The Toaster Pro

At 17, I left high school to see the world, spending a year tracing the Mediterranean through Spain, Italy, Morocco, and beyond. It was equal parts joy, loneliness, and wonder. From Japan, I flew out, then traveled by train, bus, and foot to my first stop, Ronda. Exhausted and hungry, I followed a street-corner aroma to a small bakery. With basic Spanish, I persuaded the baker to share bread. My first bite brought tears—tension, fatigue, hope, and uncertainty all spilled out. The flavor seemed to dissolve every barrier inside me. Even now, I remember that bread’s fragrance and taste as vividly as the moment I first tried it.

May 2014. On the day of our annual company barbecue, rain poured from morning to night. We considered canceling, but went ahead, figuring it would be memorable—and it was. While grilling bread with the meat, the toast emerged perfectly crisp outside and moist inside. If we could recreate this, we thought, we could make a revolutionary toaster. The next day, experiments began, yet success was elusive. Was it the charcoal, the grill, the distance from the flame? Then someone recalled the downpour. The secret was humidity, and it became the breakthrough that inspired BALMUDA The Toaster.

A visit to a renowned Tokyo bakery became a turning point for BALMUDA The Toaster. Welcomed in before opening, our team sampled fresh bread and saw electric ovens with precise steam control — proof remarkable bread could be made with only electricity and water. We knew we were on the right path.

As engineers built the first prototype, the design team shaped how it should look and feel. Nearly two thousand sketches refined every detail, down to the screws. Once complete, hardware adjustments followed, from the size of the toasting area to the angle of the reflecting board.

Over a thousand hours of experimental toasting led to specialized modes for different breads, each tuned for ideal texture and flavor. Every detail was tuned to ensure consistently exceptional toast, transforming the prototype into a product ready for kitchens everywhere.

When our founder invited a professional chef into the process, no one expected the toaster itself would change. Months in, the chef proposed a bold idea: add a setting inspired by salamander broilers, used in restaurants to finish dishes with a golden, crisp surface. We tried it on buttered toast. Our steam technology already made perfect toast, but with the chef’s technique, the surface gained a gentle char, the aroma deepened, and the texture kept its crisp, fluffy balance with a new edge. The first bite had more energy and made us smile.

We had not known there was another level of toast. Now we do.

When we prepared to introduce The Pro to the US, we wanted to be sure it could deliver the same professional-level performance that home chefs and professionals expect. We wanted insight from someone who truly understood the American palate. That’s how Joey Scalabrino came into the picture. Known for his beloved restaurants Apollo Bagels and Leo Pizza, Joey is a chef who lives and breathes bread, with a deep appreciation for its craft and flavor.

We invited him to BALMUDA The Store Aoyama in Tokyo to meet with our own chef Okamura, the culinary mind behind The Pro. Together they explored the toaster’s settings, testing and refining how it could elevate American favorites such as bagels, pizza, muffins, and sourdough.

The outcome was a version of The Pro designed with the US home cook in mind. It is a subtle evolution that brings professional-quality results into every kitchen.