Making toast for a crowd is less than ideal. Who wants to be glued to the toaster, waiting for each batch to toast just right? Toasters only have so many slots, making them unequipped to handle large quantities when you’re serving up more than just four or five people. Enter: the oven hack. You can actually toast about 10 pieces at a time when you turn your oven into a makeshift toaster. This can be done by sandwiching a baking sheet between two racks that are positioned close together. Once you’ve done this, you can drop slices upright within the bars on the upper rack so they’re resting against the bars and the bottom of each piece is supported by the baking sheet.
This method calls for high heat, so be sure to crank your oven up to 400 or 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and keep an eye on your toast so it doesn’t burn. However, if you aren’t in a rush, you can set your oven to a lower temperature like 350 degrees Fahrenheit. But if you are in a hurry and your oven has a broiler setting, using it may get the job done faster. Just take extra precaution to prevent your bread from charring, as the broiler typically works very quickly. It’s not a bad idea to keep your oven door open while using the broiler to create airflow. Whether you’re baking or broiling, use tongs to flip your slices upside down as they start to brown to ensure even toasting. This technique can be done with classic white bread, potato bread, bagels, and more.
Toasting buttered bread in bulk
If you want to toast bread that you’ve already buttered, your slices should be arranged lying flat on a baking sheet. Grab your biggest sheet and throw however many will fit on it to toast your buttered bread. Lining your baking sheet with aluminum foil will help you avoid a mess. This method is better if you’re toasting something like a croissant that is bulkier and fluffier than slices that can easily lean against the bars of an oven rack.
In the case that you don’t have a big enough baking sheet, you can always toss some slices straight onto one of your oven racks, buttered or not. If your bread is buttered and you can’t flip it with tongs, you may use the broiler at the end to get the top after toasting the underside. Make sure to adjust your oven racks for broiling so that it’s the right distance — for toast, the rack should be closer to the heat source.
