The toaster that needs to exist is a Sunbeam Radiant Control with bagel-width slice capacity. It’s a simple mechanism from decades ago with only a darkness control, and its only caveat is it can’t fit a thicker slice.

Great narrative and I wish some of those regional varieties were more available outside China.

This battle is missing some context and nuance. In the era where the original studies were conducted, kitchen ventilation was either “open a window” or a wheezy vent fan mounted in the wall or ceiling somewhere near the range. We have better options now— range hoods directly over the appliance with more powerful extractors. Perhaps rather than banning gas stoves, we should regulate adequate ventilation when they are installed, and ban ineffective recirculating hoods instead.