A Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Perfect Toast

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   Decide what level of browning you would like in your toast.

   • Do you like your toast crunchy? Or a little on the softer side? It is important to define what your ideal toast is to better develop a method of achieving it.
   • Different flavors of bread should be toasted at different levels. Depending on the bread, you may want to toast it differently. As stated earlier, you want to determine how your method of toasting will affect the characteristics you enjoy in the bread. If you hate when toast is soft in the middle, consider cooking it longer and vice versa.
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   Take into account the density and thickness of your bread.

   • Denser bread will take longer to toast and for the crunch to reach the middle of them. The opposite is true with airy, thin bread and you will want to adjust the cook time accordingly.
   • The density and uniformity of your bread can affect how evenly toasted the end result is. Large bubbles in your bread can cause those areas to burn easily, while dense bread with small, uniform bubbles will usually have very even coloration.
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   Find the best way of toasting your bread.

   • 2 variables are very important when cooking toast: time and heat.
   • The longer you cook the toast, the browner it will get. This is true of all heat levels.
   • Knowing how deep into your bread you want the crunch to go will affect the heat level. For example, you may want your bread to reach a certain color, and although that is achievable by simply picking the highest setting and removing it after a short amount of time, the inside of the bread will still be like normal bread. Depending on how long your bread takes to cook and how crunchy you want it will affect both of these variables.
   • To experiment with this, toast your bread in a non-stick pan and find what level of heat and amount of time achieves your desired texture.
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   Adapt the cooking method to your toaster.

   • Maybe one of the levels on your toaster achieves the desired outward appearance, but the bread on the inside is still uncooked. To solve this, simply pick a lower setting and run the toaster for longer. You may have to run it more than once, but you can always stop in the middle if twice the cook time is too much.
   • If your toaster cooks unevenly, you can flip and rotate the toast at different times while your bread is toasting.
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   Evaluate your current toaster.

   • Does your toaster cook how you'd like it to? If not, figure out what the issues are and if they can be solved.
   • If you can find a way of reaching your desired toast, even if it requires a little more babysitting and work, it may be better than buying a new one.
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   Know how much you are willing to spend on a toaster.

   • If you do choose to replace your toaster, set a limit of how much to spend on one and do not go over it.
   • Be wary of extremely cheap toasters. Some toasters can cost as low as $10 Although this sounds like a great deal, the toaster likely has similar issues that your old toaster had.
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   Find a toaster that achieves the desired outcome.

   • Check out different toasters within your price range and decide what works best for you. Make sure the price set seems appropriate for what is being offered.
   • Examine the structural integrity of the toaster. If it is cheap and fragile, it probably won't last very long. You will have to buy a replacement soon, and it may actually be cheaper over time to buy a more expensive toaster of higher quality.
   • When you buy a toaster, make sure the place you bought it from allows refunds. Keep your receipt and be careful to not lose anything that comes with the toaster that may be included in the box.
   • Test out the toaster. If it doesn't cook your toast how you want,  you can return it because you kept it in its original condition.
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   Consider alternatives to toasters.

   • Toaster ovens can be a great, and often better, way of cooking your toast than normal toasters. They can also be used as ovens and broilers, potentially making them worth the higher price if you want those extra functionalities.
   • Simply toasting your bread on a pan can be a great alternative to buying a toaster. Although it takes more time and effort to make the toast, it makes up for in increased control. Also, since many people already have a stovetop and a pan, this method is absolutely free.
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Making Toast in a Toaster

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   Carefully put your slices of bread into the bread slots of the toaster. Trim off excess bread on the ends if the slices are too big to fit in the slots. Make sure the sides of the toast aren't rubbing against the heat coils.

   • If you cram it in, the ends are going to burn and stink up the kitchen. Make sure the slices aren't too thick or too wide.
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   Choose the setting for the darkness of the toast. Depending on the type and thickness of the bread, and on how brown or crunchy you want it, set the knob higher or lower. If you are unsure, put on a low setting and if necessary after, repeat at a higher setting.

