WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en-US

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.820
Greetings and salutations!

00:00:01.820 --> 00:00:06.960
Today I have a short update for you regarding the best toaster ever produced.

00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:10.540
For those that are new around
here, a little over a year ago I made a video

00:00:10.540 --> 00:00:13.340
about the Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster,

00:00:13.340 --> 00:00:18.020
a toaster so good that it is literally Automatic Beyond Belief!

00:00:18.020 --> 00:00:21.000
That video touched briefly
on what I’m going to talk about today,

00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.630
but its focus was mainly on the mechanism that
allows the bread to effortlessly fall into

00:00:25.630 --> 00:00:30.320
the toaster and slowly come back up with non-startling,
near-silent action,

00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:32.500
and without any input from the user.

00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:36.900
Literally all you do is put
the bread in the slot, and it does the rest.

00:00:36.900 --> 00:00:41.740
If you haven’t seen that video and are interested
in knowing what makes the bread go down and up

00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:45.460
I’d suggest you watch it first through that card
I’ve provided.

00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:46.180
Fun Fact!™

00:00:46.180 --> 00:00:48.700
If someone puts a card in a video, and you -

00:00:48.700 --> 00:00:50.280
Shoot! 
Missed it!

00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:51.460
Fear not!

00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:57.580
That little information icon up there will hold all of the cards that a creator has put in a video!

00:00:57.580 --> 00:00:59.920
Just hover over with your mouse on desktop,

00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:04.460
or touch in the middle of the video somewhere on your phone and it’ll be there in the top right.

00:01:04.460 --> 00:01:06.540
Just thought I’d let y’all know that!

00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:09.600
For those of you watching on a smart TV or whatever,

00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:12.800
well I'm sorry, but I do put links in the description, too.

00:01:12.800 --> 00:01:17.420
That also covers the inevitability that YouTube ditches cards in favor of some other thing some day.

00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:19.320
hope they don't get rid of the description...

00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.300
Anyway, today’s focus is on the thermostat.

00:01:22.300 --> 00:01:25.800
That is in fact the central feature of this toaster

00:01:25.800 --> 00:01:29.080
(well, actually the central feature
is the heating element core... )

00:01:29.080 --> 00:01:29.690
but I mean

00:01:29.690 --> 00:01:32.800
most important feature, or at least seems
to be given its name,

00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:37.540
as it puts the radiant and control into Radiant Control.

00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:42.460
These toasters, unlike modern ones, have two columns of heating elements on the sides,

00:01:42.460 --> 00:01:45.330
and that allows for
the thermostat’s bimetallic strip to sit

00:01:45.330 --> 00:01:49.660
between them and be warmed by the bread’s
surface through radiation.

00:01:49.660 --> 00:01:54.610
It is shielded from the central heating element by the bread itself and these little metal fins shield

00:01:54.610 --> 00:01:56.280
it from the side elements.

00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.980
That makes it such that it becomes warmed mostly by the bread being toasted.

00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:03.140
You might ask, “why do it that way?”

00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:08.640
Well, according to Sunbeam, this allows the toaster to toast the toast to toasted perfection every toast.

00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:11.260
And they’re right! Gloriously right.

00:02:11.260 --> 00:02:15.560
Having the thermostat react to the surface
temperature of the bread allows it to eliminate

00:02:15.570 --> 00:02:19.890
variables such as the temperature of the toaster
itself, the particular properties of the bread,

00:02:19.890 --> 00:02:22.900
or the other variable which moved me to make
this video

00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:25.180
- the temperature of the bread.

00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:29.900
This toaster is such a good and nice and wholesome
and perfect and pleasant toaster

00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:32.200
that it has changed my breakfast routine.

00:02:32.200 --> 00:02:34.040
I was never much of a toast person,

00:02:34.040 --> 00:02:37.800
in fact it had been years since I had toast with any regularity,

00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:43.080
so to me this seemed like yet another addition to my 
Too Many Small Kitchen Appliances™ catalog.

00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:47.800
But through the sheer delight of having my toast be prepared for me in such an automatic fashion

00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.000
that it’s practically supernatural,

00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.120
toast has become my jam!

