THE TOAST OF LONDON

Photo by St.John Walker

So the London Fire Brigade are warning people not to misuse their pop up toasters, specifically not to turn them on their side and use them to cook cheese on toast.  The warning comes after a crew was called to a toaster fire in Croydon, and when they arrived they found the sideways toaster burnt out and the worktop it was sitting on was also damaged.

Crew Manager Nick Morley, said: “Toasters are not designed to be put on their side and used to grill cheese on toast. Not only does it generate heat onto the work surface as we saw at this incident but the dry left over crumbs from the bottom of the toaster can get onto the hot elements and ignite.

“I never thought I’d have to give this advice as it’s painfully obvious but if you want cheese on toast use a grill not a toaster.”

They’ve also issued this handy poster to show how NOT to use a toaster:

Now, it had never occurred to me that you could use a toaster on its side in this way to make cheese on toast, but now that I see the poster it seems so obvious and such a good idea, I wonder why I never thought of it before, and I think I might give it a try.  I’ll probably put a sheet of asbestos on the worktop – hey, safety first.  And I might also poke a fork in there, just for the heck of it.