My guess would be the moisture. A toaster is open, and lets the moisture out.

Maybe a toaster oven would make darker toast if the door were open for a bit of time at the end.

Naw, my toaster oven will do light-brown, medium brown and very dark brown in one cycle (depending on setting). It does the lightwave/halogen thingie, in addition to standard ohmic heating.

There are a couple of variables with the browning of bread in a toaster. Technically, it is called "carmelization". For a given toaster how long it takes the toast to achieve a level of brown depends on the sugar in the bread, as well as the moisture and the mass. Breads like wonder bread will incinerate before a sourdough whole wheat 37 grain bread will even be warmed up.

The other issue is the proximity of the heating elements to the aforementioned bread. Some toasters the elements are "up front and touching", others, like toaster ovens, are too far away to effectivelt brown a bagel without drying it out in the process.

To keep the moisture you want a high heat very close. Think black and blue steak, you won't get that on a medium flame.

When selecting toasters in a store that won't let you do a test run (WTF is up with customer service these days?) check to see how many amps the toaster draws, more should be better.

I am born to eat toast. Right now I have a KitchenAid and it is ok, but not a patch on the asbestos lined beauty I got at a yard sale. That fucker could toast. I mean it could TO-AST. (plus I loved making toast for my chemically pure MIL when she came to visit. That was second only to making pie crusts with lard, which she thought was awful, and telling her it was manteca, which she raved about how wonderful it tasted. Hey, there'll be lots of toast in hell, join me!)

I'm headed for that hot place anyway, very pleased to hear there is toast there!

I'll get a shot of my toaster later today...9$ (8.99) at the local 'Freds' (discount sorta-kinda place) one lever, one knob.. does the job and at that price! although.. it's really only good for toasting bread and the occasional bagel/english muffin.. as to durability? I dunno only had it a year so far.

I've lasted for 24 years and counting.

Didn't see this thread before I signed up, I've been lurking for a while and decided to join. Funny, I've rarely viewed this category and this was at the top today.

Wolf...remember this?

My toaster is in the attached picture on the right...it rules!

Do you still have the old toaster? (edit: just read the thread & saw that it was fixed, but it's a general solicitation...)

I want a push-down pop-up style, 2-slice toaster, ideally chrome exterior but I'm not going to be picky for a project I'm considering. It doesn't need to work (I hope to salvage the switching mechanism, but that's about it).

I'll pay postage if anybody has one they want to donate. Could probably write it off as a charity donation (art student.)

I'd recommend Goodwill, they always have plenty of old-style appliances for under $10.

Or you could just buy a new one at Kmart or Wal-Mart for $10...that's how much my last toaster was. A White-Westinghouse...had it and used it semi-regularly for 5 years. Only got rid of it because I didn't need it anymore after I moved home. I know college kids don't have a lot of scratch, but still...

I had no idea that Bhuddist meditation had such power!

It's something that's not talked about much...spontaneous combustion by Buddhists...fuck! Said too much...

Im in ur toaster, reportin' to Bush. :eyeball: :eyeball:

My toaster, the one with least features I could find, has a blue light on the front that never goes off. I have to fucking unplug it because it bothers me so much - I only use it maybe once a day at the most, it doesn't need a fucking blue light constantly announcing whatever bullshit it thinks I need to know! Fucking toasters. Like everything else, built to break.

It's gotten into your fucking head, man!