The toaster is one of the most common appliances in the kitchen: it allows you to prepare excellent toasts to be enjoyed at any occasion. In this guide, you will find all the information relating to its history, types, characteristics, and places to buy it. Numerous tips will also be provided to assist you in choosing your toaster.
What is its use?
Among the appliances that characterize Italian kitchens, the toaster is certainly one of the most common. In fact, it is simple to use, takes up very little space and allows you to prepare many recipes based on toasted bread and toast, creatively using one of the most important typical foods of our culinary tradition: bread.
This small appliance, in particular, allows you to prepare excellent appetizers based on golden bruschetta or fragrant toasts with jam, to be savored at breakfast together with a steaming cup of latte, thus showing a valid ally that allows us to better face the day. Many also use it to heat and brown thawed bread or dry cakes and snacks made with puff pastry.
It is also a very important appliance for lovers of toast and sandwich bread: in a few minutes, in fact, the toaster will allow you to make many toasts to be enjoyed, for example, during an aperitif or a light dinner. Compared to other appliances, however, the toaster is often considered of secondary importance.
Blenders, microwave ovens, freezers, dishwashers and refrigerators: these and others are the main appliances whose presence in the kitchen is considered essential by many. The toaster, however, is not far behind, even if you often realize its absence only when you want to eat toast or toast.
But what is it that makes this appliance indispensable? In my opinion, the crunchiness of the bread and the almost caramelized taste that the toaster can provide to toast: a delight for palates of all ages and social backgrounds.
History
Before the birth of the toaster, it was common in Italian families to toast the bread inside the fireplace, placing the slices on special metal grids or, if absent, on the pincer itself. Despite being a good method, the disadvantages were many: if you got distracted, you risked finding the slice of bread completely burnt and, therefore, inedible.
As soon as scholars managed to create the chromium-nickel alloy, however, the ingenious minds of inventors from all over the world began to conceive the thousand ways to make the best use of this metal, known for its resistance to very high temperatures. This was how the toaster was born: the first models, of course, were full of malfunctions and were also relatively dangerous, but over time, they became increasingly specialized and functional.
One of the first prototypes of an electrically operated toaster, in particular, was that of George Schneider, an American inventor. Despite the validity of his invention, the toaster he created did not have the desired success. The first toaster model appreciated on a large scale was, however, the D-12 model, made by Frank Shailor around 1909 and produced by General Electric.
Subsequent models were equally appreciated also because they improved the structure and functionality of the D-12. Among the most important improvements there was the possibility of toasting the bread on both sides, even if at different times, and that of pulling out the ready slices of bread without necessarily having to touch them.
A further step forward was made in 1919 by Charles Strite, who made the release of toast even more automatic by limiting human intervention to a minimum. In 1925, then, the first toaster was able to cook bread on both sides at the same time, thereby reducing cooking times and ensuring an even tastier product.
Over the years, when the toaster had reached its top from a functional point of view, the exteriors began to be improved, giving life to real elegant and sophisticated design objects.
