text: how does this work? ok the inside of the toaster, there is strips of elements, the cage (holding the bread), but how does this toast the bread without leaving stripes? is it to do with maths? the trick here is the positioning of the resistance wires relative to the bread.  the infra-red radiation emitted comes out in all directions from the wires.  by positioning the wires just close enough together, at just the right distance from the bread, the heat generated is close to even.  there is, of course, more than that--but that's the basics as i know 'em