Mini Column: Toast Plates for Enjoying Toast at Its Best

After all, I really do love toast.

I'm a bread person in the mornings. Part of it is that it's quick and easy to prepare, which suits those hectic morning hours. But it's also because, if I buy my favorite bread from the bakery the night before, just knowing it's waiting for me makes it easier to drag myself out of bed on sleepy mornings. (Well, on some days, at least.)

There are countless kinds of bread out there, but in the end, what I love most is shokupan (Japanese white bread), and toast made from it. Some bakeries that take pride in their shokupan will tell you to try it first without toasting, but I still can't help wanting to pop it in the toaster and enjoy it with a crisp exterior and a fluffy interior.

For Enjoying Toast at Its Best

As someone who loves toast this much, there's one item I've had my eye on for a long time.

It's the "Toast Plate" from TOJIKITONYA.

As the name suggests, this plate was made specifically for enjoying toast at its best. Its surface features a raised pattern that looks like sprouting plants, so when toast is placed on it, the contact surface between the toast and the plate doesn't easily become damp—meaning the toast stays crisp for longer.

This time, my wish finally came true, and I welcomed the brown "Ame" color into my home. I couldn't wait to see just how crisp my toast would turn out!

◼ First, let's take a look.

"Amber" feels like a more fitting name than "brown." Perhaps due to the way the glaze settles, the color is slightly lighter along the raised edges of the plate and deeper in certain spots, giving it a beautifully varied expression.

◼ Now, let's finally put some toast on it.

I prepared a square-shaped shokupan loaf. It fit the Toast Plate perfectly! A tall, peaked loaf might overhang the edges, though.

Since I had the chance, I decided to compare it with the TEEMA plate I usually use for toast.

I like to toast for about two and a half minutes in the toaster, until it just barely takes on some color.

Looking at the contact surface between the toast and each plate, the TEEMA plate shows the toast sticking flat against it, whereas on the Toast Plate, you can clearly see gaps thanks to the raised pattern.

I deliberately left the toast untouched on the plate for about two minutes. When I then moved the toast aside,

On the TEEMA plate on the left, you can see fine water droplets forming in exactly the shape of the bread. On the Toast Plate on the right, there are many areas without any droplets at all, which makes me think the heat and steam from the bread escaped outward.

◼ Let's give it a taste.

Comparing the two slices side by side, I could definitely taste a difference! It was especially noticeable around the crust—the slice on the Toast Plate stayed crisp, while the crust on the TEEMA plate, which should have had a nice bite to it, had gone soft.

That said, as I kept eating, I noticed that the center of the bread on the Toast Plate had also become somewhat soft. I wonder if that's due to how quickly I was eating, or if it's simply harder for the center to release all its heat.

Even so, TOJIKITONYA's Toast Plate is an item that lets you enjoy that crisp toast texture for much longer. This time I only tried it with toast, but I'd love to try it with other kinds of bread too, like croissants.

Butter—an essential companion to toast.I'm currently using Takahashi Kogei's "45° Butter Case", and love it.

A Limited Introduction: The White Color

At ZUTTO, we're offering the "White" version of the Toast Plate featured here in limited quantities, specially prepared to go along with this column.

Another nice thing is that both the Ame and White colors are reasonably priced. It might be lovely to get one for each family member, and enjoy a toast breakfast together as a family. 

▼ Click here for the Toast Plate product page