Here’s a fun fact for you. Can You Toast Bread In The Oven? The chief nobles in the middle ages enjoyed their meals on thick pieces of bread which they used as plates. Once the meal was over, they would eat their plates too!
Bread is an addictive food. The pleasant aroma of bread wafting through the doors of your neighboring bakery can easily make you crave for some doughy goodness.
While this wheat-made delicacy is a good enough treat on its own, toasted bread is definitely a fan favorite. A slice of bread on a grill or a toaster is a match made in heaven!
What is a toast anyway?
Toast is a browned piece of bread that has been exposed to heat.
This really doesn’t sound like such a toilsome process. Then why exactly do we need to spend an extra few bucks on buying a whole separate appliance just to toast bread? Can’t our ovens get the job done?
Yes, you can toast bread in your oven.
How A Toaster Works – A Brief Overview
When you lower the toaster handle, the bread slips in between layers of Nichrome wire. Nichrome is highly resistive, so it heats up quickly. The red-hot layers heat up the bread from up close, browning it to make a freshly toasted bread.
How To Toast A Bread In The Oven
A generic toaster can toast up to 4 slices at a time, which wouldn’t be too convenient if you had guests over, would it? Your first few batches of toast would go cold before you could even get them to serve you at your breakfast table.
The greatest benefit of substituting a toaster for an oven is that you can toast large batches at once. This hassle-free process can both save your time and save your teeth from cold, rock-hard toasts.
Here are the steps to follow to make toast in your oven:
Step 1: Place The Oven Rack In The Oven’s Second-To-Top Position.
This top section of your oven is called a broiler. Toasting the bread on your broiler is especially good because the rack is placed near the top heating element of your oven, meaning that the bread would be exposed to direct heat from up close, much like in traditional toasters.
Step 2: Turn On The Broiler While Placing Your Toasts-To-Be On A Large Rimmed Baking sheet.
Set the temperature to 350°F. Note that the sheet should not be buttered or greased. It’s not necessary to preheat the oven for too long, since the broiler is close to one of the heating elements.
Step 3: Arrange The Bread Slices In A Single Layer On The Baking Sheet To Ensure Even Browning All The Way Through.
Stacking the slices on top of each other will result in the browning (or burning) only of the topmost bread.
Step 4: Place The Baking Sheet In The Oven And Bake For Until Golden Brown.
A golden-brown color ensures a perfect, crispy toast. We would recommend you to bake for 1 or 1.5 minutes (depending on how much browning you prefer and also on which oven you are using).
It’s important to know if you are making toasts in the broiler that your slices of bread are directly below the heating element, and it’s very easy to burn the toasts if not under watch.
Step 5: Once The Top Side Has Browned To A Golden Brown Color, Flip The Slices Over And Return The Baking Sheet To The Oven To Brown The Other Side.
Step 6: When Both Sides Of Your Toast Are Golden Brown, It’s Done.
Remove your crispy, aromatic toasts and butter if necessary. Do not butter the bread before toasting, as the butter will melt and soak up the bread. After all, no one likes a soggy slice of toast.
How Long Does It Take To Toast Bread In The Oven?
If you are toasting under the broiler, it’s important to keep a careful watch on your toasts. The bread browns very quickly, usually in under a minute and a half. It’s best to not get busy with anything else while toasting under your broiler.
However, if you want to fry an egg or a few strips of bacon while toasting, you might want to consider placing the oven rack one or two levels lower than the broiler. This would buy you a few extra minutes before browning, so you would have some leeway in the kitchen.
Conclusion
Good quality toasters can sometimes cost a fortune, and yet fail to accommodate more than a few slices of bread at a time. Ovens are a more versatile alternative to toasters, and can pull off great, toaster-quality, golden brown toasts. We hope this blog saved your bank accounts from another impulsive purchase. Bon appetite!
