The Old-School Kitchen Appliance That's Totally Impractical In Today's Kitchens

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Along with heating bread for breakfast, modern toaster ovens allow you to make all sorts of unique recipes, such as dehydrated fruit, candied bacon, and just about everything else under the sun. These devices are mainstays in many households, so it's hard to imagine a time before they existed. Electric toasters first appeared on store shelves in 1909, while pop-up variants of the device were patented in 1921. Their more sophisticated sibling, the toaster oven, was developed in 1910 (namely by William Hadaway, the same person who invented the conventional oven, incidentally).

The appliance made another technological leap in 1957, which is when GE released its Toast-R-Oven. According to a vintage ad shared on Facebook, the Toast-R-Oven functioned as a pop-up toaster with an "oven" on the bottom portion that "makes delicious toasted cheese sandwiches, heats rolls and buns, toasts English muffins and corn muffins." It also served as a warming tray for up to six pieces of toast. The appliance's suggested retail price was $29.95. Adjusted for inflation, the Toast-R-Oven would cost about $350 these days, based on the Consumer Price Index. By 1964, GE's Toast-R-Oven was redesigned to include a window on the front of the device, making it more in-line with modern toaster ovens. It also gained the ability to bake food, as opposed to heating it up or keeping it warm. The revamped device was reportedly capable of baking cookies and buns, along with meatloaf, chicken, and frozen foods.

Technological advancements are par for the course for General Electric, which became a company in 1892 after multiple business ventures owned by Thomas Edison formed a conglomerate. GE developed other old-timey kitchen appliances, such as the electric carving knife in 1964. As for what consumers could expect from the Toast-R-Oven, the appliance was touted as efficient and easy-to-use. The device featured push-button operation when making toast, plus a dial that controlled the temperature of the oven. The bottom oven was accessible via a slide-out drawer, while the pop-up mechanism was designed to fully eject the bread to avoid burns to the fingers.

The Toast-R-Oven was quite innovative back when it was released in the late 1950s, but the appliance can't touch modern devices. Today's toaster ovens can make baked goods and cook full dinners (including frozen foods) while also providing air fryer functions in the same device. Some higher-end devices even offer touchscreen operation and Bluetooth-slash-WiFi capability. These appliances have come a long way since the Toast-R-Oven and will continue to make advances well into the future. If you want to preserve your handy device and avoid major kitchen mishaps, check out these foods you should never put in a toaster oven.