- It is smoking, which it did warn us
that it might do on the first time.
"Remove this label prior to use."
(ripping)
(clunking)
We're fine.
Hi, I'm Katie and I'm a Tasty producer.
Today, we're gonna be testing and reviewing
the Grilled Cheese Sandwich Toaster by Nostalgia.
We're gonna try to figure out if the product works,
if the food it makes tastes good, and if it's worth buying.
So, let's get to it.
(whooshing)
Here we go, we've got the Grilled Cheese Sandwich Toaster.
It makes you feel nostalgic, I guess.
I can see that it's kinda going for, like, a '60s/'70s vibe
with this groovy grilled cheese toaster writing.
We've got a nice, crusty little brown top,
so we're hoping we can get that nice toast as well.
Oh, and then there's, like, these little baskets
that get dropped into the toaster.
Let's see what we got here.
Ooh!
Well, you are definitely gonna be
making a statement in your kitchen.
(laughing)
If you are excited about grilled cheese sandwiches,
you need this, maybe.
It's heavy but not as heavy
as you would hope a toaster would be.
Definitely don't drop it, I feel like it would crack.
But we've got a dial here for, I think,
our different levels of how long we want it to go.
"Melt Zone."
Like, what melt zone do you wanna go into?
And then we've got some, like,
little sandwich-y baskets here.
There's a lot going on.
This is a lot of machinery that you could be.
Woo!
It's got a retro vibe but I don't think
this was, like, a retro object.
I don't think people had this
grilled cheese toaster in the past.
I also discovered there's a little tray
that will catch, like, melting cheese
that's coming down, so that's pretty cool.
All right, let's make some grilled cheese.
(whooshing)
(upbeat music)
I've got cheddar cheese and I've got some American cheese.
We're gonna make two different sandwiches,
we're gonna see what melts better.
This all looks pretty intuitive
but I'm gonna check the instructions
in case there's any safety tips we need to know about.
It says to plug it in, we've done that.
It says to butter the outside of two pieces of bread,
which I'm absolutely gonna do.
We're gonna go really classic today.
Let's preheat the toaster by pressing down
on the control lever, which I think is this guy,
so I'm gonna press him down, press preheat.
So, this is gonna heat up and then
it's gonna pop 'em back up when it's ready.
Which I think is nice 'cause the metal is gonna be
nice and hot, maybe kind of, like, sear it a little bit.
While that's happening, I gotta
quickly make some sandwiches.
Probably shoulda made the sandwiches.
Actually, lemme cancel this.
I'm gonna make the sandwiches first.
I'm using sourdough bread 'cause
I just think it has such a lovely flavor.
And then, I'm gonna get my other one.
Flip this over.
We want the butter to be on the outsides.
We're gonna do just some normal cheddar here.
It says not to stuff it too thick,
so I'm just gonna do two pieces of cheese.
We'll prep two more pieces with some butter.
I have not had American cheese since I was a kid.
Do you just rip this?
This is definitely gonna melt well.
I think I'm gonna do three pieces, since it's so thin.
A grilled cheese is something that
my mom always made kind of if I was
having, like, a down day or something.
She was like, "I know what'll cheer you up.
"A grilled cheese."
Now, it is time to preheat this guy.
This did warn us on the outside
that it could smoke the first time you use it.
So, we're not gonna be alarmed by that.
(clunking)
Woo, and we are preheated!
"Insert your sandwich into the toasting basket
"then place the toasting basket into the toasting slot."
And I insert my sandwich
and then I set that.
It doesn't quite fit.
Hold on.
We just adjust.
Is that gonna work better?
(rattling)
Okay.
(rattling)
Not yet, no, no.
Doing two sandwiches is a little tricky.
Also, my bread just might be too thick.
I can't imagine you stuffing this with a lot more stuff.
Okay, the tops are not in.
I hope that's okay.
Did I do that right?
(clunking)
We're going down.
Okay, whatever.
Now we have to pick the melt zone.
I like mine to be, like, a little bit on the darker side.
I'm gonna go a five.
