Case in point: Ahh, I remember the day I decided to shed the backpack and all the super light, gram shaving, titanium-tyvex-whup-de-doo-dad for the fat Coleman double-burner, 3-fold crash pad-turned-sleeping-pad, 2 tents (1 kitchen and one for sleepin') and all the great creature comforts associated with car camping.
Welcome to my review blog; something that I've kind of always wanted to do but just never got around to doing. I'm not saying that I actually have more time on my hands, but lets just say that my fruitless searches for reviews on certain things have led me to start this in hopes of providing more random reviews on things that make me excited enough to write about.
So, with that little bit of background on me, lets get on with the review!
About a year or so ago, the car camping gurus at Coleman put out a toaster oven . A big, heavy and heavy duty propane toaster oven. At first, images of the typical Coleman family portrait enters the imagination complete with monster size SUV's, gargantuan tents, Eddie Bauer flannel, Jansport day packs, Mossy Oak camo bibs, finished with his, hers, little his and little hers ATV's.
But then you think "Hmmm. Toast." How great would that be?! Well, it'd be awesome if you could justify spending as much as $115 on one. Reviews of this thing tout some wonderful foods to bring to the campground (i.e. pizzas, blueberry muffins and yes, toast). I checked one out at a local store one afternoon and suddenly got the urge to get one, but got cold feet before totally committing (the evil "recession" voices got to me).
Later that week, I told Heidi about it and she found this rickety stove top toaster that I, in my spoiled and stubborn man-ego mind quickly shut down and said "I'd rather eat cold bagels than cook with that thing." A week later we were sitting in the cold shadows of a mountain, eating crumbly, cold bagels that went down the gullet as easy as an unchewed, sideways tortilla
chip. I decided to check out this little toaster.Enter the Coghlan's Camp Stove Toaster
At less than $5 bucks, I figured it would be worth a shot. The box that it comes in has an image of nicely toasted slices of bread that makes you wonder if the science behind the design actually can toast that evenly.
The following weekend, I was looking forward to trying this thing out. Images of crunchy, toasted bagels danced around my head as I smacked my lips in anticipation. Heidi, opened up the contraption and started putting it together. 4 wiry brackets snap and click to their place...at least they were intended to. A little fussy in the design, the ends didn't want to stay hooked in their base plate homes and popped out occasionally during initial set-up.
Once everything was put together, you slap it on top of the burner on your stove and crank it to high. The heat caused the plate to oxidize and seemed ready to warp but those Canadians at Coghlan designed and assures that it wouldn't. Sure enough, it didn't but I'd make sure to give it some time to get hot and expel any heat reactive fumes before putting anything on it for the first time. One of the wires 'poinged' out of it's holes under the heat but with a couple of forks as our hands, we got it back to it's home.
We loaded it up with 4 bagels. It's maximum capacity. You're instantly hit with that homemade-toasty smell. Something that kind of brings a smile to your face. After about 2 minutes I flipped my bagel and toasted the outside and a minute later - TOAST.
So if you have never had a perfectly toasted bagel or slice of bread while camping (I'm not talking about skewering your bread with a stick or knife and rubbing the flames in a wax-on, wax-off motion), you owe it to yourself to get one of these things. It worked like a charm. After the initial burn, the toaster set-up, took-down and cleaned easier than a pair of nail clippers (you get the idea).
You just can't go wrong with something this inexpensive and easy.
Here's a great breakfast recipe that we made (credit to my fellow co-workers):
1 avocado - sliced thin 2 bagels (I found that an Asiago Cheese Bagel) Serves 2
1 tomato - sliced thin
T
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1 comments:
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look good, as well as offer the best quality content. I have learned much at your web site and also I anticipate alot more
articles and will be coming back soon. Thanks youHi, probably our entry may be off topic but anyways, I have been surfing around your blog and it looks very professional.
It’s obvious you know your topic and you appear fervent about it. I’m developing a fresh blog plus I’m struggling to make it
look good, as well as offer the best quality content. I have learned much at your web site and also I anticipate alot more
articles and will be coming back soon. Thanks you
Toaster