A new toaster technology is provided for toasting food items. The toaster includes an inlet for receiving food items, an outlet for discharging the foot items after they are toasted and a toasting chamber located between the inlet and the outlet. In the preferred embodiment, the toasting chamber provides a toasting path for the food item during which the food item will be passed along two conveys--one vertical and one horizontal. Also, along the toasting path, the food item will be toasted by a platen heating surface, an impingement heating element and an infra-red heating element or a combination thereof.