Can you bake toast?

[KennethT]

This is a pretty silly question... but I have to make a pretty large quantity of toast, and would like the slices to be uniformly browned. I have a gas oven where the broiler is on the floor - so not only is it inconvenient to check the browning progress, it is also not very even - the bread in the middle gets browned faster than that at the edges.

Has anyone had any success in putting a bunch of slices on a baking sheet (with or without a rack) and baking to achieve a respectable level of toast without completely drying out the interior? Temperature?

[MelissaH]

I haven't tried it, but I wonder if either directly on the oven rack, or on a rack placed on a sheet pan, would be the way to go. I'd try it small scale first.

MelissaH

[TheCulinaryLibrary]

No, have never managed it, just oven toasted for that lovely nutty, crisp, crostini type bread. I don't think the maillard reaction (browning) works with bread slices without a direct radiant heat greater than 315F. But Brown bread absorbs radiant heat faster than white, so too does dryer bread. And brown and wholemeal breads have more sugars and proteins than white which means the maillard reaction is quicker and darker. Maybe try brown, sliced, day old or more, for a couple of minutes each side in a pre heated oven and experiment with temps from 315-500F?

[scott123]

I toast bread with the broiler almost every other day. I have an electric oven, though, and, from my experience working with gas oven owners trying to brown the top of pizza, I have found that, unless it's an expensive, abnormally high BTU oven, gas broilers tend to almost always be weaker. Another advantage my broiler provides.is that, although it does brown unevenly, the unevenness occurs on one side and can be corrected by rotating the pan 180 deg. in the middle of the bake.

Not only can I toast 8 pieces of bread at once, but I can beat the toasting time on my already pretty fast vintage toaster and still have some moisture left in the crumb.

The only real way to gauge the abilities of your broiler is to get out the stopwatch and compare oven and toaster times, including the time it takes to re-arrange the slices for even browning.

[Brown Hornet]

We do this all the time at home and it works very well -- but we do have an electric oven.

We usually preheat to 400, butter the bread slices with melted butter and put them on the cookie sheet. We also normally flip them over after about 2-3 minutes to make sure each side browns evenly. Works great for toasting bagels as well. You do have to keep an eye on it as the bread or bagels can go from perfectly toasted to burnt fairly quickly if you're not paying attention. For what it's worth, I think brushing the bread with melted butter before going in the oven helps even the toasting/browning process.

[Pierogi]

I do the same as Brown Hornet, but I do have a gas oven. I also don't use a baking sheet, just put the bread slices right on the oven rack, and flilp halfway through, or when it smells/looks toasted. 375-400 sounds about right. Since I'm usually toasting it for bruschetta or crostini, I usually brush the slices with some olive oil, but butter would certainly work. Just don't slather it, you don't want it greasy or the excess fat dripping off onto the bottom of your oven. With butter, I'd do another application of spreadable stuff after toasting.

Can't stress enough the importance of watching it closely.