A crispy, melted toastie is a long-standing culinary delight – basic but delicious, quick to prepare and effortlessly indulgent. You can create a toastie with your favourite fillings and even experiment with different types of breads as well. A traditional sandwich press can be bulky to use and a chore to pull out of the cupboard, so once the novelty has worn off you may not use your toastie-creating appliance as often as you'd like.
Enter the Kmart Anko Microwave Toastie Maker (also available at Target). A small, microwave-compatible gadget that can create a toasted sandwich without the fuss of using a sandwich press or jaffle maker. At first glance it looks a bit like a school lunchbox - but don't be fooled, this colourful and compact design can create a toastie in next to no time.
We put it to the test, in our labs and at home with some toastie-loving kids to see if this sandwich-shaped gadget can replace a traditional sandwich press to give you a comfort food hit from your microwave.
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The Kmart Microwave Toastie Maker
What is it?
The Kmart Microwave Toastie Maker consists of two non-stick coated plates on the interior surfaces and a soft silicone exterior casing.
Simply make you sandwich, place it inside the toastie maker, close the two halves and clamp the silicone latches together (much like a sandwich container). Put it in the microwave to get a crispy toasted sandwich in minutes.
It can be placed in the dishwasher for cleaning and Kmart claims it's made from BPA-free materials.
Kmart is selling it for $15 (also available at Target), but you can also pick up similar models from places like Big W, Harvey Norman and Bunnings and online from Amazon.
The Kmart Microwave Toastie Maker vs traditional methods
Wondering how the toastie maker measures up against using a traditional sandwich press or jaffle? We've weighed up the pros and cons.
Sandwich press
Sandwich presses come in two sizes – two-slice or four-slice. They generally have flat hot plates, but in some cases you may find ones with ribbed plates which give a more 'char-grilled' look.
Pros
- You can cook more than one sandwich at once (if you have a 4-slice you can cook up to 4 sandwiches).
- If it has a lockable top plate you can also cook things like eggs, bacon and pancakes.
- More versatility in the types of breads you can use.
- Some multi-function presses have a top plate that opens flat to create larger cooking surfaces and can be used to barbecue meats.
Cons
- They take up space on your benchtop.
- Can be bulky to store.
- They require more cleaning time.
- Need to preheat.
Jaffle maker
Unlike a sandwich press that has plates to press and toast a sandwich, jaffle makers have grooves on the top and bottom hotplates that clamp and seal the edges to create a 'closed' toasted sandwich.
Pros
- Usually more compact than a sandwich press
- You can cook more than one sandwich at once
Cons
- Limited bread types can be used.
- Overfilling can cause messy spills.
- Cleaning can be more fiddly and difficult.
- Need to preheat.
Kmart Microwave Toastie Maker
The microwave toastie maker looks more like a jaffle maker, but without the electrical cord and bulkier footprint.
Pros
- Compact in size.
- Quick and easy to use.
- No preheating required.
- Easy to clean.
- Easy to store.
- Comparatively inexpensive.
Cons
- Limited bread types can be used.
- Only accommodates standard bread slices.
- Might not get the crispy and crunchy results you'd get from a sandwich press or jaffle maker.
We made a tomato and cheese toastie in the Kmart Microwave Toastie Maker.
How does it perform?
CHOICE kitchen lab test
CHOICE home economist, Fiona Mair, put the microwave toastie maker to the test, making a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.
The instructions say to cook in the microwave for two and a half minutes (for a 1000W microwave) and then flip the toastie maker and cook for a further one minute. Fiona found doing this gave a good result, the bread was evenly toasted but it wasn't very crunchy and the filling wasn't oozing.
She found cooking for two minutes on each side yielded the best result – the bread was evenly toasted with a slightly crunchy texture and oozing centre.
Fiona says: "To get the best results, you'll need to make sure you flip the toastie maker. By doing this you'll achieve even crispness on both sides of the sandwich."
"You may need to experiment with cooking times as it will depend on your microwave wattage as well as the type and amount of fillings used. It's also best not to overfill the toastie maker."
Fiona checked how it performed without flipping and found the bread to be unevenly toasted with a soggy texture and filling that wasn't oozing.
She also says "it's best to eat the sandwich as soon as possible (once the filling has cooled slightly) as the texture can become soggy if left too long and the bread can become chewy".
Hot tip: Remember to butter the outside surface of the bread. This will help to achieve ideal browning and extra golden results.
Home test
To get another perspective, I decided to try the toastie maker at home to see if it lived up to the expectations of my toastie-loving kids.
My 10- and 7-year-old enjoyed the novelty of the toastie maker but it didn't produce a sandwich that was "crunchy enough" for their liking.
My husband, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised by the results and particularly liked how quick it was to use and that it would take up much less space than our bulky 4-slice sandwich press.
The plates can be easily removed from the silicone sleeves.
How easy is it to use and clean?
The Kmart Microwave Toastie Maker is very easy to use and clean. The silicone exterior doesn't get hot, so it can be safely handled without gloves when you need to flip it and remove it from the microwave.
The silicone can also be easily wiped over. The hot plates are easy to remove and then reinsert into the silicone sleeves and can be cleaned either in the kitchen sink or in the dishwasher.
As an added bonus, the toastie maker is compact and very easy to store.
CHOICE verdict
We've tested 12 sandwich presses in our kitchen lab, and most perform well in our testing. They aren't an overly complicated appliance but they can be bulky, so if benchtop space is tight and storage space is even tighter, then the Kmart Anko Microwave Toastie Maker (also available in Target) is an inexpensive and space-saving alternative.
However, it is lacking in terms of versatility. If you want to be able to experiment with different types of breads (like focaccia for example) and like to layer on the fillings, you might find you'd be better off making space for a traditional sandwich press.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