It is smoking, which it did warn us
that it might do on the first time.
"This will stop and does not indicate a defect or hazard.
"Remove this label prior to use." (laughs)
Read all the instructions, everyone.
(ripping)
(thumping)
(clunking)
We're fine.
This sandwich cannot cook on a different
melt zone than this sandwich.
They've got, they're both in the same melt zone.
There's no dual climate control on this.
Now, this says, "When it pops up,
"you need to let it sit for 30 seconds
"before removing it from the toaster.
"This will allow the cheese to fully melt.
"Adjust the toasting dial to
"within the melt zone, levels four to six."
There is a seventh zone on this
but actually the line also stops at six.
Why did they put a seventh, ahh, zone.
Okay, it says it's ready.
I'm gonna pop 'em up.
These guys look like they could use a little more time.
It says I can put it back down.
(clunking)
I'm gonna go to, like, a two.
The forbidden level seven.
Do you think they just forgot that
they put a level seven on here?
That's a design flaw, maybe.
Or maybe that's a retro thing.
(clunking)
(gasps) Okay, this back one is
starting to look a little burnt,
like, the edges here are starting
to look a little too brown, so I'm gonna
let it sit for 30 seconds, which it said.
This will allow them to fully melt.
(upbeat music)
All right, let's take these groovy sandwiches
outta their toaster and see how good they are.
(rattling)
Ooh, okay, I'm lifting this guy up.
Okay, he's looking nice and toasty.
Woo, it kinda feels like a panini.
We've got some cheese that melted on the bottom of that.
We've got our second sandwich here
and he's looking, like, a little bit more
almost, oh.
Whoa, 'kay.
This is a lotta cheese, guys.
Well, at least the cheese definitely melted
We definitely don't get an even toast.
Like, this guy toasted here
but we're kinda missing the whole area there.
This is almost going too far and then we've totally missed.
So, not quite even, but they're nice and crisp.
I'm gonna cut diagonally 'cause that's how my mom does it.
Take a look.
Okay, this is our cheddar and it's nice and melted.
And this is our American cheese.
That's what I think that they were using on the cover
'cause, like, look how oozy, which is a nice.
It's a softer cheese, which is also why it's melting better.
Okay, plate 'em.
Gonna do the old stackeroo.
Okay, and I'm excited to give these a try.
(whooshing)
(upbeat music)
I'm gonna try the American cheese first.
(crunching)
That tastes like my childhood, that was good.
Next one, here we go, the cheddar.
(crunching)
(upbeat music)
Mm, hmm.
Both were very crunchy, very toasty.
The American cheese sandwich I will give
an A- 'cause it's just classic
and for the cheddar cheese, I'm gonna give it a B+
just 'cause the cheese didn't melt as much,
it didn't taste as ooey gooey.
Overall, this made pretty good
grilled cheese sandwiches, they were nice and toasty.
Though, this is gonna be very hard to clean out
'cause there is cheese on the inside of this,
which you're gonna have to get into somehow.
Oh, why don't we check what's going on,
also, with the cheese drip tray?
It really only caught one little drip
but it caught a lotta toast.
So make sure you clean that out
'cause I could imagine after a time, like, build up
that, like, some of these pieces could burn.
Overall, I think this is gonna be really hard to clean
and you can't, again, submerge this under water
'cause it's, like, an electrical device.
I'm not sure what it's doing better than a pan
'cause on a pan when you make a grilled cheese,
you get a much more even, like, toast
and this one was kinda spotty.
This was $20, I don't know if you need to spend $20.
Maybe make a grilled cheese on a pan
and go see a movie instead, I don't know.
I don't think it's worth the money.
This might be a fun gift for someone
who is obsessed with grilled cheese
but overall, for everyday use,
this is gonna be a thumbs down for me.
(whooshing)
Okay, that's it for the Grilled Cheese Toaster.
Let us know in the comments what else you want us to
test out and review and we'll see you guys next time.
Thanks for watchin'.
(upbeat music)
- [Man] Oh, yes!
(upbeat music)
(camera shutter clicking)
(upbeat music)