The stupidest appliance I've ever loved
Pros:
Super easy to use, fast clean up, yummy breakfast
Cons:
Larger than your average toaster
The Bottom Line:
It sounds like a dumb appliance, but really is great for anyone who likes eggs and toast!
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
A couple of months ago, hubby saw an ad for the Back-To-Basics Toaster and Egg Cooker. "LOOK AT THIS! ISN'T IT COOL?!" I did my patented roll-eyes in the back of my head look and said "Sure....". Repeat this scenario several times over the course of November - December 2005.
Fast forward to December 19. My brother sends me an instant message "What do you guys want for Christmas from Amazon.com?" I IM'd back that hubby kept mentioning this stupid toaster that cooks eggs too, so he might as well pick that up for the two of us. Oh yeah, I did the eye roll thing, too. ;-)
Fast forward to December 24. Hubby opens box from my brother, is all excited about the new gadget. On Christmas morning, he's rooting around the refrigerator looking for eggs, English muffins, cheese, and ham. With a mouthful of egg sandwich, he mumbles "YUM. Want one?" I shrug okay, and damn, if it wasn't the best darn egg sandwich outside of Mc-you-know-who's.
And it's super easy to use, clean, and reassemble too. Even our pre-teen son and his buddies can do it with no supervision.
The toaster has four separate settings: toast only (with an easy-to-slide horizontal lever for toast darkness setting), egg only, egg and toast, and cancel (in case you mess up picking one.) There is also the traditional push down lever for the toast to start.
I'm not going to go into all the details of how to use the unit (you can read the instruction manual for that) but suffice to say that it toasts a muffin, hard cooks an egg, and steams a slice of ham...all at once. When the muffin (or toast or bagel) pops up, your sandwich components are done and ready to assemble. Cooking time is about 5 minutes for a single sandwich.
The Back to Basics TEM-500 will also cook eggs with soft or medium yolks. Since the unit uses water to steam/poach the egg, it's a pretty healthy way to make a quick breakfast.
As I stated, clean up is a breeze. The egg unit comes completely apart, and is quick to wash up in the sink or to pop in the dishwasher. The toaster unit is also easy to clean and features an attractive matte black exterior that doesn't show smudges or fingerprints. There is a crumb tray on the bottom of the toaster section for quick clean up.
The only downside I can find to the unit is that it's larger than a "normal" two slice toaster, and takes up more room on my countertop.
Bottom line, I've stopped rolling my eyes at the mention of the new gizmo on the kitchen counter. I'm too busy eating delicious egg sandwiches to do that any more. ;-)
Note: I was asked how the ham is steamed. I may not be describing this in the best of terms, but will try to paint a picture:
The egg cooker section is tiered like this:
Pan (not removable) on bottom holds water that steams.
Tray directly above it holds the egg pan in place.
Egg pan sits on the tray. It looks like a miniature frying pan.
Another tray that is open criss-cross sits above the eggs...you can put your ham on this and it gets steamed.
Lastly, a clear plastic cover holds the steam in the entire egg cooker. Be careful when removing so you don't burn yourself on the steam.
The photo at the top of the review (and on the product box) doesn't show the ham on top of the egg, but I am guessing that's because a sunny-side up egg looks nicer than a slice of ham.
