Here Is Why Your Toasters Toast Unevenly (Solved)

Many times, due to ignorance or lack of knowledge of proper usage, your toasters may not function properly. So, if you want to know why your toasters toast unevenly, read this article.

Basically, if you use stale, dry bread or your toaster levers are not functioning correctly, or you are using bigger-sized slices of bread, or even if you are cooking something in there, your toasters may fail to work correctly. Ultimately, the bread starts to toast unevenly!

Nonetheless, there are a lot of other factors that come into play when your toasters start to malfunction. Subconsciously or consciously, you may be using the toaster the wrong way. So, you need to know how to troubleshoot these problems. So, if you’re curious about why your toasters toast unevenly, keep reading.

Are You Using Your Toaster The Wrong Way?

Often, you may be maltreating your toaster without even realizing it. Certain bad habits indicate misusing the toaster, which eventually leads to malfunctions!

Toasters are delicate electrical appliances that should be taken care of. Many people tend to have a lot of bad habits, like not cleaning the crumb tray, excessively heating toast, and ending up with burnt toast every time. The worst is even cooking in the toaster! Here, I would like to discuss a few of these wrong uses of toasters that could yield unevenly heated toasts.

Not Cleaning Your Toaster Properly

To be fair, toasters came into use to replace the old conventional method of heating buns and toasts in the pan. Although it would yield properly and evenly done toasts, it consumed a lot of time and was quite bothersome. But with toasters, you just need a minute or two, and then you get your toast ready out of thin air!

But in haste, if you forget to clean your toaster, the crumbs will accumulate at the bottom and ultimately affect the heating capacity of your toaster. In fact, many toasters have a slide-in crumb tray, so you can easily take it out and clean the tray regularly.

However, it may not just be crumbs that may be clogging the heating panels of your toaster. Sometimes oily deposits get stuck with crumbs, which can yield black, greasy, or sticky residues on the crumb tray or heating bars. It can cause malfunctions as the toaster cannot heat the loaves of bread evenly in this condition.

You Are Burning Your Toasts Everyday

Whether knowingly or unknowingly, you may be using a heating level way too high. Of course, how crispy and well burned you want your toast depends entirely upon you. Some people like it warm and white, while others love burnt toast. But this shouldn’t mean that you should use a high-power setting every day to produce burnt black toast!

Moreover, burnt toasts are not great for your health either. They can cause certain health risks too. Burnt bits of food have Acrylamide, which is a potential carcinogen. 

If you have mistakenly burned your toast, just rub the two toasts together, and the charred bits will come off. Most importantly, burning your toast every day is not suitable for your toaster.

Cooking In Your Toaster

Some individuals have this terrible habit of making grilled sandwiches and cheese/garlic toast on their toasters. Many even make tacos and burritos in them. But it is awful for your toaster overall. You shouldn’t be cooking eggs or even reheating pizza slices in your toasters!

Some YouTube videos have created this misconception that you can use the toaster for cooking specific things by putting it on one side. This, however, has the potential to break your toast! Also, cooking in the toaster can hamper the grills. So, it will affect the burning capacity, and ultimately, you will have bad toast!

Using A Fork To Remove Toasts From Toaster 

The best way is not to use any sharp tool to take out any piece of toast from the toaster. To be fair, when the toast is too hot or gets burnt, many of us will think of using a knife or a fork to pull it out. 

But the sharp edges can harm the inside of your toaster and the wires. You can even end up getting electrocuted! Refrain from such practices. Instead, pull the lever up to lift your toasts in such conditions. You can then take them out quickly when they cool a little.

Cutting Lousy Pieces of Bread

The loaves you buy from the market are already cut into sizes that can fit appropriately into your toasters. In fact, they are not too thick or not too thin. If you cut big slices, you will have trouble fitting them in your toasters; worst of all, they may get stuck in your toaster, and if you are unable to bring them out, they will keep burning with subsequent toasting.

Eventually, your toaster will start to heat unevenly. It may even burn the toast on one side! To prevent such disasters, always cut the loaf slices using a sharp knife into thin pieces. Make standard-sized pieces consistently.

Why Is Your Toaster Heating The Bread On One Side Only?

Most of the time, the side of the bread that is closest to the heating panel will get toasted first. However, if the piece of bread is dried and lacks moisture on one side, that side will get browned first.

Often, the bottom portion of the heating panel remains close to the pieces of bread. Compared to the top, the lower part gets too hot too quickly. It causes that part to become crispy and brown first. If you put this on high heat for a long time, that part may even get burnt!

Besides, if the heating is not an issue, the moisture content and the variety of the bread may also play an important role. Often, if you use bread pieces that are dry on one side and moist on the other, they may get burnt on the dry part. It is why white bread does not burn as quickly as brown bread.

Also, if you cut thick slices, the heating becomes uneven on either side. The side close to the heating panel often gets burnt without even heating the other side. It is one of the most common issues with uneven heating in toasters. 

Toast Your Bread Properly 

Now that you know what’s causing your toasts to heat unevenly, it’s time to learn how to properly toast your loaves of bread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXpPLHHq5fQ

Basically, there are some essential tips to follow while heating bread in toasters. These will ensure that your bread pieces are evenly heated on all sides and do not get burnt. Follow these tips always-

• Before you heat your toasts, make sure the crumb tray and the heating panels are clean. Do not let any residual bits remain stuck in the toaster.
• Choose thin slices of bread. But make sure the cuts are not too lean, or they may get easily burnt. 
• Cut your loaves with a sharp knife. In this regard, use a bread-cutting knife to ensure the proper size and shape of the pieces.
• Know your toaster well. If you are unaware of which key performs which functions, you may not be able to use your toaster properly. In fact, you can end up with malware and burnt or stuck pieces!
• When you put the slices inside the toaster, they will get inclined on one side in most cases. So, heat it on one side for a while. Then, lift the pieces using the lever and heat the other side. The side closest to the heating panel will heat first. So, change sides at intervals.
• Never use a fork or knife to take out the bread pieces. Most importantly, always use the lever to lift the bread first and then take them out.
• Do not cook inside your toaster. Instead, use ovens or stoves for cooking your food. If you want to make grilled sandwiches, use a sandwich maker instead. But do not put anything greasy or sticky in the toaster. The build-ups will be hard to clean.
• Choose a toaster from a good brand. In fact, do not buy cheap, low-quality toasters that break down now and then. And make sure you buy from renowned shops.
• Do not use stale and dry bread. Always use fresh and moist bread. Suppose you heated the bread on power TWO today using stale bread. But if you heat the same bread on power TWO tomorrow, it may get burnt. As the bread keeps losing its freshness, it becomes drier. So, if you suspect dry bread, dip it in water for some time first.
• Lastly, never use a high-power setting for a long time. If you want crispy brown toasts, take some time and do it on medium power. Using high-power for long will burn both your toasts and toaster!