# On making toast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434 "2018-07-23T14:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/1 "2018-07-23T14:53:48Z")
Do you make it a point to put bread into the toaster right-side up? Talking about standard sandwich bread in a standard pop-up toaster, not unusual shapes of bread or toaster ovens, etc. I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/2 "2018-07-23T15:07:37Z")
Not so much making a point of putting it in the toaster “right side up”, but more so that I generally take the bread out of the package in that orientation and don’t rotate it before it goes in the toaster. The package is oriented in that fashion because, in general, sandwich bread is flat on the bottom and rounded on the top. Flat side down is a more stable storage orientation. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/3 "2018-07-23T15:40:55Z")
I have a toaster oven, so there is no “right side up.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/4 "2018-07-23T15:57:14Z")
I put it in right-side up because–it’s the \*right \*side. Why would you do it wrong-side up if you know it’s _wrong_? Actually I have never thought about it and it doesn’t matter which way you put it in, but I have just always put it in the same orientation it is packaged. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/5 "2018-07-23T16:01:24Z")
I just don’t care. I don’t like doing any kind of breakfast cooking. I will if I am asked nicely. But I’d rather sleep thru. See you at brunch! ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/6 "2018-07-23T16:12:01Z")
Perhaps my experience is unusual, but I have indeed had a piece of bread or two lean to one side and get caught when I put it top (round side) down. The only reason I did this was that the young lady I was with told me that it was easier to grab the toast with the bottom (square side) up. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/7 "2018-07-23T16:12:30Z")
I usually make toast in the oven but with a toaster I’d tend to put the bread in right side up. The bottom of the bread is likely to be somewhat square instead of the traditional loaf top shape so it would more likely to sit right in the toaster and not get stuck on anything, but that is probably a needless concern. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/8 "2018-07-23T17:43:27Z")
When I had a vertical toaster, I’d put it in so the strongest edge was at the top. Sometimes that’d be the top side, sometimes the bottom, sometimes the right, and sometimes the left. It all depends on the particular loaf. We now have a toaster oven, and put the side up that has the butter or jam or whatever, and the dry side down. It’s too messy the other way. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/9 "2018-07-24T03:11:03Z")
I put it in sideways. Don’t know why, just a habit. Maybe I used to think it was less likely to get stuck in the toaster that way, or maybe I just heard somewhere that it was a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/10 "2018-07-24T04:06:48Z")
The domed top sticks up over the edge making it easier to grab after the toaster pops back up. If you put it in dome side down, then the weight of the bread just smooshes the dome and the toast barely reaches the top. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/11 "2018-07-24T04:23:32Z")
If you put it in with the curved side down, it can rock back and forth. And that’s just chaos. The world needs less chaos, not more. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/12 "2018-07-24T04:49:10Z")
I don’t toast much toast. I expect I’d put it in right side up without thinking about it. I do, however, always put the two halves of an English Muffin or bagel facing each other in adjacent slots. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/13 "2018-07-24T05:10:07Z")
I put bread right-side-up into a toaster so automatically that I had never even thought about the possibility of doing it some other way prior to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/14 "2018-07-24T05:26:03Z")
Has to be right-side up or all the seeds and grain pieces will fall off. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/15 "2018-07-24T06:36:17Z")
you can get “normal” bread that has the domed top from the bakeries, but sandwich bread from the supermarket, and most loaves from the bakery chains are square/rectangular. There is no “top” and you can stick them in any old way you want. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/16 "2018-07-24T07:38:27Z")
What? Bread goes in the toaster on its side, landscape style. I didn’t even know people put bread in the toaster in portrait orientation. The things I learn here… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/17 "2018-07-24T08:49:22Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > If you put it in with the curved side down, it can rock back and forth. And that’s just chaos. The world needs less chaos, not more. Exactly! Structural integrity is everything. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/18 "2018-07-24T12:41:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What? Bread goes in the toaster on its side, landscape style. I didn’t even know people put bread in the toaster in portrait orientation. I know. “Right side up”? What does that really mean? You don’t want the “dome” part on top since it won’t get toasted. “Dome” down is even worse as the bread shifts and you can end up with a bigger corner sticking up. So sideways it is. Clearly the right side, except there’s two of them. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/19 "2018-07-24T12:44:29Z")
Some bread is too tall to fit any other way but right-side up, doubly so if it has the rounded top. Most bread I get nowadays is quite square, though, and I am not sure if it’s clear what the top side is much of the time. I haven’t used a toaster in about five years. I use my sandwich press. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/20 "2018-07-24T13:19:58Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I put it in right-side up because–it’s the \*right \*side. Why would you do it wrong-side up if you know it’s _wrong_? So much truth, right there in black and white. > [@Alessan](#): > > Exactly! Structural integrity is everything. And try to impart this wisdom on the younger generation and all you receive back is blank, vapid stares. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434.md?page=2)