We have family coming over Chinese New Year, and they like toast for breakfast. I don’t feel like buying a toaster or toaster oven as our place is quite small and we’ll never use it after they go. Has anyone found a handy (yet safe) way to make decent toast on a gas stove? Bonus points if whatever contraption/gadget I have to buy is small, cheap, and can also be used for other things.
Thanks.
Maybe this is not what you have in mind, but I make toasted sandwiches in a frying pan on the gas stove.
Filling: Cheese, tomato, bacon and egg (both fried before).
Method: Butter both slices of bread on one side. Put filling in, heat pan, ‘toast’ sandwich (buttered side outside) in the frying pan. Turn regularly, making sure heat is low or the bread will burn outside before the filling is hot.
I guess it is possible to toast the bread in the pan without the butter and the filling.
years ago in my student days, we used to make toast by putting the bread on a wire coat hanger and holding it over the flame.
A while back, I had a filming crew following me around for a few days. It was for a documentary. The one morning I made toasts, and they asked me to do it again for the camera. They thought it was all quite strange. Just heat up a frying pan really hot and you don’t even need a spatula or anything. Put a slice of bread in the pan, wait 3-4 seconds, flip the slice of bread over quickly using just your fingers and wait 3-4 seconds. Done! If the pan is not scorching hot, the bread will stick to the pan. I never use a toaster even though we have one. It’s way too slow. After a while, the frying pan ends up with black burn markings on it and it’s not really good for anything else anymore. I have a pan I only use for toasts.
marboulette
Yeah, just put it on a very hot cast-iron skillet and flip quickly. Or do you have an oven?
I used to do that with tortillas and bread over a gas stove - ie open flame. flipped it with my fingers, got burned, but worked.
But making toast without a toaster? is that like the sound of one hand clapping?
[quote=“marboulette”]A while back, I had a filming crew following me around for a few days. It was for a documentary. .
marboulette[/quote]
So not just because you liked the feeling of power then. 
You can just hold it over the open flame using metal tongs; or put 2-3 bricks on either side and set a steel grate (like the ones they sell for BBQ, or a cookie cooling rack or the one from in your oven) on it. Or --hey-- got a blow torch? That could be fun.
When you wake each day take the battery out of your alarm clock to save it’s power. The money you save on batteries will help towards the cost of a toaster.
Seriously: My family are flying all the way to see me and I won’t spend 300 nt on a toaster to help make their trip more comfortable.
What a winner. Will you buy bread, or beg for leftovers in the streets?
[quote=“StuartCa”][quote=“marboulette”]A while back, I had a filming crew following me around for a few days. It was for a documentary. .
marboulette[/quote]
So not just because you liked the feeling of power then. [/quote] Not just… That’s correct. 
It’s a 50 minutes documentary in which you can see me cook a toast. What better thread to post in for a famous toast cooker!
I just had a thought… If you’re friends/family like to eat toasts, you might have to bake some bread because I doubt they’ll like the sweet Taiwan bread. Very hard to find unsweetened bread on this rock.
marboulette
quite frankly if they can’t survive 2 weeks without toast then they should probably stay at home
Come on. You can pick up a cheap toaster at Carrefour for 300NT$. Such a serious outlay? Chuck it out when they leave if you don’t have space.
How about ask around, borrow one for a few weeks. Someone’s bound to have one or few toasters sitting around at home. This is one of those common prizes for company year end dinner party. That’s how I got mine, and I rarely use it.
If you’re a serious toaster, as I am, one must invest in the proper gear.
One wants even toastage throughout the item.
What do you with your pop-tarts?
Singe 'em on the barbie?[quote=“TheToastMaster”]toastage[/quote]I often wonder why such words don’t actually exist. It’s perfect. I agree, even toastage is essential. I can’t stand a toaster that toasts one side of the toast faster than it toasts the other side of the toast. That’s poor toastage. Better stay away from cheap toasters to have even toastage on both sides of the toasts.
marboulette
Finga’s in Taichung. I even think they’ll ship it all over the island, but I’m not sure how well that’d work.
Even though I come from a wasteful society and live in a disposable society, that doesn’t mean I have to be like those around me.
Thanks to those who have offered useful suggestions.
Gas burner, low flame, bread chopstick to turn it. But I bet the fam would rather have a toaster. Get a hello kitty one and send it home with them as a souvenir.
Go to the corner brekky shop. Take your own bread, if you have to. But for mind, a bei gan dan san bitch with black sweet coffee at the corner brekky bar is the bee’s knees. I miss it dearly. Bei gan dan bing with good chilli sauce . . . I think your guests would like it a lot.
HG
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Go to the corner brekky shop. Take your own bread, if you have to. But for mind, a bei gan dan san bitch with black sweet coffee at the corner brekky bar is the bee’s knees. I miss it dearly. Bei gan dan bing with good chilli sauce . . . I think your guests would like it a lot.
HG[/quote]
Oh! HGC, you’re killing me! Taiwan breakfast is the BEST and now you’ve made me remember!
This is good advice–you should encourage them to venture out a little and try the local flavor.
I understand the desire to offer all kinds of other suggestions, but I’m really only interested in making toast in this thread.