The Toast-N-Serve Magic Bag

[Basilgirl]

Tried my bags for the first time last night. "Tuscan style" bread from Trader Joe's, capicola, genoa, provolone. Pesto went into The Boyfriend's. Buttered the outside, wasn't thinking or would have used olive oil. The bread was too long for the bags and the bags barely fit in my toaster, even though it does bagels fine. So after the first two rounds on medium, half of them were perfect! Cut the other undone halves off and back into the bags they went. Duh

The Boyfriend was not suitably impressed. Wanted to know why you just couldn't grill them in a skillet or put them in the microwave.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I can't believe I had read this thread before today - I'm out shopping tonight! One for me and Shawn, but better yet, one as a Christmas present for my impossible-to-buy-for Brother-in-Law who LOVES gadgets (especially foodie gadgets)!

Thanks, eGullet! A better Santa never existed.

[jhlurie]

Really we need deeper toasters.

One thing which works pretty well in these bags is warming tortillas. Two of them at once, so one side gets toasty. You can't norammly warm tortillas in a toaster because they are so flimsy, but it works great inside of the bag.

[groucho]

I've had my bags for a couple of weeks, and am still a fan. They've been a boon to my workday lunches. A few random observations and comments:

I bought mine from toastabags.com. After the pounds-to-dollars conversion, they were $10.26 for two (including shipping and handling), and arrived by airmail about a week after I ordered them.

For heavier sandwiches (sausage, meatball sub, etc.), I microwave the sandwiches, bag and all, for 10 to 20 seconds before popping them in the toaster. This helps to get the inside hot without burning the bread. The toaster action goes a long ways towards forgiving my dual sins of refrigerating and microwaving bread.

Contrary to the illustrious Mr. Perlow, I would guess the white, wispy gases often seen rising from the bag are steam, not smoke.

I don't get the "Magic wrap" version of the bag. Does it completely enclose the sandwich? If so, I would worry that the sandwich would be steamed rather than grilled/toasted. Also, I don't quite see the virtue, as my maximum sandwich thickness is limited by my wide-mouth toaster, not my bag. But what do I know? I probably woulda thought the bags wouldn't work either.

Thanks, eGullet, for introducing me to this miracle of modern technology.

[Rachel Perlow]

I never thought of putting the bags in the microwave to get the heating started. Great idea.

[jhlurie]

Are the bags microwave safe? I wouldn't have thought that they would be.

So anyway, my latest foray into bag experimentation has been what I've been calling "toaster tacos", but Rachel pointed out to me might better be called "toaster changas" (as in "Chimichanga").

I've been heating corn tortillas in-bag for a while--two tortillas back to back. But finally I was brave enough to try actually placing stuff inside of a tortilla and folding it over. A standard corn tortilla is slightly too wide for the bag, folded in half OR flat, but folded in half and filled you can still crimp one end a bit to fit it inside the bag, if you are careful.

I went weird with my first try at this for my fillings. It was during our little blizzard, and I was running lower on stuff than I thought I might, so I just rolled with it.

I used a tiny portion of meat (I wanted something strongly flavored, so I used some of the Tasso I was brought from New Orleans--shaved off a frozen block almost razor thin), a handful of raw onions, some sharp cheddar and (only because I had some handy) some slivers of sun dried tomato. It sounds like a weird combo, but it works.

Put it all in the middle of the tortilla, being careful to not overstuff, crimp one edge a bit, and make sure at least some of the cheese is located near the top. Gently place in the bottom of the bag and toast from one and a half to two toasting cycles at FULL darkness. What happens is that instead of burning, the soft corn hardens into a kind of crispy shell (it will START to burn as you approach the end of the second toast cycle).

[elyse]

I must step in and say please, please, please do not ever put bread in the microwave. You call yourselves food people? Do the right thing.

Edited December 9, 2003 by elyse (log)

[groucho]

I must step in and say please, please, please do not ever put bread in the microwave.  You call yourselves food people?  Do the right thing.

I hear you. I have a coworker who often microwaves a sandwich for lunch, and I wince every time I see him do it, knowing how miserable the bread must be. So it is without sarcasm that I say: I understand the pain you feel reading about microwaved bread.

Nevertheless, IF you find yourself stranded on a desert island with nothing but a thick meatball sandwich in a toaster bag, a microwave oven, and a toaster; IF you want the meatballs hot and the cheese melted; and IF you prefer your bread to be golden brown rather than blackened, then I would humbly suggest that you try a little microwaving before toasting. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Even more boldly, I would suggest the following experiment: take two slices of bread, microwave one briefly until warm (when you microwave a sandwich, the water and fat-rich filling preferentially absorbs the microwaves), then pop both in a toaster and toast to your preferred level of doneness. Maybe even add some butter. Can you tell the difference between the slices?

I did this experiment today under single-blind conditions with two slices of formerly frozen, decent-quality bread. I could discern no significant difference between the two. But perhaps I am simply a boor.

[groucho]

Are the bags microwave safe?  I wouldn't have thought that they would be.

I don't know for certain what my bags are made of, but my current best guess is a PTFE/Teflon® coating on top of a Kevlar® weave. I would expect that to be microwave safe. However, this is largely conjecture.