00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.780
And jam’s what I put on toast!

00:02:54.780 --> 00:02:59.740
And the thing that pushed me to make this
update for you was how this handles frozen bread.

00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.160
You see, current circumstances require less
frequent shopping for groceries with

00:03:04.160 --> 00:03:06.640
larger amounts purchased with each outing.

00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:09.640
As bread has now become a thing I have regularly,

00:03:09.640 --> 00:03:14.220
this is somewhat problematic as bread sadly sports
somewhat short shelf life.

00:03:14.220 --> 00:03:18.460
If it doesn’t dry out first, you’ll need some shooting
stars to deal with the mold.

00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:21.580
But of course one has the option of freezing bread!

00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:25.520
Put something in the freezer and it lasts a long time, including bread.

00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:30.840
However, if you’ve ever dealt with a loaf of frozen bread, you’ll know that it kinda stinks.

00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:33.260
It’s hard to let it thaw without getting soggy.

00:03:33.260 --> 00:03:37.190
And if your goal is to toast it, well
with a conventional toaster you’re gonna

00:03:37.190 --> 00:03:41.709
have to adjust your toasting setting upwards quite a bit
to deal with the fact that it’s frozen.

00:03:41.709 --> 00:03:44.980
Maybe after a ton of experimentation you’ll
dial it in just right,

00:03:44.980 --> 00:03:49.560
but forget to set it back and your next fresh slice will end up in the burn ward.

00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.400
But not with the Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster!

00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:53.520
Watch what happens.

00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.640
This is a slice of fresh honey-wheat bread.

00:03:56.640 --> 00:03:59.840
I’ll put it in the toaster
and we’ll see how long it takes to toast.

00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.720
enjoy this awkward stare which I totally should not have done yet I did

00:04:06.640 --> 00:04:07.900
[click from toaster]

00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:09.140
[awkward pause]

00:04:09.140 --> 00:04:10.340
It’s this long!

00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:12.740
And now let’s take a look at what the bread looks like.

00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:17.740
This here is our fresh slice of bread. This
was not frozen; this is the darkness.

00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.580
I will put it on a plate so we can compare later.

00:04:20.580 --> 00:04:23.500
Now I’ll grab a slice of the same bread
that’s been frozen.

00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:25.220
See, this is quite cold

00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:27.420
[sound of bread being flicked by finger] 
and pretty hard.

00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:34.090
I have not touched the darkness control on the toaster at all - it’s exactly the same as it was for the fresh bread.

00:04:34.090 --> 00:04:37.560
So now I’ll put the frozen bread in the
slot, and wait.

00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:45.020
[unintelligible fast squeaky speech which definitely doesn't contain a directive about a certain fruit]

00:04:45.780 --> 00:04:46.740
[click]

00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:47.740
It’s done!

00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:49.980
So now let’s take a look at the bread.

00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:54.300
Would you look at that! It’s pretty much
the same exact darkness -

00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:57.600
[through laughter] 
in fact I can hardly tell the difference at all -

00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.080
as the fresh slice.

00:05:00.080 --> 00:05:01.040
Frozen…

00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:01.800
Fresh!

00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:03.320
Pretty neat!

00:05:03.320 --> 00:05:04.860
And it’s not just the color.

00:05:04.860 --> 00:05:10.780
Going quickly from frozen to toasted produces toast that  you’d be hard-pressed to know was ever frozen.

00:05:10.780 --> 00:05:14.840
This has given me yet another reason to love this toaster.

00:05:14.840 --> 00:05:17.710
Its indirect measurement of
the bread’s surface temperature means that

00:05:17.710 --> 00:05:22.520
it produces perfect results every time, even
if the bread was frozen.

00:05:22.520 --> 00:05:25.700
I say again to toaster manufacturers of the world;

00:05:25.700 --> 00:05:28.900
why are you making such terrible toasters?

00:05:28.900 --> 00:05:32.500
Occasionally y’all like to tweet at me with
certain toaster models out there like a

00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:37.480
Kitchen Aid model with a similar lever-less design
or some sort of elaborately over-engineered

00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:41.140
Japanese toaster which cost hundreds of dollars, and yet…

00:05:41.140 --> 00:05:44.760
this *ancient* design endures.

