# Toaster Settings **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596 "2003-10-10T01:58:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/1 "2003-10-10T01:58:29Z")
Does any body use or know someone who uses the “10” setting or “high” setting for toast? i keep mine strictly b/w 2 and 3 and i love it. i can’t see how anybody could consume bread burnt to that magnitude.;j ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/2 "2003-10-10T02:31:02Z")
I do, but that’s because my toaster is ancient and crappy. If I put it on the 2 or 3 setting, it pops within 15 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/3 "2003-10-10T02:53:31Z")
My toaster goes to 11 !! ---
**Author:** ![lucky\_henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/4 "2003-10-10T02:55:59Z")
I use the highest setting for frozen waffles. ---
**Author:** ![Geoduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c37758/32.png) [@Geoduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geoduck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/5 "2003-10-10T03:24:37Z")
I use the highest setting too, but only for Trader Joe’s wonderously named Disraeli and Gladstone British muffins. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/6 "2003-10-10T04:49:03Z")
I do. The office toaster will burn a bagel on 3/4ths of the way up. But to get my english muffins lightly toasted (so that the tops are crispy and not soft) it needs to go through on high - twice. It’s very odd. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/7 "2003-10-10T05:01:03Z")
Frozen wholegrain bread (vogels for you kiwis) needs a full blast and a half on the highest setting. I generally leave it sitting on about 3/4 ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/8 "2003-10-10T15:26:11Z")
I use the highest for waffles and English Muffins. ---
**Author:** ![superstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@superstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superstar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/9 "2003-10-10T22:33:13Z")
Lightly toasted (no#3 setting) is my preference! Otherwise I feel like I’m eating dirt if it’s too brown. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/10 "2003-10-11T01:29:57Z")
[Eddie Izzard] Toasters…they have a turnybutton-thing…called a…uh…turny button thing. And it lies to us. Oh yes, it lies to us! For you see, you put in your toast at 4, and it pops up, and…3 toast! 3 toast, surely, hardly done! So you crank it up to 5, and try again, and it comes out black, 6 toast! Not 5, but 6 toast! No good, throw it in the bin! [/Eddie Izzard] ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/11 "2003-10-11T04:26:56Z")
Nassty toasterses. They lies to us. Yess they lies to us. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/12 "2003-10-11T04:34:40Z")
My toaster is cranked up all the way on high just to get that “golden brown” that I love. From the posters here, it looks like there isn’t a great deal of consistency between toaster controls. [pondering] You know, they always said the American government would be overturned without ever firing a shot… [/pondering] ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/13 "2003-10-11T04:52:21Z")
I keep mine at 1 and it’s STILL too dark. Dang overactive toaster. MSUbulldogs101 - that’s where I went to school from 2001 to 2002! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/14 "2003-10-11T15:13:34Z")
It’s an interesting question and something I never really understood. How much rocket science engineering does it really take to produce something that consistently toasts bread reliably over it’s operational lifetime. Many toasters I have owned, even when new, would seem to get “confused” and throw the bread out half done sometimes. Even if you set the control at a specific point the results were highly variable. Attempts to push to toast down again would be met with resistance until the toaster had completed some internal meditation of a minute or so. It would refuse to lock the lowered bread in position, and the bread would spring back up. And it’s not like the damn thing was overheating, the bread was only halfway done! Why are home toasters POS so much more often than practically any other kitchen applicance. Does it really take advanced engineering to get a decent toaster? Sometimes I just give up and use the toaster oven, which is more reliable but takes longer. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toaster-settings/206596/15 "2003-10-13T08:14:31Z")
They are made cheap. They are mass produced out of stamped steel. They have minimal circuitry and are not at all robust. If you can, compare yours with a model that is 20 years old or more. There will be a difference in weight, and the older one will be far moire reliable. If you have ever tried to repair a new model, you know what I am talking about. Modern toasters are mass produced to get maximum profit and are designed to be replaced when they don’t work. (Again to maximise profit.) Small wonder they are inconsistent ind temporamental.