The aroma of freshly baked bread with a crispy crust excites the appetite so much that it is impossible to resist not to eat it. However, after just a few hours it may lose all its appetizing appearance. They prefer to make crackers out of stale bread or simply throw it away, without thinking that if used correctly it can easily be made incredibly tasty and soft again.
Proper storage of bread
In order not to let baked goods dry out and keep them fresh for a long time, you should be aware of several simple rules:
- After purchasing bread from a store, you should wrap it in a linen or canvas towel. In this form it can remain soft for a week.
- To extend the life of rolls and loaves, you need to put them in the refrigerator. It is preferable that the temperature be at least 2 degrees - the top shelf will do. If the value is lower, the product will begin to lose moisture faster and, therefore, deteriorate faster.
- To store loaves, it is advisable to use cotton bags. Between them should be laid a plastic film with pre-made holes. These bags can usually be found in supermarkets.
- A great option to maintain softness and prevent the development of mold is to leave half an apple, a few pieces of sugar, a small piece of potato and a pinch of salt in the container with the bread.
In addition, you need to constantly ensure that the bread bin is always closed tightly.
Soften in a bag
Stale slices or a piece of bread are placed in an ordinary plastic bag, which is tightly tied and placed either on the windowsill, if it is a warm season and it receives direct sunlight, or on the radiator, if, of course, they are hot. The softening process will take quite a long time, but the effect will be longer. After some time, thanks to the condensation that begins to form in the bag, the bread will begin to become soft.
You can place the dry bread in a bag along with the celery root and refrigerate overnight (at least 6 hours). In this case, the pieces of product should be as small as possible. After the specified time has passed, you can see how the celery has dried out, giving up its moisture to the now soft product.
Use of stale bread
If there is no need to restore all the properties of baked goods, then you can easily use them in this form:
- use of meatballs, cutlets, cabbage rolls and other dishes for minced meat;
- make delicious crackers with the addition of aromatic seasonings;
- make breadcrumbs;
- use for pies, pies and other baked goods;
- make croutons.
Soften in a bag
Stale slices or a piece of bread are placed in an ordinary plastic bag, which is tightly tied and placed either on the windowsill, if it is a warm season and it receives direct sunlight, or on the radiator, if, of course, they are hot. The softening process will take quite a long time, but the effect will be longer. After some time, thanks to the condensation that begins to form in the bag, the bread will begin to become soft.
You can place the dry bread in a bag along with the celery root and refrigerate overnight (at least 6 hours). In this case, the pieces of product should be as small as possible. After the specified time has passed, you can see how the celery has dried out, giving up its moisture to the now soft product.
Adviсe
To preserve bread products for a long time, you need to follow several tips:
- It is advisable to start cutting the loaf from the middle, and then connect the halves, then it will not go stale longer.
- If you put the products in the freezer, you should first wrap them in cling film.
- To prevent all the steam from escaping from the microwave oven, when checking the readiness of the bread, you should use a special plastic lid.
- For the best effect, when using the oven, the door should be opened slightly. So, all excess moisture will come out.
- You should not store white and brown bread in the same container; mixing yeast will cause it to start molding.
- You need to regularly wash the dishes where the loaf is and wipe it with a vinegar solution.
- If you make your own bread, cool it on a wire rack in a draft-free place for about 3 hours.
To prevent bread from becoming stale and stale, you need to know how to store it correctly. If, nevertheless, the product begins to become hard, then you need to make sure that there are no signs of damage or mold on it, and then soften it using one of the presented methods. The bread will become fragrant, hot and crispy again.
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Steam recovery
The simplest version of this method is softening in a double boiler or multicooker; for this you need to keep the stale bread in operating mode for 1–2 minutes.
If you don’t have a double boiler or multicooker, you can use a regular saucepan and colander. Place the dry slices or whole piece in a colander over a pan of simmering water. It is important that the water does not touch the bread, otherwise it will turn into a mushy mass. After keeping the stale pieces for 5-7 minutes, you will get completely soft slices that are suitable for consumption. The disadvantage of this method is the need for constant monitoring of the process - the product may absorb excess moisture and will have to be dried.
How to properly reheat pies?
The evaporated moisture will make the cake softer and tastier. Cooled pies
You can
reheat
without adding liquid. To do this, place the food in a bowl with a lid or cover with special foil (parchment paper) and heat in small portions for 2 minutes each.