00:05:44.760 --> 00:05:46.430
It just works.

00:05:46.430 --> 00:05:49.240
And it’s not even the automatic bread lifting
that I really care about

00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:52.380
(OK that’s a lie; it’s fascinating and probably why I’m
eating toast again)

00:05:52.380 --> 00:05:53.819
it’s the thermostat design

00:05:53.820 --> 00:05:55.880
that really sets it apart.

00:05:55.880 --> 00:05:58.100
As we discovered in the first toaster video

00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:00.740
(the one about the electromagnet in your toaster)

00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:04.460
manufacturers have been using time-based trips
for a while,

00:06:04.460 --> 00:06:08.320
and they’ve even been so clever as to design temperature-compensation

00:06:08.320 --> 00:06:12.920
into the control circuitry to account for a just-used hot toaster.

00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:17.960
I’m sure that has been Cost-Optimized
Beyond Belief but this toaster shows us that

00:06:17.960 --> 00:06:24.430
a simple bimetallic strip manages to do an
objectively better job (if implemented correctly).

00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:28.309
It not only compensates for a hot toaster,
but for cold bread.

00:06:28.309 --> 00:06:31.040
Still, we have some pesky limitations.

00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:35.180
As I said in the earlier video, this toaster has fixed bread guides

00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:38.000
and wouldn’t be very happy
with a bagel.

00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:38.780
Now of course,

00:06:38.780 --> 00:06:44.140
you could easily modernize the toaster to include the modern squeezy-type bread guide thingies,

00:06:44.140 --> 00:06:47.560
but bagels in particular might still present a problem.

00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:50.659
If the hole
lines up with where the bimetallic strip is,

00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:55.360
the toaster will trip very prematurely like
it does when there’s no bread in it at all.

00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.420
But actually… well that’s the only limitation
I can think of.

00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:04.220
This toaster shows us that actually using the bread as a means to determine doneness

00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:07.640
is wildly better than just setting a timer.

00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:12.179
I mean, going beyond just frozen
bread, using temperature also helps account

00:07:12.179 --> 00:07:17.880
for things like denser breads, thinner or
thicker slices, and a whole slew of other variables.

00:07:17.880 --> 00:07:22.640
Why have we made time the be-all
end-all determinant for toast doneness?

00:07:22.640 --> 00:07:24.500
We have the technology!

00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:26.960
Make better toasters!

00:07:26.960 --> 00:07:32.360
Those little hand-held laser thermometer things
seem like a good candidate for a modern sensor.

00:07:32.369 --> 00:07:35.060
Just make a window through the sides where the heating elements are

00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:36.900
and measure the surface of the bread!

00:07:36.900 --> 00:07:39.580
I mean it would be even more
precise than the Sunbeam!

00:07:39.580 --> 00:07:45.700
It could literally be as precise as “toast until the bread
reaches 237.8 degrees” or whatever.

00:07:45.700 --> 00:07:46.779
Really.

00:07:46.780 --> 00:07:47.660
Come on.

00:07:47.660 --> 00:07:51.740
Doing that could help solve the problem of
using those wierd curly-Q heating elements

00:07:51.749 --> 00:07:52.900
on the sides.

00:07:52.900 --> 00:07:57.040
Surely there are small enough
sensors to just take a peek through a hole in…

00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:58.840
whatever material this is.

00:07:58.840 --> 00:08:02.260
Oh! And it
could solve the hole-in-the bagel problem, too!

00:08:02.260 --> 00:08:05.720
Just have a few sensors and ignore any
that go super hot right away.

00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:12.679
Honestly if nobody makes a reasonably-priced toaster in
the next five years that can best this literal antique

00:08:12.679 --> 00:08:15.340
in terms of basic toast-making ability,

00:08:15.340 --> 00:08:18.500
well I’ll be so perturbed as to draft a letter!

00:08:18.960 --> 00:08:19.840
Wait a minute.

00:08:19.840 --> 00:08:23.820
I smell the potential to use
the word "algorithmically."

00:08:23.820 --> 00:08:25.440
These exist already, don’t they?

