From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Toaster
Toaster
serious fire hazard. Meanwhile electricity was not readily
available, and when it was, mostly only at night. The first
US patent application for an electric toaster was filed
by George Schneider of the American Electrical Heater
Company of Detroit. AEH’s proximity to Hoskins Manu-
facturing and the fact that the patent was filed only two
months after the Marsh patents suggests collaboration
and that the device was to use chromel wiring.[2] One of
the first applications the Hoskins company had consid-
ered for chromel was toasters, but eventually abandoned
such efforts to focus on making just the wire itself.[3]
A classically styled chrome two-slot automatic electric toaster.
The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance
designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typ-
ical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between
600 and 1200 W (watt) and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes.
There are also non-electrical toasters that can be used to
toast bread products over an open fire or flame.
History
General Electric Model D-12 toaster, from 1910s
Before the pop-up toaster
At least two other brands of toasters had been in-
Before the development of the electric toaster, sliced troduced commercially around the time General Electric
bread was toasted by placing it in a metal frame and hold- submitted their first patent application in 1909 for one,
ing it over a fire or by holding it near to a fire using a the GE model D-12, designed by technician Frank Shailor,
long-handled fork or under the grill of a kitchen cooker. "the first commercially successful electric toaster".[2][5]
Simple utensils for toasting bread over open flames go In 1913, Lloyd Groff Copeman and his wife Hazel Berg-
back at least 200 years, and earlier people simply speared er Copeman applied for various toaster patents and in
bread with a stick, sword or knife and held it over a fire. that same year the Copeman Electric Stove Company in-
In 1905, Irishman Connor Neeson (1877–1944) of troduced the toaster with automatic bread turner.[6] The
Detroit, Michigan, and his employer, American chemist, company also produced the "toaster that turns toast."
electrical engineer, inventor and entrepreneur William Before this, electric toasters cooked bread on one side
Hoskins (1862–1934) of Chicago, Illinois, invented (and in and then it was flipped by hand to toast the other side.
1906 patented) chromel (later and still today marketed as Copeman’s toaster turned the bread around without hav-
nichrome), an alloy from which could be made the first ing to touch it.[7] Copeman also invented the first electric
high-resistance wire of the sort used in all early electric stove and the rubber (flexible) ice cube tray.[6]
heating appliances (and many modern ones).[1][2][3][4] The next development was the semi-automatic toast-
The first electric bread toaster was created by Maddy er, which turned off the heating element automatically
Kennedy in 1872. In 1893, Crompton, Stephen J. Cook after the bread toasted, using either a clockwork mech-
& Company of the UK marketed an electric, iron-wired anism or a bimetallic strip. However, the toast was still
toasting appliance called the Eclipse. Early attempts at manually lowered and raised from the toaster via a lever
producing electrical appliances using iron wiring were mechanism.
unsuccessful, because the wiring was easily melted and a
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Toaster
Advent of the pop-up toaster toast was re-inserted into the toaster, it would only be re-
heated.
The automatic pop-up toaster, which ejects the toast af-
As in most such toasters, one sensing unit controls
ter toasting it, was first patented by Charles Strite in
the toasting of two (or four) slices, so the slot with the
1919.[8] In 1925, using a redesigned version of Strite’s
sensor is marked "ONE SLICE" because operating the
toaster, the Waters Genter Company introduced the
toaster without bread in that slot will result in almost im-
Model 1-A-1 Toastmaster,[9] the first automatic pop-up,
mediate shut-off as the heat from the heating element
household toaster that could brown bread on both sides
impinges directly on the sensor. On these Sunbeam mod-
simultaneously, set the heating element on a timer, and
els, the trip wire was only in one slot, so if bread was in-
eject the toast when finished.
serted in the wrong slot, the toaster simply would not
Meanwhile, the first machine-sliced and machine-
turn on.
wrapped loaf of bread was sold on July 7, 1928, using
Many of these Sunbeams models are still in service,
Otto Frederick Rohwedder’s technology. In 1930 the Con-
some over 60 years old, and being used every day. They
tinental Baking Company introduced pre-sliced Wonder
are easily repaired, and apart from physical damage and
Bread.
heating-element failures, most repairs consist of only
cleaning and minor adjustments. There is a secondary
Later 20th century and beyond market for refurbished units that ranges into the hun-
dreds of dollars.
