This post isn't about a recipe really, but more about technique. My technique at least. You see it seems that almost everyone in my family has an aversion to heels. From loaves of bread, not feet. Although, I'm sure there would be an aversion to that IF someone tried to serve feet heels at the dinner table.
Anyways... I found myself constantly throwing moldy slices of bread in our compost bin. I knew there had to be a better solution. I immediately thought BREAD CRUMBS! Not exactly something I use all the time, but periodically I do need them. And it seemed like anytime I needed them, I was out. Which requires a trip to the store to spend $3 on a small container of crumbs. Which seems silly considering I'm already paying that for a loaf of bread that my family isn't consuming entirely.
My biggest problem was that at any given time, there would only be 6 pieces of bread hanging out in the pantry waiting for the mold to set in. Not exactly worth the time to dig out the food processor and the baking sheets. And then?? Well, I figured I would just freeze them. I mean, when I stock up on bread at the store, I bring it home and put them in the freezer. So, that should work great for the bread that's destined for worse fates.
So, I keep a plastic bread bag in the freezer and anytime I get to an undesirable heel on a loaf of bread, I put it in the bag. And if you go through bread like we do, well that bag can fill up quickly. So, sometimes I have a second (and maybe a third) bag hanging out in the freezer. And when my frozen heels get overwhelming, I finally make those bread crumbs.
Toasting the Bread:
Preheat oven to 300˚ F. Lay out two baking sheets. I prefer to use jellyroll pans with the sides so the bread won't slide off. Take out the frozen bread and spread it out in a single layer on each pan. I can do 1/2 a loaf worth of heels on two sheets.
Place in preheated oven for 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Making Bread Crumbs:
Using a food processor, place pieces of toasted bread in the machine. You may have to break some of the pieces to get them to fit. And depending on the size of your food processor, will depend on how much you can get to fit. It is important to not over fill the food processor, as it will become less effective. Cover and turn the processor on to puree. Let it run for a couple minutes or until it looks like there aren't very many large chunks floating around.
Take a colander (NOT a fine mesh sieve) and place it in a bowl that is BIGGER than the colander. Empty the contents of the food processor into the colander. Continue to process that pieces of bread until your colander is 1/2 full. Using the colander, sift the bread crumbs. This will allow any large pieces of bread to stay in the colander, which you can then place back into the food processor. Repeat until all of the pieces of bread have been processed and sifted. Store finished bread crumbs in an air tight container until you need them.
I like to use bread crumbs in batters to add a little bit more crispiness.
Crispy Fried Chicken
Oven Baked Pork Chops
Crispy Onion Rings (I originally used 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs, but you could definitely use all regular bread crumbs or even 2 Tbsp panko and 2 Tbsp regular)
Anyways... I found myself constantly throwing moldy slices of bread in our compost bin. I knew there had to be a better solution. I immediately thought BREAD CRUMBS! Not exactly something I use all the time, but periodically I do need them. And it seemed like anytime I needed them, I was out. Which requires a trip to the store to spend $3 on a small container of crumbs. Which seems silly considering I'm already paying that for a loaf of bread that my family isn't consuming entirely.
My biggest problem was that at any given time, there would only be 6 pieces of bread hanging out in the pantry waiting for the mold to set in. Not exactly worth the time to dig out the food processor and the baking sheets. And then?? Well, I figured I would just freeze them. I mean, when I stock up on bread at the store, I bring it home and put them in the freezer. So, that should work great for the bread that's destined for worse fates.
So, I keep a plastic bread bag in the freezer and anytime I get to an undesirable heel on a loaf of bread, I put it in the bag. And if you go through bread like we do, well that bag can fill up quickly. So, sometimes I have a second (and maybe a third) bag hanging out in the freezer. And when my frozen heels get overwhelming, I finally make those bread crumbs.
Toasting the Bread:
Preheat oven to 300˚ F. Lay out two baking sheets. I prefer to use jellyroll pans with the sides so the bread won't slide off. Take out the frozen bread and spread it out in a single layer on each pan. I can do 1/2 a loaf worth of heels on two sheets.
Place in preheated oven for 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Making Bread Crumbs:
Using a food processor, place pieces of toasted bread in the machine. You may have to break some of the pieces to get them to fit. And depending on the size of your food processor, will depend on how much you can get to fit. It is important to not over fill the food processor, as it will become less effective. Cover and turn the processor on to puree. Let it run for a couple minutes or until it looks like there aren't very many large chunks floating around.
Take a colander (NOT a fine mesh sieve) and place it in a bowl that is BIGGER than the colander. Empty the contents of the food processor into the colander. Continue to process that pieces of bread until your colander is 1/2 full. Using the colander, sift the bread crumbs. This will allow any large pieces of bread to stay in the colander, which you can then place back into the food processor. Repeat until all of the pieces of bread have been processed and sifted. Store finished bread crumbs in an air tight container until you need them.
I like to use bread crumbs in batters to add a little bit more crispiness.
Crispy Fried Chicken
Oven Baked Pork Chops
Crispy Onion Rings (I originally used 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs, but you could definitely use all regular bread crumbs or even 2 Tbsp panko and 2 Tbsp regular)
Using a colander for the finished product is a smart ideal. Can you refreeze the bread crumbs if necessary?
ReplyDeleteLinda, I always store my breadcrumbs in an air tight container in my pantry. I don't think it would be a good idea to refreeze them because it may introduce moisture to them, resulting in soggy breadcrumbs when defrosted. But I haven't personally tried refreezing them. You could always refreeze 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs to test it out.
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