I love a good appliance, and when it matches the retro aesthetic I am drawn to when it comes to everything from my home interior decoration to my closet and my hair, I innately desire it. So when I came across the Nostalgia Retro Series, I fell in love. With everything. I picked up the Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster ( $ 19.49 ) first, and it actually does a fantastic occupation of cooking my hot dogs, though the bun toaster leaves a draw to be desired .
then, the 3-in-1 breakfast station crossed my path. not lone did it have a toaster that would solve my bun trouble, but it had a griddle, and a coffee godhead, and it came in both crimson and the same light blue that adorns most of my kitchen ! Color me intrigued. But, for $ 60- $ 70, could I actually get three in full functioning appliances in one device ?
Gosh, I hoped so. So, I picked one up, brought it to work, and put it through a screen run .
The unveiling: A promising beginning
I got ta say, this breakfast station is even more charming in person. It ’ mho fair sol cute ! beyond that, it actually felt hardy and well-made .
The 4-cup chocolate godhead comes with a reclaimable filter so you don ’ t have to worry about tearing through newspaper filters, and I found a bantam plastic scoop in the water reservoir for scooping grounds. The coffee batch itself is pretty bantam, and four cup is a stretch unless you ’ ra using bantam teacups .
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The toaster has a wire rack and a small broil tray, and there are four heating elements inside, 2 on the buttocks, and two on top. The latter are designed to heat the toaster and the griddle at the same time, and I was reasonably disbelieving that it ’ five hundred be effective .
With the griddle, you get a waffle-textured surface and a glass hat that fits snugly over the unharmed thing. And the entire griddle lifts right off the toaster for comfortable clean .
OK, so we ’ re off the a good begin, but does it work ?
When it comes to morning caffeine, Nostalgia gets me
If I skip a good morning cup of coffee bean or tea, I am not myself. And solitaire is not something I wake up with. So, I dumped a couple exclusive of coffee bean into the filter, filled the water reservoir, flipped the switch to COFFEE / 3 in 1, and waited .
credit : Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar The chocolate was the best separate, but do you in truth need a whole station to brew a pot ?
The chocolate was brewed and steaming in no more than 4-5 minutes ! OK, Nostalgia. Good on ya. now I ‘ve got senior high school hopes for the other two elements .
But, trying to wrestle the pot in and out of its place proved… less than easy. It was a bit stick and I had to use more military unit than I ’ d like with hot liquid. Putting it back, I managed to slosh chocolate all over the side of the machine. More to clean up late, I guess .
Quit fooling around, let’s eat!
Coffee achieved, I moved on to breakfast ! On the menu ? Eggs, bacon, and buttered toast. Yum !
This was the beginning time I actually had to consult the instruction manual, because when I flipped the dial to TOAST/BAKE ( assuming correctly that would let me use both at once ), the light did not come on. I placid had the victor substitution set to COFFEE/3-in-1, assuming I ’ vitamin d be able to operate everything at once. Isn ’ t that the whole point ?
There wasn ’ thymine a lot in the instructions about how to preheat both the toaster and the griddle, so I wound the timer dial all the way up. It worked ! The light went on and I waited. The book said it ’ five hundred take 3-5 minutes, and that there might be some smoke and smell. And they were not kidding. After about 5 minutes, blue smoke and a decadent chemical malodor rose from the griddle and poured out of the toaster. Concerning. But it stopped within literally 30 seconds .
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Read more: Old Fashioned Peach Dumplings Recipe
Bacon: A heartbreakin’ experience
The griddle was preheated, so I tossed some bacon strips on there and waited for the classical sizzle of meat merging estrus. rather, there was a meager hiss. Pretty anticlimactic. It wound up taking about 40 minutes to get two slices thoroughly cooked, and when they were done, they were the incorrectly kind of crunchy and kind of bland. I cooked the rest bacon in a actual oven, and it was delightful, so Oscar Meyer is not to blame here .
credit : Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar After 40 minutes, the bacon last started to sizzle. good thing I waited to cook my eggs !
Toast: Watched bread always toasts better
While I willed my bacon to cook faster, I threw a few slices of bread in the toaster. They browned evenly and promptly, reaching that perfect “ barely toasted ” level that ’ ll melt the butter and give a good crunch without being excessively hard .
credit : Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar Wait any long and bread goes from toasted to charred .
I threw a few more slices in to see what it ’ five hundred be like to got for the extra toasty style some people like. Once they reached that perfect golden brown, things got ugly. The raise inflame element scorched the back of the slices, and in the few moments I was preoccupied checking my bacon ( again ), they went from starting to scorch to completely charred .
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Eggs: Not such a sunny outcome
After 20 minutes, I finally saw some brittleness on my bacon, so I immediately cracked two eggs into the extra bacon grease ( use what you got ! ). The whites ran right into the extinct chuck mean to hold the glass lid, and the yolks tried to follow. I had to coax the eggs back toward the center ( and the heat ) with my spatula and hold them in position until the whites solidified a bite. Kind of annoying if you don ’ t have a absolutely flush cooking airfoil .
credit : Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar Cooking eggs on this open was much harder than it should have been .
It took about 10 minutes for the eggs to finish cook. It credibly would have gone faster if I ’ vitamin d used the hat, but the bacon was last sizzling therefore I didn ’ metric ton want to disrupt it. When I tried to scoot the spatula under the eggs, that “ nonstick ” coating proved its arrant falsehood, likely due in part to the textured come on. I had to cajole the eggs onto the spatula, resulting in one rebel and falling down the front of the toaster and onto the table. What a fix .
My verdict: Don’t bother.
You know, at a base level, this thing actually does what it claims. You can cook breakfast on it, and you can use everything at the same clock. But, the griddle leaves a lot to be desired, and it takes quite a bite longer to cook on this than it would with more traditional options. My recommendation ? Skip the catch. If you ’ re looking for ways to save space, a stovetop griddle and a french weight-lift are comparable in size and price, and they ’ ll give you a lot better results a lot faster. And for toast, we think broilers are better anyhow .
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This AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker, for case, fits mighty over a mug ( and in a drawer ) and weighs less than half a ram. Plus, it lone costs $ 30 at Target .
What can you do if you’re stuck with one?
The aesthetic appeal of the 3-in-1 breakfast station is hard to argue, and it ‘s surely the biggest drawing card of this strange little appliance. If you ’ ve been given one by a well-intentioned proportional or supporter, and don ’ thymine know what to do with it, I ’ ve got some ideas :
• a ‘ 50s photoshoot
• a kitchen set in a play
• a fetid ‘ statement piece ’
• anything but actually cook !
