# Is it really dangerous to stick a knife in a toaster? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350 "2017-04-27T11:43:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/41 "2017-04-28T00:51:56Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > So it’s okay to use wood as a tool to remove toast from a toaster? > > I use a bamboo skewer that I keep next to the toaster. My husband says bamboo was used as the first filament in light bulbs and ought to conduct electricity very efficiently, so it’s just as dangerous to use as metal. If you’re at all skillful with them, the cheap disposable bamboo chopsticks work very nicely. You’re not trying to stab the bread or lever it out as you would with a single sewer. Instead you’re grasping the two sides of the bread with the chopsticks and lifting it out. Give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/42 "2017-04-28T01:57:01Z")
My 40-dollar toaster has a nice countdown timer (why don’t all toasters have this?). It has a polarised plug. But it doesn’t lift the toast high enough for me to pull them out. \ Sometimes I hold up the lever with one hand (to make sure it doesn’t turn on) and, with my other hand, carefully skewer the toast with a butter knife, vertically, as if I were slicing a bagel, then extract the knife with the toast attached. I don’t touch the sides. \ ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/43 "2017-04-28T05:19:15Z")
Same as **Heracles** mine doesn’t live the toast high enough. The level has a little play to it (always been this way) so I push it down slightly (not turning it on) and slap it upwards quickly while using the index finger and thumb of my other had in a pinching motion to grab the toast as it slides upward for a split second, been doing it for years with this toaster and I refuse to get a new one since in my experience most toasters only have two settings; bread or charcoal. The setting dial on this one actually works (perfect golden toast on setting 2), but its a trade off with no being able to get the f— toast out of it. If anyone has a suggestion for a toaster that does both, i’m all ears…or rather eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/44 "2017-04-28T09:02:08Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Investigation 2 > Great Grandmothers huge shining chrome piece of art deco disguised as a toaster. > Yes, it still works and is bad assed at making proper toast. Had one of those when I was a kid. We had to get rid of it when it started electrocuting us. I’m guessing there were a loose wire somewhere that was making the metal outer casing (electrically) hot. Heckuva shock, as I recall. > [@anomalous1](#): > > Same as **Heracles** mine doesn’t live the toast high enough. The level has a little play to it (always been this way) so I push it down slightly (not turning it on) and slap it upwards quickly while using the index finger and thumb of my other had in a pinching motion to grab the toast as it slides upward for a split second, been doing it for years with this toaster and I refuse to get a new one since in my experience most toasters only have two settings; bread or charcoal. The setting dial on this one actually works (perfect golden toast on setting 2), but its a trade off with no being able to get the f— toast out of it. > > If anyone has a suggestion for a toaster that does both, i’m all ears…or rather eyes. My Tefal toaster has a function where if you turn the lever the opposite way after it’s popped up it lifts the toast up much further for easy extraction. Very handy. I also have wooden toast tongs. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/45 "2017-04-28T11:29:46Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Unless the toaster is turned on and operating, in which case the heating element is obviously connected to the hot side. An excellent point. My post was from the point of view that the toaster had kicked off. Someone might be trying to get the toast out while it is on. E.g., the toaster had popped but in the process of retrieving the toast it gets pushed in enough to start back up while the knife is in it. ZZZap. Like accidents in general, and electrical ones in particular, it comes down to a chain of errors. The toast doesn’t pop up, a knife is put in, the toaster comes on again, ground is touched. People assume that the other steps in the chain won’t happen so it’s okay to be sloppy on one point. Nope. Just unplug the thing. BTW: plastic tongs are also good from an insulation standpoint. But they might deform due to heat unless you get ones that can take it. Amazon search for “high heat plastic tongs” reveals several for around ~$11 (or 12 for $16!). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/46 "2017-04-28T14:57:17Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > Same as **Heracles** mine doesn’t live the toast high enough. The level has a little play to it (always been this way) so I push it down slightly (not turning it on) and slap it upwards quickly while using the index finger and thumb of my other had in a pinching motion to grab the toast as it slides upward for a split second, been doing it for years with this toaster and I refuse to get a new one since in my experience most toasters only have two settings; bread or charcoal. The setting dial on this one actually works (perfect golden toast on setting 2), but its a trade off with no being able to get the f— toast out of it. > > If anyone has a suggestion for a toaster that does both, i’m all ears…or rather eyes. I have one of these: [https://www.amazon.com/Oster-TSSTTR6330-NP-Slice-Toaster-Stainless/dp/B00NZIQLMU](https://www.amazon.com/Oster-TSSTTR6330-NP-Slice-Toaster-Stainless/dp/B00NZIQLMU). I think I bought it at Target within the last 2 years. The range of settings goes from defrost to gently warm to thoroughly incinerate. The range and repeatability is very good; it’s not one or the other extreme with no middle ground. The slots are wide enough to accommodate full sized deli/bakery bagels, not just the miniature factory crap bagels sold in the freezer case at the grocery store. Best of all: If you look at the picture you can see the slot where the lever comes out has some extra room at the top. That’s on purpose. After the toast is done, you slide the lever upwards about 3/4" of an inch and now the top of the toast is sticking well out of the slot and is easy to grab with fingers or tongs. Ref my earlier post about chopsticks I only need to use those to retrieve small baguette slices. Any ordinary bread or bagel sticks up enough to easily use fingers. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350/47 "2017-04-28T16:54:42Z")
I have also gotten shocked by a toaster, although not from sticking a knife in it, because it had a short in it. I was in bare feet and wet at the time, since this was a toaster in the snack area of a dive shop and I had just come back in from scuba diving. The guys there laughed and showed me how to hold the toaster so it wouldn’t shock me. Not fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-dangerous-to-stick-a-knife-in-a-toaster/785350.md?page=2)