Why the heck are we waiting more than a minute for toast?

[Warpspeed]

A custom home made toaster with multi kilowatts of power should be possible.

A bit of do it yourself initiative, and a toaster that could nuke a slice of bread in seconds would be awesome.

 

[sollap]

Now I'm sorry I got rid of my pottery kiln.

 

[TorC]

I'm not sure a pottery kiln would actually be an optimum choice for the intended endpoint. I suspect, unless you went with direct heat on the floor, you'd find you'd have a crouton by the time it was properly brown. Making the experiment in my wax burnout oven, however, may not be entirely prudent, although the wax is supposed to fully burn off at the 1350°F.

Warpspeed's notion of making a 3kW or so two slice toaster, however, I think has a lot of merit. Cheap ones these days often run 700W or so, while better ones exceed 1kW and are still only OK as they are. As for solar usage, as long as your inverter can take it, it might well actually use less power overall, and give you a nice, crisp outside with a soft, moist inside instead of a crouton. Get a nice, dense array of heater wires and tune them to a nice, bright red hot. You might be able to just rewire the board of an older toaster and let the bimetal strip switch drive a relay to handle the higher power

 

[freedomlives]

220v single phase 50hz is not US 240v split phase 60hz.... Yes, some things can use either, some things will burn up faster, some things go right for a bong hit of that purple magic smoke.

In the case of simple 2 slice toaster, the frequency wouldn't matter. European voltage is 230V, however, just as in the US, this is nominal. Actual voltage can be +/- 6% from the nominal value. Just measured my mains voltage here in Slovakia, and it is 241V.

In setting up a 240V outlet in the USA, I don't believe it would be safe to use the two phases commonly supplied in new kitchens (where half the outlet is on one phase, half on the other) unless you would replace the two circuit breakers with a 240V one that would trip if one phase is overloaded. Then what would be code compliant is a further question. And then there is the question of how GFCI in the kitchen is dealt with. A separate cable pulled to the kitchen for a toaster outlet would be ideal.

Personally, at my mom's house in the US, I have a euro outlet in the garage.

And BTW, the toaster isn't hotter because it's 230V, but because at 230V a 16A circuit can deliver twice so much energy as at 120V.

 

[svetz]

The current average life expectancy is 72.6 years, and we can assume that people do not begin browning toast until they are at least 12.6 years old (60 years to brown toast).
There are 52.1429 weeks/year * 60 years = 3128.574 weeks in this time.
I brown toast about 2–3 times in a week, which comes out to 2.5 toast browning sessions/week * 3128.574 weeks = 7821.435 toast brownings over a lifetime.
I brown my toast for about 4 minutes at a time, so we have 4 minutes/toast browning * 7821.435 toast brownings 31285.74 minutes/60 minutes/hour = 521.42900 hours/24 hours/day = 21.7262083 days/7 days/week = 3.10374404 weeks spent browning toast in a lifetime!...

What I want to know is, how many landed butter side up?

 

[45North]

And BTW, the toaster isn't hotter because it's 230V, but because at 230V a 16A circuit can deliver twice so much energy as at 120V.

A distinction without a difference!

 

[Quattrohead]

What I want to know is, how many landed butter side up?

5 second rule is good with butter, but not with cream cheese ?

 

[svetz]

5 second rule is good with butter, but not with cream cheese ?

Is that carpeting, hardwood, or tile? I think the rule has variations depending on surface doesn't it? Or is it less of a rule and more of a suggestion?

 

[Supervstech]

220v single phase 50hz is not US 240v split phase 60hz.... Yes, some things can use either, some things will burn up faster, some things go right for a bong hit of that purple magic smoke.

Fortunately, since we are discussing resistive heat toasters... it will be fine.

 

[TorC]

Even those with a bit of electronics and an electromagnet hold down it should be fine, given the low power needed there. While I can see a motor not liking the change in spin rate, I can't see a simple magnet coil caring about anything more than the current imparted by RMS voltage. US standard used to be 110/220V anyway.

 

[Supervstech]

In setting up a 240V outlet in the USA, I don't believe it would be safe to use the two phases commonly supplied in new kitchens (where half the outlet is on one phase, half on the other) unless you would replace the two circuit breakers with a 240V one that would trip if one phase is overloaded. Then what would be code compliant is a further question. And then there is the question of how GFCI in the kitchen is dealt with. A separate cable pulled to the kitchen for a toaster outlet would be ideal.

Personally, at my mom's house in the US, I have a euro outlet in the garage.

And BTW, the toaster isn't hotter because it's 230V, but because at 230V a 16A circuit can deliver twice so much energy as at 120V.

Fyi... ANY 2 circuit phases sharing a neutral by code have to be on a paired breaker anyway.

 

[wattmatters]

Why can't we have these back? Sick of those crap dials which never toast any slice the same.

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

Being off-grid, I find a blowtorch to be faster ... and more fun!

Any kind of torch lit with a striker is very satisfying ...

 

[svetz]

Self-driving toaster:

 

[wattmatters]

Being off-grid, I find a blowtorch to be faster ... and more fun!

Paul Hogan (who you might know as Crocodile Dundee) from his 1970s comedy show:

 

[Supervstech]

Why can't we have these back? Sick of those crap dials which never toast any slice the same.

I found one of these in a goodwill for $5 snatched it up fast! They are readily available on eBay around $50 though, and TC has toutorials for repairing the toaster.

 

[hwy17]

Fyi... ANY 2 circuit phases sharing a neutral by code have to be on a paired breaker anyway.

They have to have their handles tied but they don't have to be common trip.

 

[Crowz]

Why can't we have these back? Sick of those crap dials which never toast any slice the same.

I WANTS!!!

Ebay time

 

[hwy17]

I bought a US model Dualit NewGen on the assumption that it should be able to be equally as powerful as a UK Dualit.

They sell a 6 slot toaster there, so 7x 400w plates would be 2.8kw and work on a standard british outlet circuit.

3x 400w plates in my 2 slot could be 1.2kw and would work on a US circuit.

But, british visitors tell me they don't think my toaster's up to snuff.

I worry that the existence of a 4 slot dualit on the US market indicates they have standardized their 120w models around a 350 or 300w plate design.

When I find my kilawatt I will test and update. I will not stand to have slow toast.

 

[Supervstech]

I bought a US model Dualit NewGen on the assumption that it should be able to be equally as powerful as a UK Dualit.

They sell a 6 slot toaster there, so 7x 400w plates would be 2.8kw and work on a standard british outlet circuit.

3x 400w plates in my 2 slot could be 1.2kw and would work on a US circuit.

But, british visitors tell me they don't think my toaster's up to snuff.

I worry that the existence of a 4 slot dualit on the US market indicates they have standardized their 120w models around a 350 or 300w plate design.

When I find my kilawatt I will test and update. I will not stand to have slow toast.

Kitchens in most us homes have 20A circuits, so an 1800W toaster is possible, I install 1800W paninni presses all the time in restaurants…