How to make soft stale bread soft again?

Fragrant fresh bread with a crispy crust, still hot, the smell of which instantly arouses appetite, is a favorite treat for many, but, unfortunately, all bakery products are perishable products and quickly lose their original properties.

One of the main features of the change of bread during storage is its hardening, which occurs due to the evaporation of moisture from the finished product. What to do with such a savvy product? It can be completely refreshed and with the help of simple methods give it softness again. Basically, these methods are based on exposure to high temperatures and high humidity. Bread can be made soft again in the microwave, oven, in a pan, resorting to some tricks.

Microwave softener

This method is considered one of the fastest and most effective, although more suitable for bread in pieces - the thickness of the slices for softening in the microwave should be about 2 centimeters.

There are two ways to do this.

1. Sprinkle a little stale pieces with water and place in the oven for a maximum of 60 seconds; in addition, in the microwave next to the bread, you can set a saucer or a glass of warm water. It is better to check the condition of the slices every 15 seconds - otherwise you can dry them out, making them even tougher. In addition, it is advisable to cover with a special cover for microwaves made of plastic.
2. Moisten a paper towel in cool water, squeeze out excess moisture from it and wrap dried bread, which is then placed in the microwave for 10-20 seconds with a towel.

Softening the oven

This method for preparatory operations is practically no different from the method of softening in a microwave oven - stale pieces are pre-sprayed with water or wrapped in a damp towel and kept in a preheated oven. At a temperature of 160-180 degrees, it will take 2-3 minutes to give softness, at 100-120 degrees - 5-8 minutes.

Even in the oven, you can refresh stale bread by wrapping it in food foil in advance, in which case the exposure time increases - at a temperature of 160-180 degrees, it will be 10-15 minutes. Be sure to let the bread cool slightly before removing it from the foil.

Steam Recovery

The simplest version of this method is softening in a double boiler or slow cooker, for this you need to withstand stale bread in the operating mode for 1-2 minutes.

For lack of a double boiler or slow cooker, you can use the usual pot and colander. Place dry slices or a whole piece in a colander and place it over a pot of boiling water. It is important that the water does not touch the bread, otherwise it will turn into a mushy mass. After standing stale pieces for 5-7 minutes, you get quite soft slices suitable for use. The disadvantage of this method is the need for continuous process control - the product can absorb excess moisture, and it will have to be dried.

Restore softness in a pan

This method cannot be called one of the most effective, although it may well be used. Browned bread, just as in the case of an oven and microwave, should be slightly moistened with water and then put on a dry frying pan heated over low heat and let stand for 1 to 5 minutes.

Soften in a package

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 the warm season and direct sunlight falls on it, or on the battery, unless, of course, they are hot. The process of softening will take quite a while, 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 put dry bread in a bag along with celery root and put in the refrigerator overnight (at least 6 hours). In this case, the pieces of the product should be as small as possible. After the specified time, you can see how the celery dried up, giving its moisture to the now soft product.

Using the Leeward Product

In the event that there is no need to restore the original properties of bread, it is quite possible for him to find application, namely:

• additionally dry, if necessary, using a mixture of seasonings, then use as crackers;
• add minced meat, meatballs, stuffed cabbage and any other chopped semi-finished products to the minced meat;
• use as part of home baking - these can be various pies, pies;
• make breadcrumbs from dry bread;
• prepare croutons, after dipping bread slices in an egg.

Important!

It should be borne in mind that soft bread should be softened immediately before its use. The recovered product remains soft for no more than 2 hours, and again it will not be possible to give it softness.

In addition, trying to reanimate stale slices, be sure to check them for mold, which is quite common on bread not of the first freshness. If at least the initial signs of the appearance of molds are noticeable on the product, then you can’t eat it, try to soften it or add it to other dishes, since eating moldy foods can cause very severe food poisoning.

How to store bread so that it stays soft longer

In order not to think about how to make the leavened bread soft again, and not to look for ways to use the stale product, you just need to know how to properly store it.

• In the breadbox. It will provide the longest shelf life and maintain softness. In addition, you can put sugar or salt poured into a small container in the breadbox - this trick will maintain the optimum level of humidity for storage.
• In plastic bags. This will ensure the preservation of softness for 4-5 days. It is better to make holes in such bags (using an ordinary hole punch), because without air access the bread will quickly mold.
• In special bread bags. They consist of two layers of cotton fabric, between which a polyethylene gasket with holes. You can buy such bags in supermarkets.
• In a paper bag or wrapped in a sheet of paper. For this, newspapers are strictly forbidden - harmful substances from printing ink can quickly absorb into the product.

Try to store the bread correctly, do not buy it a lot so that it does not lie down. And if it so happened that the product still hardened, make sure that there are no other signs of damage and soften it using any of the proposed methods. And Bon Appetit!