   • Toasters, especially cheap ones, are often unreliable in the "darkness" knob department. Many people complain that even at the highest setting, you need to toast multiple times. It's best to start it light to make sure you don't burn the toast, then increase if you need to toast it a second time.
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   Push down the button to toast the bread. Keep an eye on the toaster to make sure it doesn't burn, then carefully remove the hot toast from the toaster after it pops up when it completes the cycle.
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Making Toast in an Oven

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   Put the slices of bread flat on the oven rack. The best way to evenly toast bread is in a convection oven or toaster oven. You can place the slices of bread on a baking sheet or pan, or you can place them directly on the rack.

   • Move the oven rack to the highest possible position in the oven to make toast. It's most efficient to use a high heat setting for a quick amount of time, preferably the broiler, which will use less energy by moving the toast closer to the heat source.
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   Turn on the broiler of the oven, or set the heat on the toaster oven. The broiler, which heats the top of the oven only, is the quickest way to make toast. The only problem is that it can also burn quickly, so once you've set your desired temperature, you need to watch the bread closely so it doesn't burn.

   • If you have a gas stove, you'll likely have a separate broiler, which you can use to make toast. The only difference is that it'll be in a different location, probably below the main oven compartment, or on top of the range.
   • In most toaster ovens, you can set a timer that will turn off the oven at the appropriate time. It's still a good idea to watch it closely if you don't know your oven well.
3. 3
   Use tongs to flip the bread over half-way through the toasting. If you've got your bread on a rack, or you're using a broiler, the side facing up is going to toast, but the side facing down will still be soft. When you see the top start to brown, flip the bread over to toast the other side.
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   Remove the toast from the oven. Again, the broiler can quickly burn the toast, so remove it as soon as it looks nicely crisp and brown. It'll be black in another minute.
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Making Toast in a Skillet

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   Put bread flat in a skillet. The best, most even toasting that you can do on the skillet comes from a cast-iron skillet, with no butter or oil to grease it. Just put your bread into the pan dry and let the heat toast the bread. ^[2]

   • Adding the butter before it's even toasted? Why not. You can fry your toast in a little butter or oil to crisp it up and give it a golden crust. This is sometimes called "Texas toast," and it's delicious.
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   Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. When your bread is in, simply heat the skillet and toast it in the pan. The first side will take a bit longer while the pan heats up, so it's a good idea to keep an eye on it so you don't burn the bread.
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   Flip the bread over periodically. Using tongs or a turner, flip your bread over when the underside is done and start toasting the other side. You might as well turn them regularly to make sure you're getting an even crunch on both sides of the bread.
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Grilling Toast Over a Fire

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   Heat a grill rack over an open flame. One of the most under-appreciated and completely delicious ways to enjoy a slice of toast is by throwing some bread or buns on the grill and letting the heat and smoke crisp them up. Try this after grilling burgers, or bratwursts to pick up any meat juices left on the rack, or liven up your next campfire breakfast with smoky toast.

   • If you're using a campsite grill rack, try to clean it up first by scraping it with a spatula or a knife. They can be kind of rusty and stuck with gunk. Let it heat some in the fire to cleanse it, and then scrape off any carbon bits left on.
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   Place bread slices or buns directly on the grill rack. You can drizzle a little olive oil onto slices of hearty French bread to get a nice crunch going, or you can just place bread directly onto the rack. Keep a close watch, because it'll toast up very quickly.

   • Leave the lid off the grill. It'll happen too fast to worry about conserving the heat. If you're over a fire-pit, stand close by and watch the toast. It'll be burned by an extra couple of seconds.
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   Turn the bread over frequently. Toast over the grill can burn or even catch fire very quickly, so it's a good idea to keep it rotating from side to side, as you would a marshmallow. If it gets a little scorched, try not to worry too much.

   • It's difficult to get bread truly "toasted" over the fire, but that smoky scorching is a delicious alternative that's just as good.
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   Go super-primitive. The early Romans made toast by laying out slices of bread on hot rocks close to the fire. It doesn't get any more simple than that. Lay out some bread on a rock and howl at the moon on your next camping trip. ^[3]
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   Try out a "pudgy-pie" maker. The old camp classic is perfect for making toast or grilled sandwiches over an open fire. Basically, a pudgy-pie maker is a metal clamp with long handles that you can use to toast bread over a fire with.

