding gift, as well.
  - susiecambria 3y ago
    And blankets. My dad did marketing for a bank years ago. We have lots of blankets (!). I don't remember the toaster as I do the blankets, but I do know they were premiums.
- phonon 3y ago
  https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnvq9/balmuda-toaster-review https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxnvq9/balmuda-toaster-revie...
- XajniN 3y ago
  I bought this thing [1] a few years ago, still works very well with consistent results. The brand is called Breville in the US [2]. [1] https://www.sageappliances.com/eu/en/products/toasters/bta825.html?sku=STA825BAL2EEU1 https://www.sageappliances.com/eu/en/products/toasters/bta82... [2] https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/toasters.html https://www.breville.com/us/en/products/toasters.html

DANmode 3y ago

...is it because people are trying to jam shit in them other than toast? ;] Ovens and toaster ovens are where bagels "belong" - otherwise, you just end up with a sloppy toast-hole that may or may be great at cooking toast!