Toaster oven on laminate seam?

[Klutch9]

Recently bought a toaster oven to replace an old toaster that died. They're very poorly insulated, which is to be expected, and I got a little worried about using it on our laminate countertop. Then I thought that I'm sure many people using this will be using it on laminate/Formica, so no big deal. But where we've placed the toaster oven is currently on a seam. I remember when the countertops were installed, they mentioned keeping moisture away from the seams. But what about heat? I know heat rises, but it does project heat downward too. It has 3/4" legs and room for airflow underneath, but I'm wondering if I should place a thin cutting board under it or something to shield the radiant heat.

 

[Sunnyinhollister]

buy a large single ceramic tile for it to sit on

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted by Sunnyinhollister
buy a large single ceramic tile for it to sit on


What about one of those butcher block cutting boards? Like I said, not a whole lot of heat goes down, so I just want a mild barrier. I know wood absorbs heat far more than ceramic.

 

[PimTac]

The butcher block might work. Nothing is going to catch on fire right away. That should be enough to protect that seam.

How is your clearance above the oven? That should be more of a focus than below. I've seen some upper cabinets get toasty looking with ovens too close.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by Klutch9
Originally Posted by Sunnyinhollister
buy a large single ceramic tile for it to sit on


What about one of those butcher block cutting boards? Like I said, not a whole lot of heat goes down, so I just want a mild barrier. I know wood absorbs heat far more than ceramic.


I tend to over think/over complicate these things myself...I was thinking small plank with either a layer of foil on top, or a small baking sheet, or piece of thin scrap metal.(reflect the heat back up)

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted by PimTac
The butcher block might work. Nothing is going to catch on fire right away. That should be enough to protect that seam.

How is your clearance above the oven? That should be more of a focus than below. I've seen some upper cabinets get toasty looking with ovens too close.


About 7" to the underside of the wood, painted cabinets. These aren't builder grade, but nice hard wood original with the house in 1953. FWIW, the toaster we previously used had about 1/4" extra clearance and the cabinets look just fine. They did get warm, but nothing else, and the paint still looks fine no bubbling or anything else problematic.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by PimTac
The butcher block might work. Nothing is going to catch on fire right away. That should be enough to protect that seam.

How is your clearance above the oven? That should be more of a focus than below. I've seen some upper cabinets get toasty looking with ovens too close.


my buddy's family should consider themselves lucky then....for YEARS their paper towel roll holder (wooden) was just above their toaster oven... with a Full Roll, maybe 2" of clearance...

 

[4WD]

Look for a glass cutting board - they don't catch fire ...

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by earlyre
Originally Posted by PimTac
The butcher block might work. Nothing is going to catch on fire right away. That should be enough to protect that seam.

How is your clearance above the oven? That should be more of a focus than below. I've seen some upper cabinets get toasty looking with ovens too close.


my buddy's family should consider themselves lucky then....for YEARS their paper towel roll holder (wooden) was just above their toaster oven... with a Full Roll, maybe 2" of clearance...



That is rolling the dice for sure.

I knew someone who had their toaster oven near a window. It tended to burn things so putting it close to the window helped get rid of the smoke. The window had sheer curtains which were brown and pretty crispy close to the oven. This was a older woman and she never realized what was happening. Those curtains came down that day.

I think in the OP's case, if the laminate seam is in good shape and not loose then there should be no problem to begin with. If still worried, a lot of good ideas have popped up here.

 

[bcossa2001]

Don't put it beneath under cabinet lighting either ...