Significant ultramodern chrome designs were the
Sunbeam T-9 "Half-Round" or "World’s Fair" toaster, de-
signed by George Scharfenberg and Bartek Pociecha, and
the General Electric 139T81, produced in quantity from
1946.[10] Automatic electric toasters were very much a
luxury item, with the better models costing up to $25 in
1939 (approximately $360 in 2006 dollars). Most toasters
produced from the late 1930s through 1960 are generally
considered to be of the highest standard in workmanship
and material quality; many were built well enough to last
for decades. Due to their aesthetic popularity, some of
the classic toaster designs from the 1940s and 1950s are
now being reintroduced into the market, though these
reproductions for the most part are not constructed to
A Toastmaster-brand toaster the high standard of the original designs.
More newer additions to toaster technology include
By the middle of the 20th century, some high-end U.S. wider toasting slots for bagels and thick breads, the abili-
toasters featured automatic toast lowering and raising, ty to toast frozen breads, and a single-side heating mode.
with no levers to operate - simply dropping the slices Most toasters can also be used to toast other foods such
into the machine commenced the toasting procedure. A as teacakes, Pop Tarts, and crumpets, though the addi-
notable example was the Sunbeam T-20, T-35 and T-50 tion of melted butter and/or sugar to the interior compo-
models (identical except for details such as control po- nents of automatic electric toasters often contributes to
sitioning) made from the late 1940s through the 1960s, eventual mechanical or electrical failure.
which used the mechanically multiplied thermal expan- Some toasters can be modified to print images and lo-
sion of the resistance wire in the center element assem- gos on bread slices.
bly to lower the bread; the inserted slice of bread tripped
a lever to switch on the power which immediately caused
the heating element to begin expanding thus lowering
Types
the bread. When the toast was done, as determined by Modern toasters are typically one of three varieties: pop-
a small bimetallic sensor actuated by the heat passing up toasters, ovens, and conveyors.
through the toast, the heaters were shut off and the pull-
down mechanism returned to its room-temperature po- Pop-up toasters
sition, slowly raising the finished toast. This sensing of In pop-up or automatic toasters, bread slices are inserted
the heat passing through the toast, meant that regardless vertically into the slots (generally only large enough to
of the color of the bread (white or wholemeal) and the admit a single slice of bread) on the top of the toaster.
initial temperature of the bread (even frozen), the bread A lever on the side of the toaster is depressed, activating
would always be toasted to the same degree. If a piece of the toaster. When an internal device determines that the
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Toaster
Toaster with an Edison screw fitting, ca. 1909
Toaster oven (Japan)
toasting cycle is complete, the toaster turns off and the
toast pops up out of the slots. The heating elements of a Most toaster ovens are significantly larger than toasters,
pop-up toaster are usually oriented vertically, parallel to but are capable of performing most of the functions of
the bread slice - although there are some variations. electric ovens, albeit on a much smaller scale. They can
In earlier days, the completion of the toasting oper- be used to cook toast with toppings, like garlic bread
ation was determined by a mechanical clockwork timer; or cheese, though they tend to produce drier toast and
the user could adjust the running time of the timer to require longer operating times, since their heating ele-
determine the degree of "doneness" of the toast, but the ments are located farther from the toast (to allow larger
first cycle produced less toasted toast than subsequent items to be cooked). They may also heat less evenly than
cycles because the toaster was not yet warmed up. Toast- either toasters or larger electric ovens, and some glass
ers made since the 1930s frequently use a thermal sensor, cookware cannot be used in them.
such as a bimetallic strip, located close to the toast. This
allows the first cycle to run longer than subsequent cy- Conveyor toasters
cles. The thermal device is also slightly responsive to the
Conveyor toasters are designed to make many slices of
actual temperature of the toast itself. Like the timer, it
toast and are generally used in the catering industry, be-
can be adjusted by the user to determine the "doneness"
ing suitable for large-scale use. Bread is toasted 350-900
of the toast.
slices an hour, making conveyor toasters ideal for a large
There are in fact two possible methods of adjusting
restaurant that is constantly busy with growing demand.
the heat that is applied to toast. The first is the method
However, such devices have occasionally been produced
most commonly observed in modern toasters, namely
for home use as far back as 1938, when the Toast-O-Lator
that of fixed distance and either variable time or a heat sen-
went into limited production.
sor. The second, less often seen, is to vary the distance of the
heaters from the toast, with or without other features.
Although a sensor will accurately measure the tempera- High-tech toasters
ture of the toast-slice’s surface with both methods, the
outcomes are by no means the same. When heaters are
closer to the toast, the surface is crisp and darkened
quickly, leaving a softer internal texture at the time
when the temperature sensor asserts its readiness. Many
enjoy toast made like this. With increased heater dis-
tance, the inside of the toast is dried out more by the time
that the surface is deemed ready. Perhaps owing to the
increased complexity, variable heater distance is rarely
found.
