This week Tom and I tested out the Toas-Tite and the Toas-Tite tid bit!
This fun little sandwich maker, which I recently mentioned in an Astronaut Wives Club post, is a vintage, single sandwich maker that was created in 1945 and marketed by a company called Bar-B-Buns. Today, two lovely sisters have started re-producing the beloved Toas-Tite exactly as it used to be, complete with vintage packaging and pamphlets. They were kind enough to send me these two models to test out, but they are not sponsoring this post and opinions are my own. So let’s get on with this review!
Here is a quick video from Toas-Tite that shows how to use these lovelies. *Note: I usually use melted butter rather than cooking spray, but both work fine.
Armed with some of the handy reproduction vintage pamphlets and this video, we got to testing.
Here is chicken breast, bacon, watercress, avocado and blue cheese for a quick Cobb Salad Sandwich.
The first thing you should know about these sandwich makers is that they don’t really cook anything. They toast (as the name implies) and will heat things through, but they will not cook raw meat or anything like that. Keep this in mind while building your sandwich!
Both the Toas-Tite and the Toas-Tite tid bit were great quality. They are solidly put together with metal parts and wooden handles, so you don’t need to worry about them breaking. They were easy to clean as well! Between cooking sandwiches I just gave them a wipe with a paper towel, and some burned on gunk cleaned up easily with soap and water.
Lovely finished sandwich!
They were also fun to use and really did seal the sandwich nicely.
Big bite and nothing is falling out of the back!
Yum!
Now, onto the tid bit!
This one was slightly different. You use the same procedure as the original Toas-Tite, but instead of having one larger sandwich, it makes four sealed triangles that you can fill with your choice of filling.
Alex and I had a ball with this one, and filled it with pretty much anything we could imagine and get our hands on. Surprisingly, the best combo was a pre-made pie crust and brownie batter for cute little bit-sized brownie pies.
In a sidenote – I also feel like this would be a quick and easy way to make little dumplings or ravioli. You wouldn’t necessarily have to bake them in it, you could just use it as a press. 
Cute, right?
It also worked well with classic savory treats. We made crab rangoon with this that was very yummy! I might have to post that recipe soon.
But, like I said previously, these didn’t really cook anything, they just heated it up. The brownies above stayed very underbaked during testing. It was delicious because they were brownies, but they didn’t come close to baking. We also tried chocolate chip cookie dough, which didn’t bake at all. It was good, but not baked. We also tried candy bars and pie fillings, but the pie crust didn’t cook as well with those as it did with the brownie batter filling.
It tastes like delicious brownie pie!
Since we don’t have a gas stove, we used our charcoal grill to cook the sandwiches, which was fun but required a sharp eye when Alex wanted to help. These are a better fit for someone who has a gas stove vs an electric stove, but they did work just fine on the grill. They would also be fantastic for camping.
Overall, the only drawback I can find is that this is really meant to feed one person. If you have a family, or a hungry toddler crawling up your leg, then you had better have one of these for each person you are cooking for. I found myself making a sandwich for Alex, then Tom, then Alex, then Tom and then finally me. By then I was kind of sick of making them so I called it quits even though I was still hungry. The same goes with the tid bit. It is fun to make some quick snacks, but using one to make a whole cocktail party might take forever. But considering that this was the only drawback and would only apply to larger families, I would say that it is a hit!
The Verdict: High-Quality And Fun. Make sure you buy more than one if you want to feed a group!
If you are interested in purchasing a Toas-Tite or a Tibit, you can head over to the Toas-Tite website here, and you can use coupon code FS-15B for free shipping. (It is an affiliate code, so feel free to use it or not, but the free shipping is pretty awesome.)
Brownie Batter Pies
These are super-simple. All you need is pie crust (premade refridgerated works just fine) and brownie batter (homemade or from a box). Cut and lay your pie crust on your buttered Toas-Tite Tibit, then fill each indentation half-full of brownie batter. Seal and cook over flame until crust is browned lightly on both sides.
- Sliced Cooked Chicken Breast
- Cooked Bacon Slices
- Sliced Avocado
- Roquefort Cheese
- Watercress
- Rye or Marble Rye Bread
- Butter or cooking spray
- For The Dressing:
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- Juice of 1/2 small lemon
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dry English mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- Prepare your Toas-Tite sandwich maker with melted butter or cooking spray. Put down a slice of rye bread, and layer on a slice of chicken breast, a tablespoon of Roquefort cheese, two slices of avocado, a Tablespoon of watercress and two slices of bacon. Top with second slice of rye bread and close sandwich maker. Toast until bread is golden brown and sandwich is heated through. Dip in Brown Derby French Dressing.
- To Make Dressing:
- Combine vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and garlic in large container and shake to combine. Add oils and shake again. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle had a similar sandwich-maker (I don’t think it was Toas-Tite) that they kept by their fireplace. I thought it was so cool and always looked at it longingly, but I think they just kept it as a decoration. Now I can at least live vicariously through this post. Thanks from my childhood self!
We love these! Use them for camping all the time. The pizza ones are our favorite: pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni. Also make a great one with just cream cheese and apricot jam….
These sandwiches are quite popular where we camp in Michigan. There, they are called “hobo pies.”
Heyyyy, flying saucer sandwiches! (That’s what we call them here in the Philippines – no tid bits, though, but those are also pretty cool!)
The sandwiches are undeniably retro – they were around when I was a kid, and there’s a restaurant that still serves them with adobo (traditional Philippine pork or chicken stew) filling.
Thanks for sharing!
Those are so cute! Would be great for the kiddos.
Do you guys not have electric versions over there? In Australia these sandwiches are known as “jaffles” or “toasties”, and are pretty common. I bought a jaffle-maker this year (http://www.breville.com.au/the-originaltm-4-slice.html) and have pretty much lived on the things since…. they’re awesome!
Hi Ruth,
Loved your post. We call these jaffle irons in Australia and they are pretty standard in every home. Most places have the electric but I also just bought the hand version like yours from a camping store.
I have never tried sweet with them but your post has me intrigued.
xx