Today, I’m testing out the “Classic Retro 3-in-1 Breakfast Station” by Nostalgia. This interesting appliance has had a few viewer requests – and with my track record of reviewing breakfast stations – I’m anxious to see if it can live up to its predecessors.
Nostalgia Breakfast Station Review
Where to Buy
I picked up my breakfast station on Amazon for about $50 where it currently holds a 4.3-star rating among over 1000 reviews.
Features
This retro-designed breakfast maker promises to whip up an entire breakfast with ease. Now, if you’ve followed my journey, you know I’ve seen it all – from griddles to toasters, to strange egg contraptions. This model comes equipped with a two-slice wide toaster, perfect for your thick bagels, and a multi-use hot plate can make everything from hard boiled eggs to bacon.
There’s a satisfying toast lever and a vintage-inspired timer that admittedly has a few quirks (aka, it doesn’t really work as you’d expect). For starters, I set out to make my benchmark breakfast sandwich, which turned out to be a patience-testing feat. The egg, nested in the included ring, took its sweet time cooking due to the timer’s quirkiness, and the Canadian bacon – oh, dear friends from the north, forgive the nomenclature – cooked unevenly, but eventually came out alright.
Regarding the timer, I read in the instructions that the dial won’t move after it’s set, which makes no sense to me. I decided from that point onward to simply crank the timer all the way to its max of 15 minutes and rely on my phone’s stopwatch.
Tests
My first use of the toaster was the English muffin with the breakfast sandwich, and it came out less than golden, which tells me the toasting calibration might be off. Plus, that timer… it doesn’t move. At all. I was left wondering if I’d entered some sort of culinary Twilight Zone.
Moving on to the eggs – it was able to hard-boil six at once! Here, the station redeemed itself with perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs in the promised 14-minute window. No complaints there, and I’d even say it’s a neat party trick for this appliance.
But what’s a breakfast without toast to judge? So I toasted bread at varying levels, finding that there’s a fine line between perfectly crisp and charcoal. Pro tip: Don’t venture past level four unless you like your toast with a side of ashes. I didn’t get to the #5 or #6 setting because one side of the #4 setting was burnt. I didn’t want to fill my house with smoke by pushing it any further.
The “grill” side of things brought home the bacon, quite literally. The bacon and sausage sizzled to perfection, despite the lack of space. Steaming veggies also turned out to be a win – the broccoli I tried was perfectly tender.
And who could forget the frozen waffle test? Passed with flying colors. As for the large pancake I bravely attempted, well, it proved the griddle’s heat is surprisingly even, giving me a golden-brown beauty that I was proud to plate.
Conclusion
In the end, I have mixed feelings about Nostalgia’s “Classic Retro 3-in-1 Breakfast Station.” It’s charming, yes, with a side of nostalgia (pun intended), but the timer is more of an enigma than a feature. The toasting requires a learning curve, and if you’re in a rush, you might find the griddle side a bit sluggish.
For those of you considering adding this to your kitchen arsenal, go in with your eyes open. It has its charms and can certainly pull its weight when it comes to whipping up a simple meal. But for the toast aficionados and timing sticklers, it may not quite hit the mark.
If you’ve used this or something like it, tell me what you think in the comments below!