Having stuck the suckers in a microwave, I can offer you the following: 1) they absorb a minimal amount of microwave energy and 2) they haven't killed me yet. Your mileage may vary.

[Schielke]

Is there some kind of log jam at the factory for these things? I ordered mine over two weeks ago and so far nothing has shown up.

Ben

[Jason Perlow]

Is there some kind of log jam at the factory for these things? I ordered mine over two weeks ago and so far nothing has shown up.

Ben

contact warner@toastnserve.com

[Schielke]

Done and done.

[GrizzyLemon]

I just got my toastabags from the Brit site, $10.35, now I have to exchange my toaster for a wide slot.

:)

[Schielke]

I emailed warner and still no reply.

[Carolyn Tillie]

My bags arrived the day after Christmas.

Thrilled, I immediately went out and bought a toaster (having only ever used a toaster oven).

First use, the bags got holes burned through them!

Did this happen to anyone else?????

[Jason Perlow]

My bags arrived the day after Christmas.

Thrilled, I immediately went out and bought a toaster (having only ever used a toaster oven).

First use, the bags got holes burned through them!

Did this happen to anyone else?????

Burned a HOLE through them? Those things are made to handle temperatures in excess fof 500 degrees. email Warner and he will likely replace them.

[Schielke]

An update on the bag delivery: I still have not recieved them, but have been speaking with Warner. He is very enthusiastic that I recieve my bags and wants to make sure they arrive. For some reason they have sent them twice and they have not made it. Crazy Post Office!

Ben

[Rachel Perlow]

I must reiterate the amazement that a hole got burned through one of Carolyn's bags. There must have been some defect in it or something, or maybe with the toaster, perhaps one of the burner elements is sticking too far into the toasting chamber? We've used ours over and over and haven't had that problem.

[jhlurie]

Okay, here's my theory.

The hole did NOT get burned through--it got abraded through (although one cycle is amazing for that).

The bags rub up against or caught in the the metal trap pieces which come together in an expandible toaster slot to hold things in place--expecially when you overstuff the bags and they barely fit down the toaster slot in the first place. For me, it took maybe thirty to forty uses for this to happen.

The bag is still useable, but not leak proof. Also the heating is a bit more uneven, although not that radically changed.

[Schielke]

Take a pic of the damage and post it!

[formerly grueldelux]

Did anyone see the segment on TechTv about the Toast-N-Serve bags? It was on late last night. It's possible that the episode was a repeat, and also possible that it's already been discussed here (couldn't find it in the thread.) Apologies if that's so, but here's my account anyway. Bear in mind that I was half asleep.

Didn't get the name of the show. The format is a host behind a desk, almost like a talk show. He has hair that was fashionable in 1999 and plenty of cheek of the same vintage. Gnarly. I think the show reviews products, offers tips etc. The segment started off with the host interviewing Warner Fox who was shown via Netcam at his desk. The host played dumb/skeptical/bemused while Mr. Fox comported himself well, describing the product, cracking wise once or twice. After a commercial the bags were put to the test in a sort of head-to-head competition. One person cooked an omelette in two stages, first cooking onion and zuke, then pouring in some eggs for a second round. The other cook made a "potato gratin" and sesame crusted ahi. Can't remember if this was cooked in stages. Next the products were tested by the cheeky host. The omelette was runny; host was, like, totally gagging. The second cook copped to overcooking the ahi. The host poked and joked, took a tentative bite, made mildly positive remarks. The bags were basically dismissed as a near crackpot idea. Clearly they missed the beauty of it. Pehaps if they'd have done a simple grilled cheese or something then they would have been more positive. Geeks. I will place my order now.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Take a pic of the damage and post it! 

Here you go!

(Excuse the mess of my jewelery bench... best light in the house for a bag which otherwise produces glare!)

And, by the way, I made a SIMPLE grilled cheese with Trader Joe's sourdough bread and Irish cheddar (a single layer). I didn't think it was too thickly filled!

Edited December 28, 2003 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Call Warner up, I'm sure he'll send you new ones. But you might want to send that toaster back while you are at it and make sure you get one with the ultra wide bagel slots.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Call Warner up, I'm sure he'll send you new ones. But you might want to send that toaster back while you are at it and make sure you get one with the ultra wide bagel slots.

Since the toaster was brand new, it was immediately returned (it was, BTW, a Proctor-Silex model specified with extra-wide bagel slots...). The bags will be next but now that I've done the experimentation and got it out of my system, I'm not as concerned about getting the bags replaced... I might just return them.

Interesting though, huh?

Edited December 28, 2003 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[jhlurie]

And ultimately an "experiment" should cover things. Nobody, not even the manufacturer I think, is trying to persuade us that you should really be making omelettes and sesame crusted ahi in these things. Well, maybe by having a recipe contest for free bags they aren't trying to dissuade that, but really their emphasis seems to be on the efficient toasting of bread and bread-related concoctions.

And the holes in your photo do indeed look similar to the ones which eventually appeared in mine from getting caught on the way out of the toaster. I can see the same parallel folds and rips. It just took a lot longer with me--they started as folds and abrasions and developed into holes.