A Canadian
Grocer article caught my attention.
It’s about two film makers’ experiences with dumpster diving and food
waste. What an eye-opening read. One shocking statistic, I thought, was the
amount of wasted bread. That 13% includes
waste from bakeries – not just food from households – but that amount of baked
goods thrown away is still alarmingly high.
Our own kitchen was once an example of why. When our children left home, we couldn't get
through a loaf of bread before it dried out or went mouldy. Week after week, we would waste another
partial loaf. After a few months of
that, I was looking for better ways to store bread.
The solution was simple and is still in use. We freeze fresh, sliced loaves of our
favourite breads and remove slices, only as needed. It takes some forethought as the bread requires
about half an hour to thaw, but then it’s as soft and tender as it would normally
be -- although, thawing should be done in a sealed container to prevent
drying. We haven’t wasted a loaf since!
Here are seven more ways to reduce bread waste (crusts work well for a few
of these):
1)
Stuffing: use
day old or dry bread – absorbs flavours without loosing body.
2)
Melba Toast:
use dry bread from uncut loaves; cut into thinnest possible slices;
remove crusts; bake in a 250
degree until crisp and golden and all moisture is withdrawn; store in cool,
dry, place.
3)
Panade (soup thickener): fresh or dry bread; blend into soups or stews
to thicken; combines well with leek, celery, sorrel, watercress, spinach and
cabbage soups.
4)
Bread sauce:
dry, finely-ground bread crumbs are substituted for flour in pan sauces;
best served with wild bird or roasted meats.
5)
Bread pudding: use dry bread or
stale cake.
6)
Bread crumbs:
use dry bread – if not dry enough, bake in a 200 degree oven until
crisp; grind and then store in a cool, dry place in a container not too tightly
lidded (to prevent moulding.) A rotary
hand grater works well when only a small amount of crumbs are needed. Cookie crumbs can be made similarly and are a
tasty addition to some desserts.
7)
Croutons: dice
fresh or dry bread, sprinkle with your favourite cooking oil, herbs and spices and
bake in a 375 degree oven until crisp and golden.
With the holidays
coming, I’ll be employing a few of these uses. My “crust collection”
from various breads will stuff the turkey, and I have plans to make Melba toast
from the heel of one of the Pumpernickel loaves I’m baking. It’s
time to refill our bread crumbs, too, for topping the turkey casserole, so I
might just grab a loaf from the clearance rack at our local bakery – we rarely
have enough dry bread at home anymore.
