Why Do Buttered Toast Edges Burn Quicker

Did you know there’s an art to toasting bread? Broiled, grilled, and pan-toasted are some of the most mouthwatering kinds of toast. For many, it’s crucial that you butter your bread before toasting. But you might have noticed on downside to this trick.

The edges of buttered toast burn quicker than the center, but why?

If you’ve ever noticed this and thought maybe it was just you or your oven or grill, it’s not. Butter is made up of milk fat, water, and milk solids. When heated, the water in the butter evaporates, leaving behind the milk solids and fat. The milk solids and fat then start to brown and eventually burn, creating that familiar browned butter flavor.

However, the edges of the toast are not covered in butter, so they don’t have the same protective layer as the rest of the bread. This lack of protection causes the edges to burn faster than the rest of the bread.

So is there a solution? Kind of. To an extent, there’s little way to prevent this, but one method is to ensure you’re buttering all the way out to the edges of your toast, ensuring that even those crusty edges are butter covered.

It may take some patience, persistence, and experimentation to master your toast recipes, but you can do it. Always remember that little effort is worth delicious toast.