Hack your toaster! While this will be different for everyone, the common denominator is that your are looking to remove the toaster casing that will get you to the main power line. I was lucky as my toaster was so old that its wiring was really simple.

Wire toaster to Relay.

As you can see from the picture in step one...this is pretty simple. There were two white leads from the toaster connected to the main power line. I simply completed the same circuit with the inclusion of the relay. If you are already familiar controlling relays from an Arduino, now is probably a good time to test if this circuit will work:

1. Plug in the your toaster to mains power. It should not turn on as you have not activated the relay.

2. Connect the input end of your relay

a. Black (-) to Ground on Your Arduino

b. Red (+) to 5V on Your Arduino

3. Apply 5V to your Arduino and the toaster should turn on. If you do not see the red light on your relay, then something did not work.

You now should be able to turn the toaster on and off by simply powering your Arduino.

Wire the amplifier

1. Connect a wire from the 5V pin on your Arduino to the positive rail on your breadboard.

2. Connect a wire from the Gnd pin on your Arduino to the negative rail on your breadboard.

3. Wire the Amplifier

a. Solder the pins to the amplifier (Here is a good soldering tutorial if you are new)

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/tools

b. Place the amplifier in your breadboard.

c. Connect the V+ pin on the amplifier to the 5V rail.

d. Connect the first Gnd pin to the ground rail.

e. Connect the pin labeled "out" to pin A0 on your arduino

f. Connect the second Gnd pin to the ground rail.

Connect your K-type Thermocouple to the amplifier

1. You will need your small screwdriver for this step

2. Unscrew the positive and negative terminals on the amplifier.

3. Place the yellow wire of the K-Type Thermocouple in the positive terminal. Also place one end of your ceramic capacitor in the same terminal. Tighten.

4. Place the red wire of the K-Type Thermocouple in the negative terminal. Also place the other end of your ceramic capacitor in the same terminal. Tighten.

Mount Your Thermocouple inside the toaster. This will be different for everyone. I just drilled a hole that allowed the wire to rest nicely near the middle of the toaster.