The perfect morning starts with a good meal, but first you need the right gadgets for the job.
Take toasting. We've all burned the toast. The smoke smells up the kitchen and even if, in the grand scheme, burnt toast is a minor issue, it still starts the day on the wrong foot. But the designers at Tokyo based technology and creative firm BALMUDA have solved this problem with a clever trick: they changed the style of the heat.
BALMUDA The Toaster uses electric coils and steam to rapidly toast the surface of the bread. Once the surface is toasted (which traps in the moisture and aroma), the steaming period ends and the finishing touch is a toast to find the perfect balance of fluff and crunch. Traditional toast-ers only roast electric coils until they’re red hot.
At sea level water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees Celsius. This dense and “thorough” heating — water gets in everywhere — allows us to cook pasta, hard boil eggs and even sous vide a tri-tip steak. Steam, as it turns out, gets even hotter than 212F or 100C. Lifting off the surface of the liquid to become a gas requires extra energy.
That’s where the recently released BALMUDA The Toaster brings innovation. It uses a thin layer of piping hot steam to envelop the bread and bake the outside — a temperature hot enough to cook but not hot enough to burn. The decisive factor is 5 cc of water poured into the top of the toaster at the beginning. Heating more rapidly than air, a thin layer of steam envelops the bread, lightly toasting its surface, while sealing the flavor of the grains, seeds, and fruits inside so the goodness doesn't cook away. Instead, you get the wafts of bakery ovens through the kitchen.
Of course we want things on our toast: honey, avocado, butter, cheese. This list goes for miles. But adding anything to a vertical toaster causes messes if not smoke and fire. BALMUDA The Toaster lays the bread flat in a horizontal oven so everything stays put. And BALMUDA The Toaster provides four different modes for cooking, depending on the moisture of the bread and whether toppings are involved:
Sandwich bread mode: For thin bread with less moisture
Artisan bread mode: For thick or fresh bakery-style bread with high moisture
Pizza mode: For Bagels and other open-face breads due to a stronger output of top-down heat
Pastry mode: To revive bread without burning, such as a croissant, baguette, etc.
Oven mode: To heat without steam with stable temperature
Another spot where BALMUDA’s steam technology shines: reviving bread that have been in the freezer or on the counter too long. Bread goes stale when temperature or pressure forces water out of the grain’s starch crystals. At a molecular level, this causes a crystalline realignment — at a taste level, that awful leathery feel. Heat the bread just right, and the moisture moves back where it belongs — the starch crystals regain their original form. With BALMUDA The Toaster’s Pastry Mode croissants and other goodies from the bakery get flavor and texture right back in alignment.
And BALMUDA has you covered for a quick dinner and dessert, too. Oven mode puts frozen foods and cookies on the table in no time. And, of course, any kitchen heating appliance would be remiss without taking special care for pizza. Pizza Mode not only dials up frozen pizzas and extra slices but is designed to provide a nice top crisp to bagels and other open-face bread due to a stronger output of top-down heat.
BALMUDA CEO Gen Terao started the company in 2003 with the mission of using design and technology to elevate life experiences. The Better Morning, Better Life ethos of BALMUDA is evident in the strategic toaster settings, but BALMUDA also took their expertise around water-coursing-way technology and applied it to BALMUDA The Kettle.
As any tea or coffee aficionado can tell you: not all hot water kettles are made the same. Some will put strange tastes in the water. Others sputter or pour with inexact or lousy spouts. And kettles are too often a hulking, ugly-lit thing that never quite finds a home on the countertop.
Terao's team took care of these issues. Winning design awards in both Japan and Germany, the elegance of BALMUDA The Kettle allows the slick black or white kettle to stand alone as an appliance-approaching-art rather than a gadget. The curved neck, thin spout and weight-balanced body allow for precise and easy pouring so that you almost don't notice the kettle's in your hand. The small bulb at the tip of the handle indicates when the water's ready. And BALMUDA The Kettle holds just the amount of water it takes to fill two mugs of steaming coffee or tea.
It's the little things. BALMUDA’s taken the time to ensure that they aren't what holds our day back but let's us launch into it with a peaceful smile. And with all the extra time spent at home in the mornings these days, we can all use that.
This story was produced by WIRED Brand Lab for Advertiser.
