Save your bread-ends in a plastic bag in the freezer until you have a quart or more. These should not be dried out first. Thaw out and process in a blender or food processor until crumbs are coarse. Spread out on a pan and let dry. Regrind them into fine crumbs. Now you have bread crumbs to use in recipes.
Mix them with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and whatever herbs you like and use them for breading chicken or pork chops to bake in the oven. This makes a delicious crunchy coating.
Mix them with butter, cinnamon, and sugar for a sweet, crunchy topping for muffins, apple crisp, and such.
By Jennifer from Butternuts, NY
Check out these recipes.
Don't throw away stale bread! I freeze mine in resealable freezer bags until I have enough to make a batch of "SEASONED BREAD CRUMBS".
Mix spices with melted margarine and spread evenly over one side of bread slices. Lay on large piece of heavy duty foil and put under broiler for about 2-3 minutes. WATCH carefully and when brown, turn and toast other side.
This page contains the following solutions.
You can make bread crumbs with any leftover bread pieces by grinding them up in a blender. They'll be coarse. Dry them on a cookie sheet for a day or two, then grind again.
Each and every time I make homemade bread, I cut the entire loaf into slices, then I save the crumbs I've caught from underneath the cooling rack onto a piece of waxed paper for later recipes.
Make your own bread crumbs with a blender or grater. Place the crumbs on a baking tray and bake at 212 degrees F. Crumbs are dry and crisp.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have some bread in my freezer (heels that we don't eat) and would like to make bread crumbs with them. What is the quickest easiest way to dry these out (without making toast) to make the crumbs? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
if they are thin sliced, i put it in a large baking pan at 180 degrees (warm) for one hour, then let it sit in the oven after it is shut off for another. I then place it in a sturdy bag, like a freezer bag (clean & re-used) and squeeze the excess air out. I use a rolling pin and crush the dried bread, keeping the bag flat. Then I use my skimmer (flat round spoon with holes) to "sift" the big chunks out (they'll always be left behind, thanks to the crust!) Those I leave for stuffing or for the birds if too hard.
There may be an "easier way with a food processor or something, but this is how I learned to do it. And we don't use them very much, so we don't bother to buy crumbs. We end up eating the heels too, so we reserve portions of homemade bread for this.
If you have a gas oven - just place in on a cookie sheet & the pilot light will dry them out - afterwards you can keep them in a tupperware container until you want to use.
My g'ma did this for yrs & every thanksgiving my dad would go to her house pick up the tupperware container & then tear the stiff bread into pieces for his dressing(stuffing but not stuffed) - it was the best - he also used them for a porkchop bake where he softened the bread pieces like he was making dression & layered it w/chops & baked so the chops were buried into the dressing.... yum yum memmories...
I make bread crumbs out of dry OR fresh bread. Simply tear it into pieces and put it in your food processor. Spin a few times and you have nice fine bread crumbs for any use.
Instead of the freezer after this keep the heels in a paper sack. They will dry just fine. I do this for bread crumbs and for bread for dressing.
I have been making my own bread crumbs for years. I usually leave the two first and last pieces of bread in the bag as I use up the "good slices". Then, when the 4 slices are left, I take them out of the bag,lay the bag out flat and sit the slices on the bag and let the bread air dry. Once they are sufficiantly dry I put them in a ziplock bag and store in my cupboard.
Place the slices of bread in a brown paper bag and roll the top closed loosely. Set on a heat register for a couple of days and walla! My family has done this for generations to make Stuffing for the big ole bird.
This is a page about making dry bread crumbs. You can quickly and easily make dry bread crumbs at home to use in any recipe.
I had never used panko. I bought a can out of curiosity. I thought it was OK, but I also thought I could do better. I did do better. This homemade panko made with fresh baked French bread is far better than what you buy after it sits on a shelf for who knows how long.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
If your family does not like to eat the heels of bread left from a loaf, you can put them in your food processor and make it into fine bread crumbs.
Do you make your own bread crumbs? This is frugal cooking at its best.
Save the two crust ends of bread in the freezer, then when you need to make stuffing or bread crumbs for a recipe you have the bread on hand.
