Can i stick a knife in a toaster

The possible causes are fire and electrocution. Make sure the toaster is turned off and unplugged. You can first try to push up the toaster lever to see if the stuck bread becomes more accessible. Click here to see this set of bamboo toaster tongs on Amazon. Perhaps you have used a fork or knife to fish out broken pieces of bread at the bottom of the toaster.

Kitchen and home appliances have come a long way in providing safer devices that work to prevent electrocution. Electrical outlets also have safety features to prevent fatalities from electrocution. A ground fault circuit interrupter is often used where outlets could come into contact with water. This safety feature will cut off the power as soon as an imbalance is recognized. This should prevent any kind of fatality from electrocution when working properly.

A volt outlet can kill you if the current travels through your nerves and reaches your heart. This can only happen when you latch on. In most cases when people get an electric shock, they are able to release grip on the conductor which minimizes bodily harm. However, there are instances where you can become a conductor for the electrical current to pass through. When this happens, it is often difficult to let go, and severe injury or death can occur. The first thing to remember is that you should not stick anything into the toaster to remove stuck bread, because it can damage the electrical components of the appliance.

When using your toaster, only put items that are meant to go in the toaster. Only use bread or items that are narrow enough to fit in the slots without getting stuck. Primarily because of the mentioned sharpness and conductivity of the cutlery. The list of the tools that should not be used in this manner can be extensive, but you can keep to a rule of thumb by checking the following:. These rules are not universal, and some safe options have at least one of these features, but sticking to these should keep you safe whenever you try to use something to get the stuck toast out of the toaster.

You can add anything imaginable to the things that can be stuck in a toaster. Cheese is a great example. If you are not using a toaster bag , but you love your toast with extra flavor, you can be tilted to scraping it out with something hard and sharp. I am aware that the fork options mentioned above can prick something. The second issue is the possibility of electrocuting or burning yourself, especially if the toaster is plugged in and heating is on.

Before we go deeper, there is something you should see. A quick rundown on how does a toaster work:. Now you have heard that the wire inside the toaster is uninsulated, which means there is nothing that prevents the electricity from going somewhere else if it meets a conductive object.

It runs through it back and forth from a power plant to the toaster and back. Sticking a metal fork or knife into the powered wire will lead to the electricity running back via the road of least resistance — i. Just guessing, Gary, but it sounds like you think that electrocution by toaster is a silly female superstition and that manly men have nothing to fear. Perhaps we can also guess your feelings about seat belts, sunscreen, and motorcycle helmets.

Luckily, owing to generations of mopes sticking knives into toasters, appliances and house wiring now have safety features built into them to protect guys like you from yourself. A toaster works by causing a current to flow through a special type of wire with a high resistance to electrical current. The resistance converts the flow of current into heat that browns your bread. You might slip and accidentally hit the lever and energize the heating elements. If you contact the coils, the toaster might make toast out of you.

Mica is a mineral with excellent thermal and electrically-insulating properties that make it well suited to this application. Does that happen often? The thin wiring system can be broken and your toaster might stop working. Most of the toasters have their wiring coated with Mica. Mica is a substance which acts as an insulator. This is very thin and brittle, so if you tend to force any metal objects including a fork can break the coat apart and the underneath wiring can get damaged which also might give you a fatal shock when in contact with your body.

As the time passes you will find your toaster to be deteriorating the best functions and becoming harmful to use. The plastic might not pass the electricity but can harm your toaster to a great extent.

If you want to cool it down and use the fork, you can do it but until and unless you want to have a cold toast. The steps are simple. The toaster will not be damaged nor you will be zapped. If you find that any piece or a toast is stuck inside your toaster and you need to take it out immediately then at first, switch off the main switch of the toaster and not just switch off the button on a toaster.