OT: This Black and Decker toaster oven caught on fire!

[MikeRivers]

I've taken a liking to English muffins lately. Since unless you slice them with a knife (it says here not to do that, but to pull them apart) the width is irregular and sometimes they need some coaxing in order to fit the slot in my present toaster. I think it was designed for precision-sliced Wonder bread.

 

So I thought about getting a new toaster since they all now seem to have wider slots (probably to accommodate bagels) and holders to keep the bread centered that pull in from the sides when you push the bread down into the toaster. I looked on the web for toaster reviews and I didn't find anything significant other than that I could get one for anywhere from under $20 to about $100, Nothing about construction quality or materials, or even life expectancy. It seems that the fancier ones just have more control settings that I probably don't know how to use (just like on some audio software). So I guess I'll keep the old one until it dies, and then donate it to the Microsoft Flying Toaster Museum.

[UstadKhanAli]

Just to clarify, the issue with the brand new Black and Decker toaster oven (no slots) is that it will not shut off, thus causing the contents to burst into flame.

[cooterbrown]

I've found that appliances work just like musical equipment.

You (usually) get what you pay for.

That's the reason the appliances in my kitchen are Bosch, Kitchenaid, Wolf, Sub-Zero, etc.

No "Made In China" on the back.

[Lukenskywalker]

http://www.target.com/Black-Decker-Toaster-Oven/dp/B00130399K # DPCI: 072-09-0278 # ASIN: B00130399K Just a heads up. I had this piece of garbage Black and Decker toaster oven. In a matter of minutes, the entire outside, including the glass door, gets so hot that you can burn your hand even if you just touch it for a brief second. In the case of my toaster oven, the timer also did not turn off, causing a tortilla to burst into flames in under four minutes with flames licking the top of the oven and black smoke coming out. My house still smells like smoke a week later. I know two people who have this same toaster oven, and while their toaster ovens have not burst into flames, one has had issues with the timer as well, and both report that the outside is dangerously hot. This oven is a fire hazard and is dangerous. DO NOT BUY THIS TOASTER OVEN.

 

Sorry, I would love to comment on this post...

but this occured in the KITCHEN right?

So according to 'Neroligist' et.al this is a decidedly ' non- studio' SSS post and should be ignored accordingly...

However, if the malfunctioning B&D TOASTER was located in your studio I might feel comfortable to reply to your post without receiving a a smug,self serving reply from him and his ilk.

Just for the record, a query...do guys like Neroligist and John Sayers get testy at a certain time of the month and act like tight -assed little women 'Riding the Cotton Pony'?

[Ani]

Hey Ken, I used to expect those things too but nothing is made to last that was built in the last 20 years or so. Seems like things are getting cheaper and cheaper in quality and more plastic is thrown in. If you only knew how much I have paid for my kitchen! I gave my wife my credit card when we buying the house and told her to get whatever she wanted for kitchen appliances... big mistake. I can laugh now, its all paid for but when I saw the bill, I was like. WTF?! Anyway, heres my toaster oven... Toaster Oven Mines all stainless steel and I think I payed about $129 for it at the time. It does everything its supposed to. It costs a lot more too.

 

Hey Earnest,

 

You paid too much for a quality product because they have since dropped the price. Must mean that the same oven now would not be quite the same as the oven you purchased before. For the price they are asking now; they must have outsourced the manufacturing and skipped out on all quality control. :poke:

[Ani]

Actually, on a serious note, my step mother swears by Kitchenaide products which are on the higher end of the price scale. Unfortunately for my parents; they experienced a house fire back at the beginning of the summer and a large portion of their home burned down. It was not a total loss, but they were not allowed to salvage any of the contents, per safety regulations according to their insurance adjuster. All of those high dollar kitchen appliances went up in smoke due to a faulty power strip at the opposite end of the house.

 

According to the investigation reports, the power strip was plugged in, but had nothing else plugged into it to draw from the current. The power strip overheated and caught fire during the middle of the night while my parents and house guests were sleeping. Fortunately no one was injured, but my father, being in his mid 70's, has lost a lifetime of treasures which has cut him deeper than if he had burned in the fire. He's still going over to the house as it is being rebuilt and trying to dig through what little rubble remains. It's very sad. Who would have thought that a plugged in power strip that did not have anything plugged into would overheat and burn a house down?

 

It's really kind of crazy what people take for granted. My step mom insists on the best of everything. From Jenn-Air appliances, to custom furniture and decor, to luxury cars, and etc. and then they cut corners and buy some CHEAPLY made in China powerstrip that takes most everything they have worked their entire lives for down to ashes. No Monster power, or the BEST of anything to plug all of their high dollar appliances into; just some cheap piece of junk that didn't even have a safety mechanism built in to trip a breaker or shut off if overheated. The investigation didn't say that it had anything to do with electrical wiring or anything of that nature; they specified the powerstrip as being faulty.

 

They have insurance to covers their possessions, but not their losses.

[techristian]

 

In the case of my toaster oven, the timer also did not turn off, causing a tortilla to burst into flames in under four minutes with flames licking the top of the oven and black smoke coming out.