   • Butter or oil both inside surfaces of the metal, then place your slices of bread (plain white bread usually works best) inside the maker and clamp it closed. Hold over the fire for a few minutes on each side and check it periodically to make sure it's not burning. Enjoy hot.
   • Making a grape jelly sandwich in the pudgy-pie maker over an open fire is a camp luxury you owe yourself. Like, now.
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   Slice your toast in half, quarters, or leave whole. Traditionally, at old diners, the cooks would slice dry toast (without butter) in half vertically, and would slice buttered toast on the diagonal, so that the waitresses would could differentiate between them quickly and easily. Plus, everybody knows diagonally-cut toast tastes better, right?

   • The club sandwich is cut diagonally twice, while toast sticks--slice in several vertical strips, are commonly served with a soft-boiled egg, to make for easy dipping. Mix it up. Cut your toast however you most like to eat it.
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   Spread a single topping on your toast. When you've got a perfectly-crispy slice of toast straight from the toaster, it makes a great vehicle for toppings. While you can obviously put anything on your toast you like, there are some classics. Common toast-topping options include:

   • butter or margarine
   • peanut butter
   • jelly or jam
   • Nutella
   • eggs, fried or scrambled
   • Philadelphia-style cream cheese
   • Cheez Whiz-style style process cheese spread
   • devilish ham (spread ham paste)
3. 3
   Make cinnamon-sugar toast. It's hard to think of something more comforting and delicious to eat for a snack than toast with cinnamon and sugar-sweetened butter. To mix up this delicious topping for your toast, thoroughly combine the following ingredients in a small cup or bowl, and spread onto toasted bread:

   • 1/2 tablespoon of butter, soft
   • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, ground
   • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
4. 4
   Make a toasted cheese. Great for a side to lunch or a snack in and of itself, a toasted cheese or a cheese toast is a simple slice of bread topped with melted cheese. Made traditionally with cheddar, you can use any cheese you like. To make it, the oven is your best bet.

   • Toast the bread on one side and remove from the oven. Top the untested side with slices of your favorite kind of cheese, or a shredded variety.
   • Return the bread to the oven so the bread continues toasting on the top side, melting the cheese at the same time. Remove from the oven when the cheese is bubbly and the toast is brown.
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   Try mushrooms, beans, or chipped beef. While it may sound strange to the uninitiated, savory gravies are often used to top beans in English cuisine, for breakfast or snack.

   • Sautéed mushrooms make an excellent side to steaks or chops, especially when topping a slice of grilled toast.
   • Beans on toast is a staple of the full English breakfast, featuring a basic slice of toast with baked beans on top.
   • Creamed chipped beef on toast is Midwestern cooking at its finest, and a Military staple commonly referred to with a crude bathroom epithet (Hint: something on a shingle). Think of it as a poor man's biscuits and gravy.
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   Take care of business with a Fried Elvis. In his later years, legend has it, the singer favored nothing so much as an enormous white-bread peanut butter, banana, grape jelly, and bacon sandwich, fried up in bacon grease. You think toast is good? Try frying it in bacon grease and topping it with that mess. You're in Fat-Elvis heaven. To make the sandwich:

   • Fry up a few slices of bacon in a skillet, reserving the grease. Remove the bacon and make a peanut butter sandwich on white bread, topping it with the bacon and a generous portion of sliced banana and your favorite jelly.
   • Return the whole sandwich into the skillet with the grease in it, frying it evenly on both sides and heating it throughout. When the bread becomes toasty and golden, it's ready to eat. Be sure to use a napkin.
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1. 1
   Find out what your toast is missing.

   • Try your toast using your tested method and decide what you could add onto it. Is it missing a bit of salt? Sugar? Fruity flavor? Whatever you think would improve it. (This is obviously optional, you can always eat the toast plain if you prefer it that way.) Try to pinpoint the specific item you think would improve your toast.
2. 2
   Test out different toppings.

   • Look around your fridge/cupboard and try a few different ingredients on your toast until you find something you like.
   • If you know what topping you want to add but don't have it, see if your local grocery store has it and that it isn't too expensive.
   • Some ingredients, such as butter, may be difficult to spread on your toast. Buying alternatives like spreadable margarine can make your morning toast less of a hassle (provided you enjoy the taste of it). You may also be able to leave your butter out in a sealed butter container, as long as you don't leave it out for too long it should be fine and make it much easier to spread.
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