And you think you got problems...
I am a somewhat technically-minded person - despite my clunky efforts on this page. I like knowing how things work and I like to think that I am capable of understanding fairly complex processes and interactions. Which is a different thing to knowing what these processes are called.
Coupled with this I have a remarkable level of what I like to call 'mechanical sympathy'.
Got a dodgy sounding car you need to get to Toowoomba? I'll get it there.
Gotta get a load into Rocklea, but your truck's getting a whine in the diff on over-run and your worried about it chewing a crown-wheel, so you need somebody to treat it nice? I'm your man.
So why can't I get a toaster to work properly?
On average I go through a toaster per annum. They don't actually cease operating, they just won't play nice. Either they'll burn it black or give you warmed over bread - on the same setting. Sometimes they'll toast one side of the bread more than the other, sometimes they'll toast the bread on one side of the toaster more than the bread on the other side.
After the first two or three times, I blamed all this on the fact that I was buying supermarket brand toasters, so I started purchasing name brands at electrical stores: pretty much the same result. OK, so I might get an extra month or two out them before I crack a sad and lob them at a guinea fowl*, but I don't know that the value for money factor is being improved. I have an urge to go to one of those upmarket-style kitchen supply places and pay about fourteen bales of cotton for the ritziest, sturdiest bread-browning device they have- as long as I get a lifetime, gold-plated-twice-my-money-back-signed-in-blood warranty.
How hard can it be to stick a couple of heating elements in a box?
*There's a few outside right now and if they don't shut up one of them is going to feel the joy of a Sunbeam on its shoulder.
Coupled with this I have a remarkable level of what I like to call 'mechanical sympathy'.
Got a dodgy sounding car you need to get to Toowoomba? I'll get it there.
Gotta get a load into Rocklea, but your truck's getting a whine in the diff on over-run and your worried about it chewing a crown-wheel, so you need somebody to treat it nice? I'm your man.
So why can't I get a toaster to work properly?
On average I go through a toaster per annum. They don't actually cease operating, they just won't play nice. Either they'll burn it black or give you warmed over bread - on the same setting. Sometimes they'll toast one side of the bread more than the other, sometimes they'll toast the bread on one side of the toaster more than the bread on the other side.
After the first two or three times, I blamed all this on the fact that I was buying supermarket brand toasters, so I started purchasing name brands at electrical stores: pretty much the same result. OK, so I might get an extra month or two out them before I crack a sad and lob them at a guinea fowl*, but I don't know that the value for money factor is being improved. I have an urge to go to one of those upmarket-style kitchen supply places and pay about fourteen bales of cotton for the ritziest, sturdiest bread-browning device they have- as long as I get a lifetime, gold-plated-twice-my-money-back-signed-in-blood warranty.
How hard can it be to stick a couple of heating elements in a box?
*There's a few outside right now and if they don't shut up one of them is going to feel the joy of a Sunbeam on its shoulder.
posted by Dirk at 6:22 am
11 Comments:
i'm not sure about your politics, but you're definitely worth a read - i've linked to you. so all that leftie traffic will be coming at ya soon!:)
Sneak up on that bread; get a toaster oven.
It's simple: stop toasting bread!
I had the same problem and did what joann sugjests, I got a toaster oven...
I also had a friend I was in the army with. He couldn't get a damn watch to work to save his life. Whether it be a $12 PX Timex, or a $500 Seiko, they'd stop running in about a day of him strapping it on his wrist.
Digital, analog... Didn't matter.
Time just never worked for him.
Susanna,
I'm not sure about my politics, either, I've been accused of being everything everything from a rabid righty to a loony lefty. They're all wrong. And right. Depends what particular subject you were speaking in relation to. (Which looks like a very poorly constructed sentence.)
Joann,
Sounds like a sterling idea...
CB,
and starve to death...?
My Dad is the same with digitals. They'd go blank after ten minutes. I got a lot of cheap watches brcause of that.
Sheriff,
the grill is on my list of Things To Fix.
Those little toaster ovens are fantastic for those of us inclined to cook for one more often than not. They even do a good mini roast.
Just don't set them on fire.
They don't like it.
Yeah, that seems to be a widespread tendenvy among the appliance community.
The secret is you need a toaster that clamps the slices centrally between the elements. This way the toast burns (i mean toasts) evenly.
Crappy toasters let the bread lean into the element, hence one side burnt the other like sushi.
Russell,
the current device clamps the bread, but careful observation has shown that the outside elements glow more than the inner elements. I'm thinking there is some resistance prior to the current reaching the elements. This, however, is not the major proble; this toaster can't follow instructions. It will burn the toast beyiond recognition, but the next slices I put in will pop up golden brown - without adjusting the setting on the side. I suspect a dodgy potentiometer. (Actually, I just wanted to use the word potentiometer.)
Does the toaster heat the toast based on how hot the innards get? Or how long the bread is in there? In other words, does it have a heat control unit (thermostat, for instance, or a pot as you suggest) or a timer?
PS: Chickybabe is evil. Not toasting is a crime against nature.
does it have a heat control unit (thermostat, for instance, or a pot as you suggest) or a timer?
Yes.
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