How to Revive Frozen Bread

[Txsteader]

We don't usually have the problem of not being able to eat the loaf before it goes stale but rather I'll buy 2 or 3 loaves on markdown and put them in the freezer. Normally, I defrost them in the fridge, as I've read to do. Here's some ideas I hadn't thought of.

www.tastecooking.com/bring-bread-back-dead/?utm_campaign=taste&utm_source=Crown&utm_medium=Email&cid=107229&mid=1749425379

Zoë Kanan, baker and pastry chef at New York’s Simon & the Whale, relies on nothing more than an oven. She simply throws the frozen bread in at 375°F until it’s warmed all the way through. “The icy interior melts and steams through the crumb, keeping it nice and soft while reviving the crispness of the crust,” she says. It may seem too simple to be true, but Kanan feels anything more is superfluous. “I place the loaves directly on the oven rack, unwrapped,” she adds.

And if your sourdough bread is a little bit stale....

Tara Jensen, cookbook author and founder of Smoke Signals, a project dedicated to teaching the craft of sourdough bread-making, uses a method on the defrosted bread that seems almost too wacky to work (but it does, it really does!). “Run it under lukewarm water, wring it out, and pop it in the oven, directly on the grate or on a sheet pan, at 200°F for 15 minutes to refresh,” Jensen says, explaining that while you don’t have to, wrapping the soaked bread in foil will yield the best result.

Schostack keeps a spray bottle of water handy in her kitchen, and when she needs to revive leftover or frozen bread, she just gives it a spritz and bakes it for 10 minutes at 375°F.

Or, if it's too far gone for revival, just tear/cut it up, toss w/ a bit of oil, pan fry until golden for croutons.

[DEKE]

if it is too far gone to eat fresh, I'll save bread in the freezer till I get a couple of gallon zip lock containers full. Then I use it to make stuffing/dressing. The uncooked stuffing mix freezes well in 4 serving containers. If/when I get lazy and pick up a rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club, I have an easy side dish after 45 minutes in the oven.

and the chickens get stale bread just because I think it is fun to watch them play stale bread football, or maybe it is more like rugby.

I like to make Alton Brown's Parker House rolls. Cook them at 275F till they just start to form a firm exterior and then freeze in a zip lock bag. For dinner or breakfast, 10 minutes to thaw on the counter while the over in preheating and then 30 minutes in the over at 400F and you have fresh yeast rolls. Dinner guests are always impressed that I baked fresh rolls, not realizing how little effort it takes.

When I'm at Walmart, I'll get a loaf of their day old french bread for 60 cents. It will keep in the frig for a week and that's what we use for quickie french toast dinners, with warm homemade apple sauce (frozen in 4 serving portions) or a berry compote (frozen in small jars and it refreezes well if we don't finish it0, and what ever meat leftovers are in the frig.

[paisley]

DEKE, you cook like mom taught me .....save and use leftovers.

One of my quickie meals is pancakes with leftovers.

Mexican style work quite easy with most items I can find.

Corn, onion, peppers, any meat,seasonings .
Gold it in and top with cheese sources .it's salsa.

Now, outside of salads, soups, stews.... Using up green beans I get stumped.

[Ozarks Tom]

paisley, Leftover green beans are easy, if you have chickens.

I know this will sound crazy, but we buy several loaves of day old bread at Walmart to cut into cubes and feed to the sheep on the way to the chicken run. We throw the bread into the enclosed run, and the chickens are put away for the night.

We save close to stale bread in the freezer, then when we have enough to make it worthwhile, we run it through the Cuisinart to make crumbs for future meatloaf.