Does this viral Kmart toastie maker really work?

The toastie machine in the Consumer NZ office gets a decent work out. From sandwiches to pizza slices, sometimes, I barely get a look in before someone else has swooped through and stolen my slot at that precious press.

But this common office plight might be over thanks to something I spotted being hyped online at Kmart over the summer – Anko’s microwave-safe toastie maker.

The toastie maker

It comprises two square pieces, slightly bigger than a couple of regular slices of bread, each with an outer shell of neon-pink silicone and an inside of a non-stick metal plate. Two clips on opposite sides hold the toastie inside its silicone/metal sandwich, but it all feels pretty precarious.

At the time of writing, the toastie maker cost $19, and Kmart claims it can “make crispy toasted sandwiches in the microwave in minutes at home or on the go”.

I don’t know about the “on the go” part, but the office seems like the perfect place to use it.

How it works

According to the instruction leaflet, the toastie maker works by making use of “advanced microwave-safe composite alloy”. The metal “absorbs thermal energy, rapidly rising above 200 degrees C in 2–3 minutes”.

For microwaves above 1,100W, you’ll need to make sure the heat is set no higher than medium, and never put the toastie maker in the microwave with nothing inside it.

Kmart recommends turning it halfway through cooking to ensure “even crispness on both sides”. For best results, Kmart also recommends spreading butter or margarine on the outside of the bread.

I decided to make three toasties to get a feel for how this thing works and whether it’s worth the hype.

Toastie one

First up, a simple classic – cheese.

I decided to approach this the same way I would a normal toastie: two slices of thick multigrain, butter on the outside and a layer of cheese on the inside, not too thick but generous enough. After a minute and a half on either side, the contraption was too hot to touch with bare hands. I carefully removed it with the help of a tea towel and cracked it open to find a perfectly decent cheese toastie.

My toastie was well-browned and crispy, with the cheese completely melted. The maker smelt quite bad, like burning plastic, but Kmart had warned this might happen when used for the first time. Luckily, the toastie didn’t smell or taste weird.

In fact, it tasted pretty good, and the only drawback was that the crust was a bit dry.

Toastie two

Second up was one for the meat eaters – ham and cheese.

Arguably another classic, but as a vegetarian, I haven’t had one in over 10 years. So, I asked product test writer Nick Gelling to taste and review my creation. Here’s Nick’s verdict:

It was your standard ham and cheese toastie. Well browned; nice, crunchy surface; good internal temperature; melty cheese. I appreciated the aesthetically pleasing grill lines you don’t get with a flat sandwich press.

The toastie wasn’t as well sealed as a classic triangular jaffle-style toasted sandwich, but that just means you have to be vigilant against overfilling. I’d happily eat the sandwich again – my biggest issue is that the gizmo only cooks one at a time, which makes for a pretty small meal. No unpleasant smells this time round.

Toastie three

Finally, my go-to toastie – cheese, tomato and red onion, with a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. After cooking, the first thing I noticed was that this sandwich experienced a fair amount of spillage, with hot cheese and tomato juice seeping over the lips of the toastie maker. It could be because there was too much filling, but if that was the case, you clearly can’t put much more than cheese in the contraption.

I’m not sure what happened inside that little pink package, but it must have gone supernova because the tomatoes were thermo-nuclear levels of hot. They were still scalding after leaving the second half to cool for 5 minutes.

Despite the above, this was a tasty sandwich, and I still went back for more after burning my tongue.

Final verdict

This little machine performed really well and held up in the dishwasher afterwards. If you don’t have space for a proper sandwich press, don’t have the patience to use a fry pan or your office toastie maker is pretty busy, this could be the option for you.

However, if you’re looking for a cheap alternative, you might want to think again. You can buy a double sandwich press from Kmart for as little as $10, compared with $19 for the microwave version.

Bear in mind that this thing gets really hot, so it might be difficult to transport or store after use. I would also warn against overfilling: the threshold for fillings is quite low, so if you like a stacked toastie, avoid this contraption.

Overall, I would definitely use it again, but whether you should buy one will depend on your needs.