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What To Do With Stale Bread

Question:

What to do with stale bread? What to do with old bread?

My loaf of bread has become hard, is there anything that can be done to make bread soft again?

Answer:

There isn’t much that can compare to freshly baked bread right out of the oven, so soft and light that it’s hard to know when to stop eating the goodness. Yet when your fresh loaf of bread sits in the paper bag that it often comes in, it is usually fairly hard to the touch by the next day after purchase and the next day after that you can usually use it as a hammer! Don’t let this happen at home!

But wait, don’t toss it just because you can’t squeeze it – that would be a big waste! Stale bread can be re-vitalized as itself or made into something very different. By stale bread, we mean a loaf that is a few days old and has lost some freshness or softness. Never use bread with traces of mold, moldy bread needs to be tossed for safety reasons. Check our table below for several suggestions on what to do with stale bread and what to do with old bread.

Ways With Stale Bread

What To Do With Stale Bread

What to do with stale bread:

What to do with stale bread	Preparation	Bake Time
For bread that is soft on the inside yet crispy on the outside *	Sprinkle loaf with water	Bake at 350° about 10 minutes
For soft bread	Wrap it in aluminum foil	Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes
Make Croutons	Chop bread into cubes	Bake at 350° about 30 minutes
Make Breadcrumbs – oven	Place bread slices on baking pan	Bake at 300° about 30 minutes then crumble
Make Breadcrumbs – freezer	Place loaf in the freezer	Grate on the large holes of a cheese grater
Make French Toast	Slice and dip into egg batter	Pan fry for a few minutes on each side
Make Bread Pudding or Crock Pot French Toast	Pour cream mixture over bread pieces in baking dish	Bake at 350° for 45 Minutes in oven or 7 hours in crock pot
Make Stuffing	Break into pieces and add to melted butter & cooked veggies	Bake with your meat

* Recommended for loaves(un-sliced) of bread.
Breadcrumbs keep nicely in a freezer safe container in the freezer.
Caution: If you see mold anywhere on your loaf, toss the entire loaf. These ideas are NOT for spoiled, soggy or moldy bread!

Stale Bread

Freshen Stale Bread

The recommended way to freshen a stale loaf of bread is to sprinkle it with water all over and then bake at 350°, directly on the oven rack, for about 8-10 minutes. The loaf will be crispy on the outside yet soft and fresh on the inside. You will never know that the bread had once been stale!

Hope this answered your questions on what to do with stale bread.

If your bread is a little beyond stale and more like a rock, and is free from any mold, then consider making croutons or grating it into breadcrumbs. For details and variations on making croutons, see our blog post on how to make croutons.

To find out how long other foods are good for, please visit the Dairy, Drinks, Fruits, Grains, Proteins, Vegetables and Other sections of Eat By Date or use the search function below.