Flat Tingz: Toast

Toast: a staple flatting food. She’s cheap, she’s versatile, but can she become luxurious? Well, with the latest technology (namely, the Mitsubishi Electric Bread Oven TO-ST1) this may be possible. This small segment introduces you to the “Rolls Royce of toasters” and advises you on how you can glam up your breakfast the student way.

Firstly, the luxury toaster. Valued at $400, the TO-STI is no ordinary toaster, of course. The

point of difference between a $20 Kmart value toaster and the $400 contraption is moisture. A basic Kmart toaster can leave you with dry, unevenly burned toast. Not a great start to your day. Whereas, the $400 toaster of the future completely encloses the bread, locking in the moisture and resulting in evenly-cooked, fluffy toast. Or as Mitsubishi says, “the sheet of ultimate” bread. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

The reviews on Amazon sure think so. Notably, one reviewer proclaimed that:  This toaster controls my life… friends now knock on doors to have this toast. I apparently keep my local bakery in business going through 1-2 loaves a day per person. Pretty sure it’s making me fat. 

Even the one star reviewers concede to the deliciousness of this $400 toast:  Once used, it cannot be used until the machine cools down. This is the worst item. However, the toast used at one time was delicious.

Student option one: bakery-quality bread

But we don’t all have $400 to spare to lush out on an expensive toaster, like the TO-STI. So I

have considered two alternatives to upgrade your breakfast. For all the bread aficionados out there, the second-best option is to simply purchase bakery quality bread. In Unbox Therapy’s in-depth review of TO-STI, they concluded that “good bread is good bread” and that a Kmart toaster will not tarnish that.

I wish to note, if you’re still keen on the $400 toaster and want to add it to your course-related costs, wait a minute. It is not a good idea to splurge on the $400 machine if you’re going to put budget bread in it. The TO-STI is only meant for luxury bread and you will not witness the toaster’s fullest potential by only toasting value bread.

Student option two: the sandwich press

Lastly, the other option is to purchase a sandwich press for your flat. No need for a flash one. My ol’ Kmart one has been doing the trick for the past 2 years. The only thing is, with toasting bread it’s probably going to squish it and dry it up since it doesn’t lock in the moisture like the TO-STI.

But the beauty of the sandwich press is that you can do a lot more than just toasting bread, like toasted sandwiches, eggs, pancakes, and last night’s pizza. Even the most unusual things can be cooked on a sandwich press, so this machine is worth considering too.

The bottom line for uni students without the dollars is to either purchase glamorous bread for your budget toaster, or to invest in a sandwich press. My personal choice would be the sandwich press for all that I’ve put it through with my cheese toasties, smores, bananas, and my shoddy, DIY egg McMuffins. But maybe one day, once my student loan isn’t as scary as it currently is, I might consider the luxurious TO-STI.

Sophie’s famous sandwich press egg McMuffin

Yield:  1 amazing egg McMuffin

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 2 plastic cheese squares
• 1 English breakfast muffin
• A little bit of butter
• Salt and pepper
• As much tomato sauce as you can handle

Steps:

1. Turn on the sandwich press
2. Coat the sandwich press panels with a little bit of butter (or a cooking oil, if you prefer)
3. Fry the egg on the sandwich press 
4. Place cheese squares on each muffin halve
5. Rest the muffin halves on the sandwich press so they toast a little and the cheese melts
6. Once egg fried and cheese melted slightly, put it all together with lots of tomato sauce and S&P
7. If you’re not a vego like me, you can add bacon to the mix! In which case, slap some bacon on that sandwich press before you cook the egg.
8. Then, ENJOY!