Sara Tane specializes in Mediterranean cuisine and Jewish recipes. Her articles and recipes can be found on Cooking Light, Food52, MyRecipes, Saveur, The Kitchn, and Good Housekeeping.
We’ve all been there. You go to your kitchen counter to slice up a loaf of bread, only to find itrock hard and nearly impossible to get a knife through it. Sigh. Of course, there are plenty of clever ways to use up stale bread, like croutons and bread pudding, but these are ideal only if your loaf of bread is pre-sliced. Don't toss it out! You can return your unsliced loaf to a fresher state—there’s an easy way to remedy this starchy emergency.
To be clear, if there is mold, your bread is unfortunately past the point of return. RIP. But if it’s just too hard to slice, then don’t even think about tossing it. Here’s how to bring it back to life.
How to Revive Stale Bread
Preheat the oven to 300°F. A lower oven temperature will help rehydrate the loaf without drying it out.
Hold the loaf of bread under a running faucet and cover the exterior in hot or cold water—the temperature doesn’t matter. The drier the loaf, the more water you should use. If the loaf is only slightly dry, you can brush the outside with water, or fill an empty spray bottle and gently mist the loaf with water. Either way, avoid wetting any open cut-side.
Once the loaf is moistened, place it in the preheat oven, it directly on the oven rack—you don’t need a sheet pan—and set a timer for 5 minutes.
Check on your loaf after 5 minutes. The time depends on the size and wetness of the loaf. It might be good to go after 5 minutes, but it could take up to 15 minutes, so continue to check periodically. Gently poke the loaf—it is ready when the inside feels soft and bouncy and the outside is crackly.
Once your bread is revived, it’s time to slice it up for avocado toast or a turkey club. And of course, if you’re not sure if you’ll use the revived bread in time, slice it up first, and then throw it in the freezer.
Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and similar foods that reduces their palatability. Stale bread is dry and hard, making it suitable for different culinary uses than fresh bread.
by dipping it in water and baking it at 175ºC / 350ºF degrees for 7-10 minutes. You can do this ones, because your bread will still dry out from this exercise. Make bread crumbs. Whisk them in a blender, maybe add some seasonings, and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.
Plain paper bags and kitchen towels also work very well to keep the bread from drying excessively. And while many sources say never to use a plastic bag, sometimes it might be necessary, especially if your climate demands it.
Storing bread is a matter of managing temperature and humidity. It's best to keep bread at room temperature in a dark and airtight box. Traditional bread boxes were created for this specific purpose. If you don't have a bread box, you can store your loaf in a microwave, plastic food storage container or pantry.
If your bread is especially hard, brush the outside with water before wrapping it. Then, heat it on the center rack of your oven for about 30 minutes for a whole loaf; or 15 to 20 minutes for a partial loaf, or if you have a long, skinny loaf like a baguette.
Set a timer on your stove, microwave, or phone for about 6 minutes, and check on your bread after the timer is up. Your loaf should be warm and soft. If your loaf is very wet, you may need to extend the cooking time to 10-12 minutes.
All you need to do is place your bread inside a damp paper towel, and microwave it on a plate for 10 seconds. The water will revive the starch molecules in the bread's flour, the reaction between the two will occur again, and you'll have your soft bread back.
Here are a few reasons why it is not advisable to store bread in plastic bags: Plastic bags trap moisture: Store bread in a way that allows it to stay dry and maintain its texture. Plastic bags trap moisture, which can cause the bread to become soggy and lose its texture.
The best container to keep bread in is one that provides airtight protection against moisture and air exposure. Wesco's bread bins are the best choice because of their level of quality and their stylish designs. If you're looking for the perfect bread storage solution, explore Wesco's Bread Bins Collection.
Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and similar foods that reduces their palatability. Stale bread is dry and hard, making it suitable for different culinary uses than fresh bread.
This is the approach The Spruce Eats recommends for bringing back stale bread — dampen under the faucet, wrap the whole loaf in foil, and reheat for 15 minutes in a 300°F oven. After that 15 minutes, the directions say to unwrap the loaf from the foil and continue baking for another 5 minutes.
The reason a refrigerator is bad for bread: When bread is stored in a cold (but above freezing) environment, this recrystallization, and therefore staling, happens much faster than at warmer temperatures. Freezing, however, dramatically slows the process down.
Most bakers recommend storing bread in a cool dry spot, at room temperature. Why? Excess heat and moisture creates mold, and too much air creates stale bread. So yes: a cool dry spot such as a pantry shelf works.
Unfortunately, starch retrogradation goes on even after the bread had cooled down and because of that bread will inevitably lose its freshness and become crumblier and harder over time. However, if you reheat the bread that had become hard, the starch will rebond with water and gelatinization will occur again.
Introduction: My name is Melvina Ondricka, I am a helpful, fancy, friendly, innocent, outstanding, courageous, thoughtful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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