# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/21 "2018-07-24T14:15:03Z")
I haven’t used a pop-up toaster in 50 years so I went other. At hotels where I have had to use one I usually just toss the bread in any-which-way; no preference. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/22 "2018-07-24T14:17:34Z")
Thread relocated from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/23 "2018-07-24T14:54:12Z")
I’m surprised such a significant percentage of people don’t conform to the unwritten rule. Sometimes it’s good to question the common wisdom. For me it’s not intentionally being contrarian but rather a matter of efficiency; I put the toast in in the most efficient manner depending on the orientation of the slice when I remove it from the wrapper – it is sometimes easier to separate slices from the bottom of the loaf, so, grasping the slice at the bottom, it is most efficient to stick it in the toaster upside-down. Doesn’t seem to have caused me any problems aside from a few funny looks from bystanders now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/24 "2018-07-24T15:21:00Z")
It spends how tall the slice is. Maybe it fits better sideways. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/25 "2018-07-24T15:23:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I have a toaster oven, so there is no “right side up.” +1 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/26 "2018-07-24T15:24:44Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > 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. You butter your bread before it’s toasted? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/27 "2018-07-24T15:47:16Z")
> [@blob](#): > > 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. There’s definitely a top and bottom to most American-style sandwich breads. I mean, [look at a loaf of the stereotypical American sandwich bread](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wonder-bread-full-of-hot-air/). (I also tend to buy sandwich bread with sesame seeds on top, which makes it even that much more obvious, and yet another reason I want the top side to remain on top when toasting.) > [@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. Conversely, I’ve never heard of anyone putting their bread in the toaster sideways. Just google image search “toaster” and, as long as the bread is not perfectly square, the images that come up almost all have the rounded part on top, [like this](https://i03.hsncdn.com/is/image/HomeShoppingNetwork/prodgrid230/kalorik-2-slice-stainless-steel-toaster-d-20130927141621817~298700.jpg). (Though I would call that landscape orientation, as usually bread here in the US is just a bit wider than it is tall.) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/28 "2018-07-24T17:07:46Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > You butter your bread before it’s toasted? :dubious: Now and then I do so as well. It really helps with solid/cold pats and lets it melt in better. Its also good if making a fast-and-dirty kind of garlic bread from leftover rolls. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/29 "2018-07-24T17:53:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > (Though I would call that landscape orientation, as usually bread here in the US is just a bit wider than it is tall.) Actually, I should take that back. Upon checking the breads in the grocery store today, it seems that some brands are indeed that way, and some are a bit taller than wider, and some a bit more square. (Though all seem to have a definitely “rounder” top side and a flat bottom side.) ---
**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 25, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/30 "2018-07-25T00:51:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There’s definitely a top and bottom to most American-style sandwich breads. oh, ok, yes our “supermarket bread” does still have a top. I thought you were talking more about old-fashioned loaves when they had a really high top, not a more subtle “lower” top. [https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/white-tin-vienna-sml/?type=all&page=0&style=&dough=#filter](https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/white-tin-vienna-sml/?type=all&page=0&style=&dough=#filter) Definitely agree with the poppyseed/sesame seed comment, you don’t want all or your lovely seeds falling off into the crumb tray. I think I do put the bread “right-side up” without ever having realised that was what I am doing. I think part of my “what are you talking about?” earlier response is due to my toaster. It is quite a “good one” and it holds the bread upright within the slots and doesn’t let it tip towards one side or the other. It really wouldn’t give you a different result putting the “top” in first. It won’t get caught, and it will still give you an even result on either side however you stick it in there. From the bakery, I tend to get the “block loaf” which is square-ish. Looking at it, it does have a top, but not an obvious one. [https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/chia-omega-3-wholemeal-block-loaf-sml/?type=Breads&page=0&style=&dough=Wholemeal#filter](https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/products/chia-omega-3-wholemeal-block-loaf-sml/?type=Breads&page=0&style=&dough=Wholemeal#filter) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/31 "2018-07-25T01:01:56Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > You butter your bread before it’s toasted? :dubious: This sounds like it should be a proverb, “Never butter your bread before it’s toasted.” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/32 "2018-07-25T01:11:07Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > This sounds like it should be a proverb, “Never butter your bread before it’s toasted.” At least if it is a vertical toaster. Smokes when the butter melts and hits the hot wires. Smoke alarm goes off. Ruins everyone’s breakfast , especially if it is my smoke detector which combines an air raid siren with a robot voiceover which repeats something like Ten Seconds To The Destruction Of Earth (we aren’t sure because we have already escaped out of the nearest doors). ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/33 "2018-07-25T01:42:21Z")
Back in my poorer days, supper sometimes consisted of several slices of toast with peanut butter. To entertain myself, I’d experiment with putting the bread in in every direction. They all worked just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/34 "2018-07-25T02:23:24Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Now and then I do so as well. It really helps with solid/cold pats and lets it melt in better. But then the bread under the oil never actually toasts. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/35 "2018-07-25T02:44:42Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Back in my poorer days, supper sometimes consisted of several slices of toast with peanut butter. To entertain myself, I’d experiment with putting the bread in in every direction. They all worked just fine. This. I just throw bread at the toaster until it goes in the slot. At least that’s how it was before I started running with a toaster oven gang. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/36 "2018-07-25T03:55:16Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > But then the bread under the oil never actually toasts. ☹ I do my toast kinda on the blonde side anyway and the edges of the upper side do tan somewhat before the butter melts and spreads out. YMMV but there are times when that is just what I am looking for. ---
**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 25, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/37 "2018-07-25T04:20:29Z")
I keep my butter in the fridge, so to butter toast, I grab the stick and rub it over the hot toast. Stick gets Five O’clock shadow, and finger dimples. These get obliterated when I run my corn on the cob over the stick later that day. Then the corn has shadow. 😉 ---
**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 25, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434/38 "2018-07-25T14:04:53Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > You butter your bread before it’s toasted? :dubious: Yeah, that’s one of the advantages of a toaster oven. Whatever you put on top (butter, peanut butter, jam, Nutella, cheese, etc) melts and seeps into the bread. And the whole thing is hot, instead of just the bread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-making-toast/818434.md?page=1)