Avogadros Toast

An intense guide as to how to master the age-old art of toasting

BY OAKLEY FELKER AND ELENA RIVERA

Soft Introduction
Food lovers across the country flock to the famous
$11 avocado toast at Frog Hollow Farm Cafe in San
Francisco, California which is composed of only the
simplest ingredients: avocado, bread, and oils. Toast
has become a trendy American staple and is featured
on menus at some of the top west coast restaurants,
but a lot of time is spent perfecting such a simple
food, for the conditions by which bread is toasted in
subtly changes the taste and texture.
To enhance the bread tasting experience we will
explore how temperature can be utilized to transform
bread for optimal pleasure and experience.

Simple Affair
Part of what makes toast so delectable is its
simplistic nature. All one needs to make a piece of
toast is an oven or toaster, a piece of only the finest
bread, and just a few precious minutes, so its
important to know the complex chemistry behind it to
gain the most appreciation for such an art form.
The Basics: Higher Temperatures=Higher Class
When high temperatures are applied to the outside
of toast a vital reaction takes place known as the
Maillard reaction; carbohydrate molecules react with
the protein molecules to yield color and taste
byproducts. Color byproducts adorn bread with a soft
brown hue. The sweet irresistible smell emitted from
fresh toast is attributed to the little taste byproduct
molecules that dance in the air. These same taste
byproducts cause the toast to have that ever so slight
nutty taste that complements the breads simplicity.
For bread, the Maillard reaction yields best results at
285F-320F; toasting below 285F creates warm
bread, but above 320F the sugars start to caramelize
and pyrolyzed into carbon-based chunks that can
cause the toast to taste burnt and bitter.
The Path to the Goldilocks Temperature
To discover the perfect piece of toast a series of blind
taste tests were conducted on bread toasted for 7
minutes at differing temperatures: 250F, 300F, 350F,
and 400F.
The subjects were asked to rank the desirability of
the consistency of each piece relative to each other on
a scale from 1-4 (4 being best and 1 being worst). The
bread toasted at 350F and 400F both had an average
ranking of 2.4 out of 4; they had a hard dark layer that
was measured to be 3 mm and 4 mm thick. The bread
toasted at 250F had crunch layer around 1 mm and was
ranked the lowest with an average score of 2.1 out of 4.
The color of the 250F didnt change. 300F had the
highest average ranking score at 3.1 out of 4 and had a
golden brown crunch layer that was 2.2 mm thick. For
every 50F after 200F there was approximately 1 mm of
crunch added to the toast.
When subjects were asked to rate the toasts taste on a
scale from 1-4 (1 being plain and 4 being bitter) it
was found that the bread toasted at 250F was the
plainest, the bread at 300F was slightly plain, the bread
at 350F was slightly bitter, and the bread toasted
 Avogadros Toast
An intense guide as to how to master the age-old art of toasting
BY OAKLEY FELKER AND ELENA RIVERA
Color progression of toast due to temperature
at 400F was bitter.
300F was ranked the overall best by 40% of surveyors.
Why 300F is Just Right
The Maillard reaction, first described in the 1900s
by chemist Richard Camille Maillard, perfectly outlines
why bread toasted at 300F was the most prefered.
When exposed to heat,
carbohydrates and proteins
macromolecules create new
compounds that yield different
flavors (known as Maillard
reaction). As these tiny
macromolecules break down, they
form the beautiful crunchy layer we all desire. In fact,
our bodies even love these broken down
macromolecules; when bread is toasted it is easier to
digest due to the new arrangement of molecules
produced from the reaction. Since our bodies dont
have to break down these components, energy is
saved which allows the body to retrieve more
nutrition from toast rather than plain, limp bread.
Bread that is toasted at 300F is perfect, for it has
a delicious nutty flavor that many people enjoy since
AVOGADROS TOAST
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
-4 slices of Canyon Bakehouse 7-grain Bread
- Organic Hass Avocado
-4 tsp Earthbound Vegan Butter Original
Equipment
-Butter knife
-Thermometer
-Toaster Oven
Steps
1) Preheat toaster oven to 300F. It is
important to use the thermometer to check the
temperature multiple times before placing the
toast in since the overall best toast will occur
around 300F.
2) Place the plain toast into the toaster oven.
Putting any substances on the bread before
toasting will slow the reaction, so it is best to hold
off until after the bread has been removed from
the oven.
3) Leave the toast in the oven for 7 minutes
so that the bread is left with a subtle brown
coating that leaves a slight crunch. If the toast
appears to be darkening quickly check the
temperature once again, for there may have been
a temperature jump causing the reaction to occur
 Avogadros Toast
An intense guide as to how to master the age-old art of toasting

BY OAKLEY FELKER AND ELENA RIVERA

that temperature is the Maillard reaction sweet spot. faster, which is common in toaster ovens.
As the toasting temperature rises, the toasts taste 4) After the time has passed or the toast has
reached that perfect golden brown, carefully
begins to slowly transform as a result of new remove it from the toaster oven.
compounds that form above 285F. The compounds 5) Take the butter knife and spread 1 tsp of
that arise in the bread at 300F for 7 minutes, Earth Bound Vegan Butter over each piece of
toast in horizontal motions. The sooner the butter
manifest the ideal flavor, not too bitter and not too
is spread after removing the toast the less time it
plain. will take to melt.
If the bread was toasted at a higher or lower 6) Once the butter has been spread do the
temperature, the molecules present at the time of same with Hass Avocado.
7) Serve and enjoy!
consumption would be different, and in turn, so would
the texture and flavor. If the bread is toasted at a
higher temperature, 400F for example, the toast will
be much darker in appearance as well as taste more
bitter because sugars caramelize at high
temperatures. Bread toasted at a lower temperature,
like 250F, will simply be warm, soft bread with little
to no toastiness, nor added flavor. Taking this
information into account, we have determined that
300F manifests the most delectable toast.