 

 

You forgot that we were switching back to standard time. That was 1 HOUR and 4 minutes for the tortilla !

 

Dan

[Lukenskywalker]

 

I expect that anything that I buy will adhere to the consumer safety standards that we have in this country. I expect that the controls on anything will actually control what they are supposed to. I expect that something I purchase will actually work upon the time of purchase. I expect quality control from a major appliance company. I expect that something will not burst into six inch flames and spew black smoke in less than four minutes. I expect that something will not be so hot on the outside that it will not literally burn you if you even touch it for a second. I expect that it will be better than the cheaper $20 toaster oven that I purchased fifteen years ago that I still use at my work. Ernest , if you purchase a cheap toaster oven, coffee maker, or other appliance, do you feel it's okay for it to burst into flames simply because it has a low price?

 

 

yep...it has happened to me and countless others...I spend twenty Dollars for a good bottle of wine, 35 dollars for a monthly haircut...my dry cleaning bill is 30 bucks a month and I am retired.

Guitar maintenance, just had my Rickenbacker 12/60 neck adjusted and a string change,,,60 bucks...my '69 Fender Bandmaster need caps and tubes...I'm figuring $75 plus...Epi Les Paul gonna need a setup in Jan..

 

It's all relative...we just bought a new toaster, a sleek, bagel taking. 4 slice toaster that looks oh, so modernistic...all brushed aluminum...cost 49.99

 

if it last 3 months, I'll be a happy camper:)

[MikeRivers]

 

...I spend twenty Dollars for a good bottle of wine, 35 dollars for a monthly haircut...my dry cleaning bill is 30 bucks a month and I am retired.

 

Wow! I'm retired and I haven't spent any money at all on haircuts or dry cleaning in probably 25 years. I'll occasionally spring $10 for a better bottle of wine, but mostly it's Two (now Three) Buck Chuck on the dinner table.

 

...we just bought a new toaster, a sleek, bagel taking. 4 slice toaster that looks oh, so modernistic...all brushed aluminum...cost 49.99 if it last 3 months, I'll be a happy camper

 

What did you buy, and why did you choose that one? For me, I would be a happy camper if it lasted 25 years.

 

Like you say, it's all relative.

[ermghoti II]

[A bad toaster oven is serious business. I don't know the brand, and I think it was older, but a woman I know who lived with her semi-disabled father had a toaster that wouldn't shut off. They bickered back and forth about whose resposibility it was to replace it, until, one day, it went up like a Pinto. She looked up from her chair to see the wall silently engulfed in flame, separating her from her father, she screamed at him to get out, grabbed the closest cat, and ran down the stairs. Fortunately, a neighbor had noticed the flames, and gone up the back stairs to drag her father down. A delay of a couple of minutes would have spelled his death.

 

The fire department is barely two hundred yards from her house, on the same street. They lost everything but the clothes on their backs. I was in there, the house was perfectly gutted, it was surreal to see. No furniture was recognizable, maybe where the ceiling had fallen, or where some dry wall collapsed, there would be charred possessions here or there. They couldn't fill the trunk of a sedan with what they got out. The other cat and the ferret did not get out.

 

Her father declined to hire a private insurance adjuster, and after a couple of years of dancing around, he sold the house to a developer, who promptly leveled it and put up condo units. His father had built the house.

 

Hope they got good use from the money they saved not buying a new toaster.

[Ani]

I don 't play around with electrical malfunctioning devices. I went back to renting after 25 years+ of homeownership and I'm back in the market to buy a home due to the way the landlord responds to mechanical issues around here. It thought it would be easier to rent than to deal with contractors, but no dice. I finally hired a plumber to correct a problem I've had with the kitchen sink for the last few months; I'll be deducting the expense off of the rent whether the landlord likes it or not.

 

Right now, the switch to the livingroom lamp has stopped working. I would be able to replace the switch with no problem, but I'd rather buy another place and put the money into my own equity. Whenever I looked at the electrical wiring in this place; it's a disaster waiting to happen. If I were going to buy, it would be worth my time to fix the problems, but in looking closely at the wiring; it would require a major overhaul. There are a lot of 15 amp breakers that have 9+ outlets PLUS lights :eek: The person that wired, or should I say rewired, has not got a clue as to safety code.

 

If I "did" buy this place, the wiring would be the very first thing that I would gut.

[Lukenskywalker]

 

Wow! I'm retired and I haven't spent any money at all on haircuts or dry cleaning in probably 25 years. I'll occasionally spring $10 for a better bottle of wine, but mostly it's Two (now Three) Buck Chuck on the dinner table. What did you buy, and why did you choose that one? For me, I would be a happy camper if it lasted 25 years. Like you say, it's all relative.

 

 

it was in a sunday sale paper..no research or forethought whatsover, went into it's purchase.

It was cool looking and retro, I would be hard pressed to find a brand name.

I might be cavalier in small purchases, but I have a knack for being an extremely hard ass when it comes to negotiating high ticket items like a car, real estate etc.

If I could find a good Merlot, or pinot grigio @5 bucks , I would be pleased.. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.