Tip of the Day: Making the most out of your loaf of bread

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Jul 1st 2008 @ 6:00AM

Do you have problems getting a through a tasty loaf of fresh bread before it's stale?

When you have a big weakness for artisan bread, you've either got to come up with some storing strategies for your loaf, or plan to buy teeny loaves every day to get the super-fresh crunch and taste. But with a little planning, you can make the most out of that loaf -- even a big, full-sized one.

The basics are simple -- paper bag for crispiness to plastic bag* for long-lasting freshness. Start it off on the countertop/bread basket, and then move it into the fridge. But what about after that?

We've already learned about panzanella, but there's also croutons, bread crumbs, and frozen bread. The latter is my personal favorite. After 3-4 days, I will slice up what remains of the loaf (if it isn't already sliced) and slip it into the freezer. While the bread won't defrost into perfect freshness, it will be just perfect for toast. You can nuke it quick to warm it up before putting it in the toaster, or just pop it in frozen.

Sure, that means you don't have fresh bread every single day of the week, but it allows you to always have bread on-hand -- which is perfect for those times when you're out of bread and can't get to the store, or for keeping a selection of different breads on-hand.

*Re-use these bags! And, if you often buy fresh bread from a bakery, bring those bags back to refill!

Filed Under: Tip of the Day, Ingredients
Tags: bread, stale bread, StaleBread, storing bread, StoringBread

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-04-2008 @6:38PM Marvin the Martian said... Panzanella? Croutons? Frozen bread? Hm.

All the bread I get left over, is two-three slices every once in a while. I hate soup (or any soup you can't eat with a fork) so the croutons don't get much use, the others fall off for similar reasons.

What to do with them leftover slices is to leave them to dry, until you have a serious quantity. Then you soak them in milk, add eggs and some brown sugar plus whatever you fancy (raisins? thin apple slices?) and some essential spices (cinnamon, mostly). This you knead into a paste, bake and voila: delicious bread pudding (or "bodding" in Flemish)... Eat while still half-warm; once cooled you melt a layer of chocolate over it so it gets a solid crust preventing it from drying out: extra delicious. The beaty of the scheme is that it doesn't matter if you get one slice a month leftover (store in dry dark place after drying on your CV/heater) or suddenly 10 loaves.

Keep your bodding refrigerated for a week, max, but you'll never keep it that long as someone will discover and finish it before you!
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