Blanca came back from a meeting a few days ago and stopped by one of my favorite bakeries. It’s Bakeri in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Their bread is just like the baguettes in France. Bakeri’s baguettes last surprisingly long. I have a trick to lengthen their life. I’ve learned to soften day-old bread.
The best way is to prevent the bread from going stale in the first place. How do you do this?
1. Don’t put bread in the refrigerator: Bread that is stored in the fridge will become stale faster than bread that is stored at room temperature.
2. Get a Breadbox: The bread box will keep the humidity away from the bread and be a great conversation starter. Keeping the bread in a bread box will also keep the crust nice and crusty.
How to Soften Day-Old Stale Bread
1. Preheat oven to 275 F.
2. Soak a clean dish towel in water.
3. Squeeze the towel so that it is merely damp.
4. Wrap the dish towel around your bread.
5. Place it on a baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes (keep your eyes on it).
6. If left in too long, the towel will start smoking – so make sure to be vigilant.
7. Take the bread out, it should be perfect now. If you need it a little softer, repeat the process for a few more minutes.
Stale Bread Recipes
Stale bread is not always bad though. There are tons of things you can do with stale bread:
1. Breadcrumbs
3. French Toast
4. Panzanella (Italian tomato & bread salad)
5. Ribollita (Italian bread soup)
6. Meatloaf
7. Croutons
8. Stuffing
9. French Onion Soup
10. Bruschetta
Do you have other ideas for recipes and uses for day-old stale bread? Share them with us. You can either leave a comment here or log into FriendsEat to share the recipe. Have questions about this method of softening stale bread? Just ask in the comments.