# What in bread determines how quickly it toasts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945 "2005-02-08T04:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/1 "2005-02-08T04:14:16Z")
Yesterday, I was making some open-face sandwiches for my wife and myself. She wanted hers on Orowheat, a nationwide brand. I made mine on a slice of potato bread from a small(ish) local bakery. I toasted her bread first. With the toaster dial 2/3 of the way to fully brown, her bread ended up quite brown. I toasted my slice second. At the same setting, with an already warm toaster, my slice had barely started to brown when the timer went off. So my question: what made her bread toast so much more readily than mine? My slice of bread was slightly thicker, so that may account for some of the difference – more mass. But I don’t really know. Are there preservatives in Orowheat that help bread brown? Is it just the thickness? Is there something else at work here? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/2 "2005-02-08T04:23:08Z")
In my experience density and moisture content. Lightweight corporate breads like Wonder Bread and it’s ilk will toast very easily, while the dense, nutty breads from lesbian socialist cooperatives may require extended times to be properly browned. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/3 "2005-02-08T04:28:39Z")
Aye. Don’t forget sugar content. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/4 "2005-02-08T04:32:48Z")
I think the amount of gluten is a factor as well. I know sour dough bread toasts poorly. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/5 "2005-02-08T04:42:23Z")
Many toasters manage time via a bimetallic element. Unless the element was allowed to fully cool to room temperature after the first cycle, a succeeding cycle would naturally be shorter. Other than that, it’s sugar, lesbians, and gluten. That reminds me of a movie that I won’t discuss here ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/6 "2005-02-08T05:37:26Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Many toasters manage time via a bimetallic element. Unless the element was allowed to fully cool to room temperature after the first cycle, a succeeding cycle would naturally be shorter. > > Other than that, it’s sugar, lesbians, and gluten. > > That reminds me of a movie that I won’t discuss here And albido. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/7 "2005-02-08T06:48:54Z")
[The Maillard, or browning, reaction:](http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:bcGjYM2Z4owJ:devacaf.caes.uga.edu/main/lessonPlan/physChemChangeInFoodPlan.pdf++toast+%22Maillard+reaction+%22+site:.edu&hl=en&client=firefox-a) > [@](#): > > Toasting is a chemical change caused by Maillard, or nonenzymatic, browning. During the Maillard reaction, the aldehyde group of a sugar molecule reacts with the amine group of an amino acid or protein molecule, leading to the formation of brown polymers and highly flavored chemicals. In addition to bread, the Maillard reaction is responsible for the color and flavor of many carbohydrate- and protein-rich foods, including onions and grilled and roasted meats. The same reaction between sugars and amines is involved in the [formation of cataracts](http://faculty.smu.edu/svik/5310/projects2001/Glycation.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fromage_A_Trois)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/8 "2005-02-08T10:19:53Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [The Maillard, or browning, reaction:](http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:bcGjYM2Z4owJ:devacaf.caes.uga.edu/main/lessonPlan/physChemChangeInFoodPlan.pdf++toast+%22Maillard+reaction+%22+site:.edu&hl=en&client=firefox-a) The same reaction between sugars and amines is involved in the [formation of cataracts](http://faculty.smu.edu/svik/5310/projects2001/Glycation.html) All bread packaging should contain a warning - **Toast makes you BLIND!** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/9 "2005-02-08T10:41:41Z")
> [@bras0978](#): > > All bread packaging should contain a warning - **Toast makes you BLIND!** > 😉 The maillard reaction is also responsible for dozens of deaths in America: [How does molasses kill people?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259205) **Toast KILLS _and_ makes you BLIND.** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/10 "2005-02-08T11:13:52Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I think the amount of gluten is a factor as well. I know sour dough bread toasts poorly. Is the gluten content of sour dough really lower than conventional yest dough? Admittedly sour dough is often made with some rye mixed in (which would lower the gluten content) but that’s not necessarily unique to sour dough bread. Or does the lower pH somehow deteriorate the gluten? That would be news to me. Personally I think that water, sugar content and albedo most important factors, but I haven’t made any detailed experiments. I don’t think sexual orientation has any major impact, although there is an interresting histrical parallell. **Archestratus** remarked in the 4th century BC that the barley bread of Lesbos was or unsurpassed whiteness. Of course this would make it slower toasting, but I’m not sure if it’s the same mechanism as in **astro** s bakery. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/11 "2005-02-08T12:02:55Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > Personally I think that water, sugar content and **albedo** most important factors, but I haven’t made any detailed experiments. > > I don’t think sexual orientation has any major impact, although there is an interresting histrical parallell. **Archestratus** remarked in the 4th century BC that the barley bread of Lesbos was or unsurpassed whiteness. Of course this would make it slower toasting, but I’m not sure if it’s the same mechanism as in **astro** s bakery. No, no, it’s not albedo, it’s _libido_ that’s the important factor. (Although I suspect that **Antechinus** already did this joke) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-bread-determines-how-quickly-it-toasts/288945/12 "2005-02-08T17:17:38Z")
> [@Desmostylus](#): > > No, no, it’s not albedo, it’s _libido_ that’s the important factor. But what about albumen?