Toaster

I am thinking of buying a toaster, but I haven’t seen anything lately that screams “awesome”.
Also, I am a bit tired of the 50s revival trend, a la Dualit, any ideas?
To kick off i thought this was kind of nice, in a very “graphic” way:

That is pretty nice, very 90’s swatch like.

On a counterpoint, I’ve had a 4 slot Dualit for the past 10 years, still love it. More timeless than retro once you live with it for a bit.

I found that Bodum toaster about a month ago and sent it straight to my amazon wish list.

I thought this B & D at target was styled nice too. Kinda like an industrial HP printer, but it’s really cheaply made.

I’m sure it’s lovely.
It’s still intresting that we (include myself) generally find this retro/revival style so appealing for home appliances, no modern kick-ass toaster that you lust over? ( this doesn’t happen with, say, mobile phones)

I didn’t know B&D did toasters , bold move

I have this disaster.

It’s huge and heavy. And it has a 3 prong grounded plug (!), that means it has power. But, it works so I’m not replacing it for another 15 years.

I was shopping for a new toaster for a while, but realized all are so HUGE. Why?! The footprint of those things are 4 times as big as they need to be. And gaudy. I would place the toasters and water boilers in the same category as toothbrushes and razors. They all try way to hard. So I ended up keeping the old toaster I snatched from mom and dad when I moved out… 7 years ago. 15+ y.o. and still works!

It’s this one, only a two toast version. It could be mistaken for an ipod sans the graphic.

It’s actually quite repulsive when viewed like that in the spotlight… I guess I like it cause it’s so undemanding of attention in my kitchen.

for a more modern toaster I like this Rowenta by Jasper Morison or this Siemens by Porsche Design
porsche_toaster.jpg
ToasterThree.jpg

Let’s write a thesis about toasters:

First I bought some very cheap store brand ones. The first one gave up on me after 11 months.
(within the warranty). The next one went 9 months later. These things were too cheaply built as
the connectors in the heating spirals burned through due to frequent use.

So I went and spent 50p on a “vintage” one with stainless steel housing. That was a perfect solution
para me, but the girlfriend complained it was only capable to roast the bread “dark” or “Tijuana”.

If you want to purchase a new one have a look at siemens:

(oops, double post, sorry yo!)

I really like the looks of that second Siemens toaster. I wonder how many people will think it’s a speaker from a distance?

I also hate most contemporary toaster. All so much cheap crap and fake stainless.

I previously had an old chrome toaster from the 50’s that was actually a wedding present for my grandmother’s wedding. bakelite handles, cloth cord and all. The best toaster functionally I’ve ever had. Never burned the bread, toasted evenly, popped up great.

Only gave it up because I couldn’t fit a bagel in. Pic below in the front.


I search for about 3 months before I bought a toaster. I would have got the Porsche one, but I think they don’t make it anymore (at least that I could find).

I came across this DeLonghi and that was it. All real aluminium, crumb tray, pretty slim, but fits bagels and 4 slices. No complaints. Kinda a combo of the best things of the Porsche one and the Morrison one. Think it’s also now discontinued though. Mine I think its longer though than the one in the pic, but could be perspective.

The Bodum one is nice. I saw it the other day.

R

I love the rowenta

Post by ono » Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:10 pm
I love the rowenta

Might be a good toaster but you could rather download the “toast app” from the I-tunes store
to achieve the same result.
Or for the designers there might be the “I-podize radii” function within the next SolidWorks
release…

Don’t know, I haven’t tried it.
Since when does apple own radii? : )

Restraint is not such an easy thing to do, and do well. If it were don’t you think there would be a lot more minimal products given that people love Apple stuff so much?

R

I came on at the end of the project for the KitchenAid toaster that Nurb has deemed a disaster (!?) not sure I understand why
a heavy toaster with a 3 pronged outlet makes it a disaster, but the footprint I can understand is less than desirable which is
why I have and use the Rowenta Jasper Morrisson toaster YO! posted, it uses two quartz elements and the toasting performance is
not so hot, but is really thin and light and easy to get in and out of the cabinet we keep it in. I also have the KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster but due to its size and our lack of counterspace it has been relegated to storage.




My favorite toaster we tested was the longer version of the DeLonghi Aluminum obround one

similar footprint and proportions to the Rowenta (although a little bigger) and such a sleek minimal exterior … SO Nice!
It is also sold as a Kenwood in Europe.

That Black and Decker is a piece of junk, looks okay in images, not as nice in person, and the quality and fit and finish
are just awful. Chances are it wouldn’t last more than a year or two under normal use.

Shortly after we released the afore mentioned KitchenAid model, Delonghi came out with the Esclusivo

I have only ever seen it in images, which are all renderings, but the stance and dynamic chamfers look appealing, can’t speak
to the quality or performance.

Also recently saw this Breville

looks promising

mo-i reminds me of one of my issues with this toaster, not that it’s a box with radii, I like that, but that all the surfacing is G1 continuity only, all the surface tangencies are very visible and make the sides appear to be bowing inward. The crumb drawer on mine is also not in place with the front surface and has some sink marks, things I would not be quite so harsh about if it weren’t a high end $100-150 PLASTIC toaster.

mo-i reminds me of one of my issues with this toaster, not that it’s a box with radii, I like that, but that all the surfacing is G1 continuity only, all the surface tangencies are very visible and make the sides appear to be bowing inward. The crumb drawer on mine is also not in place with the front surface and has some sink marks, things I would not be quite so harsh about if it weren’t a high end $100-150 PLASTIC toaster.

  • Quote IDiot

Unfortunately I got to get ready for a meeting right now. I’ll come back to that this evening and write an essay about how industrial design came full circle when applying “the apple style” to industrial goods.

Simple is never simple, I know, but your client may not.

Regarding legitimacy, It’s worth mentioning that Jasper is as much a contributor/instigator to what you call “apple style” as anybody.

I dont think you guys have this in the states yet but here’s an awesome one from Sunbeam Australia.
Extruded aluminium chassis that has been machined to shape. Clear or black anodized finish.
Awesome.