Glide toaster gives breakfast bread a new flair

Sure, toasters have gotten bigger, more colorful, and more likely to burn down your house since its conception, but unlike refrigerators, dishwashers, and microwaves, this cooking utensil just hasn't gotten much attention over the years. Enter George Watson, a clever design guru with an engineering heart, who has crafted the best thing since sliced toasted bread, the Glide. This primarily white ceramic toast cooker boasts a simplified design, a single-feed toaster, and a V-shaped rack to hold the toast for use on the kitchen table. Twin hot plates heat the bread as the motorized unit pulls it through, and a handy button on the front increases or decreases the speed in which it passes -- you know, to satisfy those who like it warm, and those who like it black. Mr. Watson's invention looks to be part of a design competition, thus we're not exactly sure if GE or Kitchen-Aid has contacted him regarding a deal, but hopefully we'll soon see these things replacing those antiquated versions we're all forced to deal with now.

[Via BoingBoing]

[Tyler @ Jan 17th 2007 2:04PM]

we use the same kind of "technology" at Chick-Fil-A to toast the buns for our original Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. nothing special...but looks cool.

[Anthony @ Jan 17th 2007 2:08PM]

Seriously- some things don't need to be improved upon.

Yes, it looks cool, but who'd want to hang around feeding bread when you're already busy slicing up those tofu cutlets & readying the miso soy-mayo?

[Jason @ Jan 17th 2007 2:09PM]

The one shortcoming I see right away is the inability to toast anything other than your typical thin, store-bought slices of bread. Is a wide-gauge model available for bagels?

[Matt @ Jan 17th 2007 2:11PM]

Single, obvious problem I can see already:

What about if you want to toast something that's a little thicker than thinly-sliced bread? For example, Texas toast, a bagel, or the like? Can it handle any of that without crushing it?

[JD @ Jan 17th 2007 2:13PM]

Looks like a crummy design

[LittleJoe @ Jan 17th 2007 2:15PM]

You can only cook...
1
slice
at
a
time.

Inconvenient.

[LittleJoe @ Jan 17th 2007 2:15PM]

Oh... and crumbs... EVERYWHERE.

[Don @ Jan 17th 2007 2:17PM]

Second shortcoming - for people that butter first, I suspect the unit's rollers would get messy. Also, if it doesn't toast fast enough, the bread will be cooler at the first-in end and hot at the back end.

[Derrick @ Jan 17th 2007 3:10PM]

Are there really people that butter their toast first? I'm lost as to the advantage of "pre-emptive" buttering.

[Don @ Jan 17th 2007 4:07PM]

That's annoying; my earlier reply didn't get posted. Anyway, on the advantages of pre-buttering:

1) No toasticles created while buttering well-toasted bread. The knife stays clean.
2) Butter infuses into the bread, which is nice if you are toasting bread for a sandwich. The flavor stays, but w/o the butter texture.
3) extra hard butter pats can be placed on top, toasted to mostly melt the butter - it then spreads easily.

Disadvantage: As some have pointed out, sometimes the butter is too hard to pre-butter. In this case, it doesn't work out so well. This is usually when using stick butter or margerine or certain hard butters.

Yeah, I'm a toast freak. Frankly, one of my favorite foods on earth is good bread toasted with salted cream butter....MMMMMMM.

[pku @ Jan 17th 2007 2:18PM]

RTFM its spring loaded to accommodate different sizes of bread.

[Dave @ Jan 17th 2007 2:19PM]

Can you still just drop it in a bathtub full of water if you feel like killing yourself because it's taking too long to toast a full loaf of bread?

[Jas0rz @ Jan 17th 2007 2:26PM]

But does it run linux? ;p

[Chris Merchant @ Jan 17th 2007 3:35PM]

>But does it run linux?

ToastOS, no doubt.

Chris

[Andy Keck @ Jan 17th 2007 2:30PM]

>RTFM its spring loaded to accommodate different sizes of bread.

The guts may be spring loaded, but the size of that slot isn't going to change and it's waay too small, IMO.

[emmzee @ Jan 17th 2007 2:36PM]

Yea, looks neat, but the three big problems ...
- only one piece at a time
- can't handle thick breads/bagels/etc
- crumbs-a-plenty
... are kinda showstoppers.

[Kevin Fox @ Jan 17th 2007 2:38PM]

It needs a sheet feeder. Really, people usually want to toast 2/4 slices at once. With this design you have to sit there to feed in piece after piece.

[Martin @ Jan 17th 2007 2:55PM]

It would be neat if the slice fell into the rack once it was done.

[Eli Hodapp @ Jan 17th 2007 2:57PM]

This design is actually over 70 years old. It was first patented in the 1930's.

See here: http://www.tias.com/7760/PictPage/1922939402.html

There's also a photo of the Toast-a-Lator here:

http://www.abc.net.au/hobart/stories/s1163655.htm

Along with the quote:

"Greg’s personal favourite – and the toaster he still uses – is the Toast-a-Lator from the 1940s. No slot on top – this one’s got a conveyer belt with the bread inserted at the side. Feed in the bread and out comes perfect toast, "just dropping on your plate!" This wonderful toaster brings the assembly line to the breakfast table. When you turn on the Toast-O-Lator a row of "teeth" begin rotating in a circular fashion "walking" the bread through the unit while being toasted. You can even watch the bread toasting through the circular viewing window in the side."

[WedgeTalon @ Jan 17th 2007 3:02PM]

"the Toast Automatica, or toasta for short."

Ah, I see what you did there, Mr Watson!

