The Best Way To Make Toast For A Crowd

Making toast is normally a pretty stress-free procedure, but if you need large quantities of it for dinner party crostini or homemade brunch for friends, you're suddenly presented with a real quandary. How do you make a lot of toast quickly? Even a big four-slice toaster probably isn't enough if you've got several hungry people all clamoring for multiple slices each. Luckily, the good people of @testkitchen on TikTok have got us covered with a simple oven trick that can churn out enough toast for a convention center's worth of hungry brunchers.

You can turn your oven into a toaster for 15 to 20 slices of bread at a time with only a sheet pan. Just preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and rearrange your two oven racks to the center with one directly above the other. Place a sheet pan on the lower rack to serve as a base, then slide slices of bread in between the wires of the top rack. The wires will keep each slice upright and separated while the oven toasts the bread just as evenly as a toaster would. This trick can even work with other breakfast items, like frozen waffles, that you would normally make in a toaster.

The only thing you need to keep an eye on when using this oven hack is the browning. You won't be able to rely on the automatic timing of a toaster, so getting distracted could mean burning your bread. Be sure to flip the toast over partway through to guarantee even browning.

Toast makes a great brunch item for a crowd because it can easily be transformed into something special with assorted toppings. Cinnamon toast can make for a great side to serve alongside the breakfast main course, or berries and cream can turn toast into a more decadent centerpiece on its own. Savory toppings can be a surprising way to mix things up, too. Melted cheese, spreads like hummus, and mushrooms can all make a great accompaniment to toast for brunch. And, of course, who doesn't love a simple, tried-and-true stack of freshly buttered toast? With so little work required to make a ton of toast, this oven hack frees you up to have fun and be creative.