I was walking past Zabar’s the other day and I noticed an ad in the window trumpeting the return of the Toas-Tite grilled sandwich maker. Just seeing the word – Toas-Tite – tossed me back six decades to my earliest childhood cooking experiences in suburban Baltimore. 
It seemed every family had one of these gizmos hanging on their kitchen wall or crammed into a drawer.
I entered Zabar’s and climbed the steps to the second floor, where they sell pots, pans and every cooking gadget known to mankind, and they had a whole stack of them, boxed neatly in cardboard by a company that calls itself Replica Products, which says it all. The Toas-Tite of my toddlerhood was cast iron and weighed four or five pounds. I had to wait until I got big enough to lift it. This replica – perfect to the eye – comes in at about a pound-and-a-half, tops. Okay, fine. That’s life.
I had to have it.
The Toas-Tite makes a grilled sandwich of any variety you can dream up. The sandwich comes out round, looking very much like the old movie-serial depictions of a flying saucer. 
You can make a Reuben; you can do bacon, egg, cheese and tomato; you can do a flying saucer calzone; you can bake a cherry pie. Sort of.
Sometimes I dot butter on the outside of the bread; sometimes I nap it with olive oil. Either one gives you that buttery/oily crunch, which is your first sensory experience with the Toas-Tite. The second being the melty cheese and third, whatever other concoction you’ve stuffed in there.
Today, I’m doing a Reuben – pastrami, which I will pre-steam a little; sauerkraut, ditto; house-made, artisanal Russian dressing – that would be half Hellman’s, half Heinz, a little grated horseradish for the obligatory lumps and a dash of Worcestershire; and two slices of seeded rye bread.
Again, gently lubricate the outside of the sandwich.
In this case oil. Put a slice of rye on the Toas-Tite, oily side down. Then build your sandwich any way you like. Keep all the good stuff centered because you’ll be trimming off the edges of the bread when you close and lock the machine. Then you just rest it on top of the burner of your gas range, turned to high – about forty seconds or so on each side. Then you unlock the handle and out pops your flying saucer.
Happy landings.
P.S. – Zabar’s splendid rye bread, when sliced, is too small to use. The area of the slice of bread has to exceed the circumference of the Toas-Tite. Otherwise it doesn’t toast tightly.
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About Michael Tucker
I’ve been an actor for about forty years and a writer for half as many. I have worked in theater, TV and movies - in New York, California and many points in between. I’m married to the actress Jill Eikenberry – thirty-eight years this June – and we now divide our time between New York and Italy, where we have a house nestled among the olive trees in Umbria. I’ve written three books, all of which have food and drink prominently involved. The first is “I Never Forget a Meal” which explains itself; “Living In a Foreign Language” about our house in Italy; and “Family Meals”, a book about how our family turned into Italians around the crisis of Jill’s mother’s decline into dementia. There’s a lot of food in that one, too.-
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Recent Comments
Toas-tites were indeed Mom’s great culinary delights. The go-with was Campbell’s tomato soup. Mike, bring your replica to Umbria, we’ll reminisce.
Eddie Tucker!!! Haven’t seen your name in years. Believe you used to run with my brother, Sheldon back when we were growing up on Menlo Drive. If you don’t remember who I am, Michael can probably clue you in.
I hope all is going well with you.
Howard
My brother in law has four of those and they are actually considered to be family heirlooms. Try this desert recipe Jill will love it. Take two graham crackers,one half of a Hershey bar , and one marshmallow. Close the lid gently and heat until the chocolate is melted.
Why do I have the feeling that WonderBread would be, perhaps, the ideal bread for certain concoctions?
We took ours camping and made “pies” by putting it in the campfire.
I was ignorant of the marvels of Toast-Tite, in spite of the fact that I grew up in the Wash/Balto area…but it did send me reeling off into the yesteryear culinary delights…Little Tavern hamburgers ( now called sliders), Rock Creek Cola ( dozens of artificial flavors) Tastycake Butterscotch cakes, Utz potato chips, National Boh beer…I could go on but I’m sure Michael remembers more of the local pickings. Your blog always makes me ravenous.
Hi Michael,
We’re delighted to read about your Toas-Tite experiences and love the recipe & photo of your Rueben masterpiece. With smaller bread slices, we found if you roll out the bread a bit, it will cover each clam shell.
While it’s always a treat to discover another Toas-Tite fan, we want you to know we’re also fans of you and your wife.
Wishing you and Jill a Toas-Tite Great Day!
Your friends from Toas-Tite
Caro Mikey,
I’ve been trying my entire adult life to replicate that crisp oozing grilled cheese and tomato sandwich from my youth! I’ve been using my cast iron pan and squishing down with a lid but it’s never quite right and the butter always smokes. Maybe you could convince your new Toas-Tite buddies to distribute in Italy, but until then, will you bring yours and then leave it for me? Please? Grazie mille.
Amy managed to find one on the internet. she got to it before it went on sale at Sotheby’s, which would have distorted the entire market for them. anyway, the simple cheese on rye was heaven. Bringing one to Poreta sounds like a great idea.
@ Jim and Pam — Yeah, toas-tite carbonara
I want one of these. I need to google and find out where they sell them in Baltimore. Send the fam my love.
I almost cried when I read your article! My mother used the Toas-Tite to make pizza sandwiches. A teaspoon of tomato paste, a dash each of dried oregano, dried basil and garlic powder, a tablespoon (or so, no one measured) of grated cheddar, and these pizza sandwiches were the very first things I ever cooked on my own! I have already gone to the Toas-tite website and ordered two! Thank you!
@ Gina — Yeah, I think Toas-tites were the beginning for me, too.