00:08:25.440 --> 00:08:28.020
Probably in wildly over-engineered
form.

00:08:28.020 --> 00:08:30.530
And they’re “Smart,” too I bet.

00:08:30.530 --> 00:08:34.600
*sigh*, of course they already exist, and with various degrees of overthinking.

00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.640
Hey there, how are you supposed to toast some pumpernickel if you’re just looking at color?

00:08:38.640 --> 00:08:41.020
Sunbeam figured this out ages ago!

00:08:41.020 --> 00:08:44.840
They even wrote in the patent about
how temperature correlates to darkness.

00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.860
Oh well. I guess some knowledge just gets lost
to time.

00:08:49.380 --> 00:08:52.000
That’s it for this video. Literally just
an update.

00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:53.520
And some snark!

00:08:53.520 --> 00:08:56.640
To be honest this finding wasn’t super surprising.

00:08:56.640 --> 00:08:59.880
I just hadn’t had a reason to freeze any bread until recently.

00:08:59.880 --> 00:09:04.700
My first thought was “you
know, I bet the Sunbeam will just toast this perfectly”

00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:06.700
and I was not disappointed!

00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:07.380
Seriously.

00:09:07.380 --> 00:09:08.860
All of you making toasters.

00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:09.740
[gestures exasperatedly]

00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:11.020
Just study this one.

00:09:11.020 --> 00:09:16.160
I won’t even mind if you stick to the electromagnet scares-your-socks-off spring-loaded design, just…

00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:19.960
make it toast well without
going overboard on the smartness.

00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:25.260
Sunbeam proved back in the ‘40s how great a temperature-sensing toaster is.

00:09:25.260 --> 00:09:28.330
I think we can make one again in the 21st century.

00:09:28.330 --> 00:09:32.860
Add a reasonable bagel mode, modernize the
bread guides, widen the slots a bit for fancy

00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:34.960
loafs of bread, and you’re good.

00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:39.260
You’ll just need to market it properly, and you’ll have a hit on your hands.

00:09:39.260 --> 00:09:43.200
This is free advice,
people. I even promise to test any-such toaster

00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:47.200
that may make it to market for less than $50
and make a video about it.

00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.820
You don’t even need to send me one. I’ll just buy it.

00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:54.440
Really, you all should be absolutely embarrassed by this toaster.

00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:55.840
Now chop chop!

00:09:56.680 --> 00:09:59.220
♫ innovatively smooth jazz ♫

00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:02.180
You might ask…

00:10:02.180 --> 00:10:03.240
start the teleprompter!

00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:05.080
Oh ssshoot.

00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:06.380
UGGHH.

00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:08.080
Stupid…

00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:11.940
remember in the teleprompter video when I said “don’t use the software I use?”

00:10:12.800 --> 00:10:14.480
This is whyyyyy….

00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:15.820
[Clears throat in a really weird and almost
melodic way. It was amazing.]

00:10:15.820 --> 00:10:19.060
I’d suggest you watch it first through that
car(d) I’ve provided.

00:10:19.060 --> 00:10:19.940
Card.

00:10:19.940 --> 00:10:21.940
I did not provide you with a car!

00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:25.140
That video touched briefly on what I’m a going abadehbuh

00:10:25.140 --> 00:10:27.330
Just thought I’d let yaknall… knoeughblblb

00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:29.730
I just wrote these lines! How could I forget
them?

00:10:29.730 --> 00:10:32.180
I’m having too much fun with this video…

00:10:32.180 --> 00:10:35.580
If it doesn’t dry out… ahh, missed a word!

00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:39.640
If the whole lines up to… up? With. What?

00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:42.180
If the hole lines up to… fff

00:10:42.180 --> 00:10:43.680
why did I say up to again?

00:10:43.680 --> 00:10:44.660
Up with.

00:10:46.680 --> 00:10:49.000
Alright. Know anyone who makes toasters?

00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.060
It is your duty to get them to watch this video so they can be ashamed of their ineptitude.

00:10:53.060 --> 00:10:55.560
It sounds harsh but really.

00:10:55.560 --> 00:10:59.620
There are just no excuses for this.

00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:01.160
None at all.

00:11:01.160 --> 00:11:01.660