Retro Tech: The Pop-up Toaster

Published by djmick on November 7th, 2009

Morphy Richards pop-up toaster

In 2003 food scientists at the University of Leeds spent three months and £10,000 to develop a formula for making the perfect piece of toast – the key was the correct temperature and the right butter-to-bread ratio.

They weren’t the first boffins with this objective.

About 50 years ago the British home appliance manufacturer Morphy Richards made more tangible inroads into the art of home bread-toasting.

The model TUID toaster was this country’s first commercially successful automatic electric toaster. It had a timer dial connected to a ground-breaking ‘pop-up’ mechanism, supposedly signalling the end of the concept known as ‘burnt toast’.

Even better, the two-slot device toasted bread on both sides at the same time – a true innovation then. Many have tried but few have improved on this mid-century design for the kitchen, which is part of the Science Museum’s Secret Life of the Home exhibition.

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