[iridium @ Jan 17th 2007 3:02PM]

elementary, my dear watson

[Robert @ Jan 17th 2007 3:15PM]

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/29/rollertoaster-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-toasters-since-sliced/

enough of the damn toaster coverage guys! Could you PLEASE start focusing on the important things in life?



... like maybe some more coverage of the iPhone? or maybe another few comparisons of the 360 and the PS3? OH!! I KNOW!! How bout a full recap of the entire RIM vs NTP situation! These toasters are getting totally overexposed and you should put them back in their place (on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet)

[DarkFader @ Jan 17th 2007 3:17PM]

How many toasts per minute? Can it toast a pattern?

[etmthree @ Jan 17th 2007 3:25PM]

Same idea as the Toast-O-Lator:

http://www.toaster.org/1940.html

[Chasqui @ Jan 17th 2007 3:56PM]

#1 Like Derrick, I'm also lost as to the advantage of "pre-emptive" buttering. Wouldn't the untoasted bread be too soft (if you use refrigerated butter or butter drip into your crumb tray? This sounds like a bad idea all around.

#2 I love the design but is definitely not going to fly as a mass consumer item. Not only have many people pointed out the "one-slice-at-a-time" problem, but it would be too easy for "non-bread items" (such as kiddo's fingers) to enter the side-slot entry.

#3 Kevin Fox - sheet feeder! Yea! that's the ticket! Where do I sign up for the model with the side-loading "sheet feeder"? I want the whole-loaf feeder with integrated bread-box. Press a button, toast comes out. Modern technology at its best. The wonders of living in a first-world nation.

[Don @ Jan 17th 2007 4:17PM]

sorry- meant to mention pre-buttering is for toaster OVENS only - don't do it with a vertical slice toaster, unless you like a mess.

[Don @ Jan 17th 2007 4:15PM]

"There has been little development of the toaster since the start of the century, whilst other appliances have developed and improved incorporating new technologies and thinking, toaster have remained relatively untouched."

Perhaps that is because the ideal method had been discovered already?

"This toaster is designed to engage the user, re-invigorating the social context of toasting by questioning everything about what we toast with today."
I think that if Steve Jobs made the iToast, this is how he'd describe it :/. Really... "Reinvigorating the social context of toasting?" Bleh.

[Dave @ Jan 17th 2007 5:40PM]

Lame....

This is the toaster to get:
http://ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=53

[Chris @ Jan 17th 2007 6:33PM]

One other problem with this design that has not been mentioned yet is that the toast basically is kept on a cooling rack after it's done which is not what most people want. Most toasters will keep the toast warm for a couple of minutes after the toast pops up. This design puts the toast in a vertical position with room temp air surrounding it, a perfect situation for convection cooling.

[adaminc @ Jan 17th 2007 8:29PM]

you people have been corrupted by the craptastic iphone, this toaster is freaking awesome!!

[Derek @ Jan 18th 2007 3:10AM]

It won a design contest not an award for being the best toaster ever. Its an amazing eye catching design and there has been nothing like it before. Some people will REALLY appreciate this device. Its perfect for me, I love toast and I live alone. By the time the toast is done I will have just finished the previous slice.

[Nelg @ Jan 18th 2007 7:08AM]

I still want my Rollertoaster! http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/29/rollertoaster-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-toasters-since-sliced/

[Christian Martin @ Jan 18th 2007 10:13AM]

Is it named Talkie?

I swear, if Apple made a toaster, this is what it would look like.

[Eric @ Jan 18th 2007 11:03AM]

If they could pulse the heating elements you could probably get the thing to print messages on your toast. Hook it up to the net and and you'd have instant SPAM and toast.

Sorry, but there's just something "right" about the sound made when a toaster goes pop.

[Mendel @ Jan 18th 2007 5:12PM]

And didn't this guy do it first anyways?

http://www.core77.com/bullitts/2006/11/Jaren-Goh-Rollertoaster.asp?text=toast&context_id=2¤t_bullitt_id=515¤t_bullitt_number=1

[Jonathan @ Jan 19th 2007 11:18AM]

I'm still waiting for the knife from hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy that toasts the bread as you slice it...

[Jeramy @ Jan 21st 2007 8:45PM]

they use a large commercial type of these at my old job. albiet different.

granted, all discrepancies aside, this is still pretty fucking cool.

[george watson @ Jan 26th 2007 1:02PM]

Wow its great to hear so many opinions.

The toaster works in a completely different way to that of the Roller toaster. The idea is that the bread moves between two ceramic plates rather than than a traditional heating element: This is in for improved reliability, more even toasting, reducing the amount of parts the child in India or China has to disassemble with their bare hands (have you ever taken apart an element toaster), as well as trying to reduce the risk of electrocution that occurs with element toasters.

Granted the idea of moving toast through a smaller toaster is by no means revolutionary, I mean it has to be one of the first things thought of in a ideation workshop at the likes of Philips design. But hopefully the idea of creating a socially engaging, functionally improved (in some areas!) and longer lasting product in our world of hidden away plastic crap has some mileage!

I'm currently seeking a production partner for this project.

george watson (designer)
[e-mail]

[Anthony @ Apr 2nd 2007 7:08PM]

"PC Load Letter"?

What the hell does that mean?

[Max Calvin @ Apr 3rd 2007 4:48PM]

I would happily own one of these. Being a bachelor at the moment, I would find the single-toast ability perfect, and it could be working on the next piece while I munch on the former, shrug. Makes sure the next piece is still warm when ya get to it too. Granted when I just want a 'stack' of toast at once, unless it churns them out pretty quick, it probably won't cut the mustard.