Toaster ovens
Toaster ovens are small electric ovens with a front door,
wire rack and removable baking pan. To toast bread with
a toaster oven, slices of bread are placed horizontally on Glowing filaments of a modern 4-slice toaster
the rack. When the toast is done, the toaster turns off,
but in most cases the door must be opened manually.
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Toaster
There have been a number of projects adding advanced Express. http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/
technology to toasters. view/92299. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
In 1990, Simon Hackett and John Romkey created The [6] ^ Copeman, Kent L.. "Lloyd Groff Copeman".
Internet Toaster, a toaster which could be controlled LloydCopeman.com.
from the Internet.[11] http://www.lloydcopeman.com/biography/
In 2001, Robin Southgate from Brunel University in bio3.html. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
England created a toaster that could toast a graphic of [7] "Lloyd Groff Copeman: The Patent Man". Absolute
the weather prediction (limited to sunny or cloudy) onto Michigan. Leelanau Communications, Inc. May 5,
a piece of bread.[12] The toaster dials a pre-coded phone 2006. http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/
number to get the weather forecast.[13] michigan/lloyd-groff-copeman-the-patent-man/.
In 2005, Technologic Systems, a vendor of embedded Retrieved October 18, 2011.
systems hardware, designed a toaster running the [8] http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat1394450.pdf
NetBSD Unix-like operating system as a sales demonstra- [9] "Toastmaster Toasters: When They Were Made".
tion system.[14] Toaster Museum Foundation.
http://www.toaster.org/tmaster_when.html.
Alternative uses Retrieved October 19, 2011.
[10] Norcross, Eric. "The Cyber Toaster Museum".
Toasters can be used to defrost frozen food, like fish Toaster Museum Foundation.
sticks and potato waffles. http://www.toaster.org/museum.html. Retrieved
With permanent modifications a toaster oven can be October 18, 2011.
used as a reflow oven for the purpose of soldering elec- [11] "savetz.com". Internet Toaster, John Romkey, Simon
tronic components to circuit boards.[15][16] Hackett. http://www.savetz.com/yic/
In 2002, a product called ToastaBags was released.[17] YIC11FI_6.html. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
It is a re-usable, washable heat resistant plastic bag that [12] "A small slice of design". BBC News. 2001-04-06.
allows one to cook other products in a toaster, including http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1264205.stm.
toasted sandwiches to scrambled eggs. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
[13] Orlowski, Andrew (June 4, 2001). "Bread as a
See also display device – we have pictures". The Register.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/04/
• Sandwich toaster bread_as_a_display_device/. Retrieved October 19,
2011.
References [14] "NetBSD Toaster with the TS-7200 ARM9 SBC".
Technologic Systems.
[1] U.S. Patent 811,859 http://www.embeddedarm.com/software/arm-
[2] ^ Norcross, Eric (2006). "The Cyber Toaster netbsd-toaster.php. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
Museum". Toaster.org. The Toaster Museum [15] Kraft, Caleb (October 22, 2008). "Reflowing with a
Foundation. pp. section "1900–1920". toaster". Hack a Day. http://hackaday.com/2008/
http://www.toaster.org/museum.html. Retrieved 10/22/reflowing-with-a-toaster/. Retrieved
2008-08-16. October 19, 2011.
[3] ^ George, William F. (2003). Antique Electric Waffle [16] "Honorable Mention". DesignStellaris2006.
Irons 1900-1960: A History of the Appliance Industry in http://www.circuitcellar.com/designstellaris2006/
20th Century America. Trafford Publishing. p. 20. winners/1785.html. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
ISBN 155395632X. http://books.google.com/ [17] "Toasted sarnies enter the space age". Food Trade
?id=SzdrtFSFG6IC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=%22William+Hoskins%22+high-
Review (Gale Group). December 2002.
resistance+wire+electric+heating. Retrieved ISSN 0015-6671. http://www.entrepreneur.com/
2008-08-16. tradejournals/article/98247866.html. Retrieved
[4] Clark, Neil M. (May 1927). "The World’s Most Tragic 2011-05-11.
Man Is the One Who Never Starts". The American.
http://www.toaster.org/hoskins_tragic.html.
Retrieved 2007-02-24. ; republished in hotwire: The External links
Newsletter of the Toaster Museum Foundation, vol. 3, • The Toaster Museum: A detailed site devoted
no. 3, online edition. entirely to toasters and their history
[5] Dana Gloger (2009-03-31). "A Toast to the Toaster... • The International Central Services Toaster Museum
100 Years Old and Still Going Strong". Daily • Toaster at HowStuffWorks
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toaster&oldid=473412979"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Toaster
Categories:
• Cooking appliances
• 1919 introductions
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