Being the king of the French table, how can we give a second life to stale bread? Thanks to this trick, your family will see nothing but fire!
Few things are as delicious as a freshly baked loaf of bread. But it’s hard to eat a whole loaf while it’s still fresh. However, storing it is a losing battle, as it only takes a short time for it to become dry. In fact, it loses its moisture through a process called starch retrogradation. During this phenomenon, the crumb hardens and loses its elasticityThus the bread becomes dry and begins to crumble.
Stale bread. Source: spm
So what to do with bread that has suddenly become rock hard? There is a very simple trick to soften it quickly.
Soften stale bread in the microwave
- Wrap the bread in a slightly damp towel.
- Place it on a dish that can go in the microwave
- Run at maximum power for 10 seconds.
- Check if it has become soft and repeat the operation if necessary.
Microwave bread. Source: spm
Other alternatives for softening stale bread
Put the hard bread in the oven to give it back its crispness
- Take your bread and dip it lightly with water.
- Place in the oven at 200°C for 5 minutes.
Please note :
- Your bread is now fresh, so don’t wait long to taste it, because it will soon lose its moisture again.
Crispy bread out of the oven. Source: spm
The trick of celery to make bread more tender
The celery method can also moisten sliced bread, but it takes a bit of time because you have to let the bread absorb moisture all night.
How to proceed :
- Slip a stalk of celery inside the bread bag (with the bread inside, of course) trying to close it tightly;
- Then place the bread bag in the refrigerator and let it sit for several hours or even overnight;
- Remove the celery stalk from the bag. It should be quite dry and hard at this point, as it has lost a significant amount of its moisture.
Celery stalk. Source: spm
Bonus: an anti-waste recipe to make with stale bread
According to ADEME, in France, each inhabitant throws away 4.5 kg of bread per year. This is a huge figure, especially since this waste can be avoided with a few recipes and good reflexes. Apart from the fact of put pieces of hard bread in the blender with spices or herbs to turn it into breadcrumbshere is an anti-waste recipe to enhance your soups and salads:
- Dice the stale bread;
- Heat a frying pan with olive oil, add salt and brown the croutons over low heat;
- Add garlic, Provencal herbs or spices of your choice.
Croutons with stale bread. Source: spm
No more waste! Thanks to these tricks, you will finally eat the bread without throwing away a single crumb. Plus, it will still be crispy and chewy. But still remember that in some cases it would be impossible to recover it.
