A toaster having a mechanically actuated cover for each of one or more toasting volumes. Each cover at least partially covers a toasting volume within the toaster during toasting, thereby reducing heat transfer (primarily due to convection) away from the toaster and the object being toasted. In preferred embodiments, each cover is a pair of slidably mounted plates. When a carriage (supporting an object to be toasted) is manually lowered by a user, a mechanical linkage attached to the carriage cause the plates to slide together to cover (substantially or totally) a toasting volume. When the carriage springs up (at the end of the toasting operation), the mechanical linkage slides the plates away from each other to allow removal of the toasted object from the toaster. In other preferred embodiments, each cover is a pair of rotatably mounted plates. When a carriage supporting an object is manually lowered by the user, a mechanical linkage attached to the carriage rotates (and optionally also translates) the plates so that they cover a toasting volume. Then, when the carriage springs up (at the end of the toasting operation), the mechanical linkage rotates (or rotates and translates) the plates in the opposite direction to uncover the toasting volume and allow removal of the toasted object.
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