Barometric Toaster

16 Nov 2015
Progress: Concept

Here at the Mitxela Co. R&D department we have developed a toaster of such luxurious magnitude that only the most dedicated of toast fanatics will be able to justify its extravagance.

Visually the Barometric Toaster lies somewhere between a steam hammer and a giant, upside-down single cylinder engine. At the base of the cylinder wall there is a small metal door about the size of a letter box. When you have inserted a slice of bread, close the door and wind the locking handle to form a tight seal. A lever on your right will engage the belt drive to start pumping energy into the cast iron flywheel. When you are ready to make toast, disengage the safety catch and pull the big red lever labelled 'toast'.

With a clunk, the clutch grips the flywheel and dumps its momentum into the crankshaft. The piston slams down and the sudden adiabatic compression instantly raises the internal temperature to just -- just below the autoignition temperature of bread. Voilà, toast.

In theory it should be possible to fine-tune the peak pressure and thus exactly control the degree to which the bread gets cooked.