FurzoToasto is a knife that doubles up as a TOASTER

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and Trillian make toast using a knife that looks like a lightsaber.

And while this exact kitchen gadget remains a sci-fi dream, an eccentric British inventor has created a searing hot knife that toasts bread as it cuts.

Colin Furze has dubbed his creation FurzoToasto, which uses an electrical current to power the red-hot blade that toasts the bread.

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An eccentric British inventor has created a searingly hot knife that toasts bread as it cuts (pictured). Colin Furze has dubbed his creation FurzoToasto, which uses an electrical current to power the red-hot blade that toasts the bread

Mr Furze has shown off his invention, which he created in his garage, in a YouTube video.

The chunky knife uses a modified microwave transformer that’s connected to its main body via wires. The body is made of copper pipes and a serrated blade.

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'The current comes through the cables, though the pipes and ultimately passes through the blade,' he said.

When the inventor turns the light off, the blade glows red - like the lightsaber in The Hitchhiker's Guide film, Gizmodo reported.

He said the knife is ‘surprisingly simple to make’ but it's recommended that people don’t try to recreate the device at home.

As Mr Furze cuts though a loaf, the red-hot knife causes it to smoke (pictured). The blade is so hot that it toasts the surface of the bread it’s cutting 

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy film, Arthur Dent and Trillian make toast using a knife that looks like a lightsaber (shown) - which bears some resemblance to Furze's red-hot knife

As Mr Furze cuts though a loaf, the red-hot knife causes it to smoke.

The blade is so hot that it toasts the surface of the bread it’s cutting, but the edges do get a bit burnt.

Mr Furze said: 'obviously [it's] a little bit crusty at the edges...but that's pretty good.’

The invention seems to toast bread faster than a conventional toaster and also makes buttering toast faster.

‘As well as toasting the bread, it make's spreading hard butter a dream too,’ he said.

The video shows the knife dragging bubbling butter across the toasted bread so ‘it will spread…like it’s oil,’ but the toast does look a bit limp in the middle.

Mr Furze (pictured) said: 'obviously [it's] a little bit crusty at the edges...but that's pretty good’

The invention can be used on pre-sliced bread (shown) to toast it when the blade is dragged across the bread

The invention seems to toast bread faster than a conventional toaster and also makes buttering toast faster. The video shows the knife dragging bubbling butter across the toasted bread (pictured) so ‘it will spread…like it’s oil,’Mr Furze said

EXPERIMENT DRAWS ATTENTION TO POWER-HUNGRY TOASTERS 

Toasting a slice of bread takes a lot of energy - enough to leave a former Olympics track cyclist lying on his back panting.

German athlete, and Olympic medal winner, Robert Forstemann battled a 700w toaster to bring attention to how much energy we use without realising.

The experiment was part of the toaster project, which is the work of graduate Nathan Grossman from Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Before the challenge, the producers explained to Mr Forstemann that the toast would pop up at the very moment the athlete ceased to cycle.

In the clip, Mr Forstemann can be seen getting ready before setting off - throughout the endurance test he attempts to keep the energy generated above 700w.

The energy was transferred using a bicycle dynamo that acts like a generator.

The dynamo has a wheel that touches the back tyre and as the bike moves, the wheel turns a magnet inside a coil.

The experiment found that it would take 18 Forstemann’s (the athelete is pictured with a lightly toasted slice of bread) to generate a car and 43,000 to power an aeroplane. The toaster project is the work of graduate Nathan Grossman from Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts

This generates the energy, which in the challenge was transferred to the toaster.

As the challenge went on, the athlete’s heartbeat continued to rise and the pain can be seen etched on his face.

Left panting and even lying on the floor to recover at the end, the medal-winning Olympian actually only managed to generate 0,021kWh, which was only enough to lightly toast a slice of bread.

Speaking about the challenge at the end, Forstemann said: 'Nobody can believe how much work [it took] to toast it. I know it now, it's crazy'.

In 2011, a scientist revealed the perfect slice of toast should be cooked for precisely 216 seconds.

Dr Dom Lane, a consultant food researcher, found that the bread should ideally be 1.4cm thick with 0.44 grams of butter per square inch.

He said the recommended cooking time gives the slice a 'golden-brown' colour and that the outside is 12 times crispier than the middle.

The result is achieved not by a fancy knife, but by setting a toaster dial to 'five out of six' on a typical 900-watt appliance to produce a temperature of 154°C.

Dr Lane spent one week toasting and tasting a staggering 2,000 slices for his research, in his bid to assist the nation's toast eaters.

The study was commissioned by bread maker Vogel's. 

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