See-through toaster shows the way

THE smell of burnt toast could be a thing of the past as the world's first see-through toaster went on sale yesterday.

Engineers have spent 15 years perfecting the 160 Magimix Vision Toaster, which has double-insulated clear glass on both sides, giving a panoramic view of each slice as it cooks.

They had to find away to cook the bread without using traditional metal elements which obscured the contents.

Magimix solved the problem by placing the metal plates behind long-life quartz elements in the corners of the toaster, which deflect heat evenly across the bread.

The toaster has been launched at five John Lewis stores in the UK this month, and is expected to be rolled out across other stores nationwide later this year.

The Romans were responsible for spreading toast across Europe while the word toast comes from the Latin word tostum and means scorch or burn. Modern toasters were invented by Frank Shailor, a technician with General Electric, who created his D12 toaster in 1909, 20 years before a sliced loaf existed.