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Bread resuscitation
Before you begin rescuing stale slices, you should take a close look at them. The presence of mold is a signal that this product is unsuitable for food. You don’t need to think that the fungus is limited only to those spots on the surface that you were able to notice and cut off. If you find at least one “patch”, rest assured: the mycelium has already sprouted everywhere, you can only see it with high magnification in a microscope. Eating bread contaminated with mold fungi is dangerous to health.
Proven Methods
, steam procedures were most often used for these purposes
- In the oven. After wrapping the pieces of bread in a damp linen towel, they placed them on a baking sheet in the oven for five or ten minutes, depending on how stale the bread was.
- In a metal sieve or colander set over a pan of boiling water. The water should not boil. The slices were laid so that steam passed freely between them. The distance between the surface of the water and the colander should be four centimeters, and the lid should not tightly cover the recovery chamber. All these precautions must be observed, and also periodically glance at the bread so that the pieces do not absorb too much steam and turn into something between porridge and jelly.
- In a water bath. The procedure is similar to the previous one, with the only difference that instead of a colander, a smaller saucepan was used.
- In a plastic bag. This is not so ancient, but still a long-known method: almost hermetically sealed stale bread was laid out on a sunny windowsill or a hot central heating radiator and checked periodically.
Use of the weathered product
In the event that there is no need to restore the original properties of bread, it can easily be used, namely:
- dry additionally, using a mixture of seasonings if necessary, and then use as crackers;
- add to the minced meat as an ingredient in cutlets, meatballs, cabbage rolls and any other chopped semi-finished products;
- use as part of homemade baked goods - these can be various pies, pies;
- make breadcrumbs from dry bread;
- Prepare the croutons by first dipping the bread slices in the egg.
It should be borne in mind that it is necessary to soften stale bread immediately before eating it. The reconstituted product remains soft for no more than 2 hours, and it will not be possible to make it soft again.
In addition, when trying to revive stale slices, be sure to check them for the presence of mold, which is quite often found on bread that is not the first freshness. If the product shows at least initial signs of the appearance of mold fungi, then you should not eat it, try to soften it, or add it to other dishes, since eating moldy products can cause very severe food poisoning.
What can be made from a dried loaf?
If you decide to cook something from stale bread, then we have 7 options.
- Crackers and croutons The easiest way to use stale bread is to make croutons. ...
- Toasts and hot sandwiches...
- Fast pizza...
- Breading...
- Bread pastries…
- Scrambled eggs with bread...
- Casseroles
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Oven
Stale bread can be revived in the oven. In order to soften bread in the oven, you need to cut the same small pieces as for the microwave. Then wrap them in a paper towel soaked in water and place them in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. 2-3 minutes are enough for the bread to become soft again.
The bread should be wrapped in foil and placed in the oven. If you don’t have a paper towel on hand, but have foil, you can also wrap the bread in it. In this case, the holding time in the oven should be increased to 10-15 minutes. It is important to let the bread cool without unrolling the foil, then it will be truly soft.
Method two: paper towels
This method is perhaps even easier than the previous one.
Procedure:
- Take paper or thin textile towels and moisten them with boiled water. If you choose paper towels, you need to make sure they don't tear.
- Squeeze as much as possible.
- Wrap the bread.
- Place in the microwave and turn on the oven for 20 seconds.
A damp towel will release moisture to the bread under the force of heat, the pieces will be saturated with steam and will hold it for several hours.
The first method is a container of water.
Procedure:
- Cut stale bread into small pieces - the thickness should be no more than 20 mm.
- Moisten each plastic a little with water, but do not allow it to become too soft or liquefied into a pulp.
- Pour some water into a flat-bottomed container and place the bread in it.
- Place the dishes in the oven, cover with a lid or a special cap.
- Set the timer for 2-4 minutes and wait, checking the condition of the bread every 15-20 seconds.
Secrets of success
So that instead of softening the bread does not burn and turn into jelly, it is necessary that, on the one hand, the steam does not leave the container too quickly, and on the other hand, it does not linger in the crumb. Therefore, either special dishes for microwaves (with a loose-fitting lid) or a cap with a steam outlet are suitable for the procedure.
There is no need to heat the water before putting the stale pieces into it.
It is extremely important to periodically look into the oven and check the softness of the bread. Otherwise, the plastics will come out crispy, like toast.
