Bread too dry for sandwiches

apprentice_tycoon

Has anyone got a use for the end slice crusts of shop bought white bread (I know don't all queue up to shout at me, I buy just the one loaf a week for 'other members of the family') I used to use them in stuffing etc but I really don't like the fact that they don't whizz up in the processor very well and you can see that there is more crust than crumb...so any other uses please?

siws1

I use my end crusts up when I am stuffing a chicken. After filling the cavity with stuffing I then ease the crust around the hole thus keeping the stuffing in and preventing the need to sew up the cavity. This bread bit is always the bit that everyone fights over in our house when we have chicken or turkey as it is so tasty as it will have soaked up all the flavours of the meat.

elvis_bloggs

Loadsabob wrote:

Kindanice -

I get around this and have a loaf last me a week, by freezing. I slice it when totally cold, freeze in a freezer bag and take out slices for sandwiches as I need them (or toast from frozen, too). I make my lunch in the morning, and by the time my hair's washed etc, the bread has thawed out enough to spread (even if they're a little frozen still, it means the butter doesn't damage it if that's a bit hard!). So an hour or so before you make the sarnies at night, if you take out and space out on the board the slices you need, they'll be fine when you make them. My sandwiches taste like freshly made bread every day!

I freeze my bread too, if it wasn't for my freezer I would throw a lot of bread away and all the birds near where I live would be walking all the time.

headchef

Funny - only yesterday I was browsing Delia On Line and she said freezing bread is the best way to store it, even for a few days. Like you I was going to borrow a bread maker but I'm going to try and make a few loaves from scratch to see if it is really time consuming or not - Queen Delia says 'not as difficult as you think'.
I can see the appeal of a breadmaker, but does it work out cheaper than buying? I'm sure I've read threads on here which says it isn't much cheaper (recovering the cost of the machine must take a while) but the appeal is the fresh bread.

headchef

I mean Queen Delia in a nice way by the way. When I was having my house surveyed, the surveyor pointed to my Delia Complete Cookbook (the big one she did first) and said he'd seen that in about every house he'd ever surveyed (sp??)

apprentice_tycoon

I use my Kenwood Chef for bread ( with the dough hook) it takes all the hard labour out of it

kazd

I make a loaf every day, so that I always cut from a fresh loaf for the childrens sandwiches, any bread left from the previous day is used for toast.

Depending on my husbands shift I will either make a small or large loaf. I make the loaf so it comes out at about 6pm, leave it to go totally cold then put it in my Lakeland bread bag. This would not suit those of you who like a crusty loaf but I like it because the crust becomes slightly softer and makes the loaf easier to slice.

Ticklemouse

Just popped into Argos to have a look at their breadmakers. They have some on special - they have a Russell Hobbs Ultimate (I believe) down drom £99.99 to £66.66. Don't know if that's the best value out there, just thought some of you may want to look. Haven't had time to check it all out as off to do the school run now.

Norma_Desmond

Most of my stale white bread goes to making olive oil bread - cut it into small slices, pop it all on a baking tray and pour over loads of olive oil (garlic or chili is great marinated in the oil) and bung it in the oven at about 200 degrees for 10 mins or so. Great with pasta!

squeaky

I keep my bread, wrapped in film, in the fridge. Does for a week with no problems at all.

As for the economy of home made bread in a machine, it depends on the ingredients you use and also on how many of them you can get on offer but a basic loaf can typically cost 30-40p - and a reasonable uncut good loaf from a shop is comfortably more than that. I reckon my machine (a cheapo admittedly) paid for itself in a year and I only make one loaf per week.

Plus there's no wastage. Or at least, less. I only make bread when I need it.

Finally, it's easy to store a month's worth of bread flour - not so easy to store that much bread