Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
This is for loaves of old-fashioned crusty bread, like what you might bake yourself or buy from a traditional bakery.
My grandmother used to put stale loaves into a wet paper bag and then put them into an oven for a while. In my experience, the method I'll describe works better.
Pre-heat your oven down to its lowest setting above 150*... in our oven, this is 170* Place a pan of hot tap water on the lowest oven rack. Take the stale loaf (or loaves) and briskly run it under cold tap water (I avoid getting the cut end of the loaf wet, aiming at moistening the crusty end and the loaf crust in general). The idea is to get the loaf dampened, though not soggy.
Put the loaf into the oven on a rack sitting above the one that has the pan of water. Close the door, and leave the loaf in there for about 10 minutes. Experiment with the time - five minutes may be good, sometimes 10 or so. You'll get the hang of it. The process steams the loaf until it's like fresh-baked bread.
When I remove the loaf, I find that it comes out with a pliant crust, but not at all soggy. Put the loaf into a paper bag, and then put a plastic bag over that. Even with fresh-baked bread, we bag ours this way and then often put it into the fridge... but sometimes forget to and leave it on the kitchen counter. But bagging it this way does keep the loaf nice for longer.
My grandmother used to put stale loaves into a wet paper bag and then put them into an oven for a while. In my experience, the method I'll describe works better.
Pre-heat your oven down to its lowest setting above 150*... in our oven, this is 170* Place a pan of hot tap water on the lowest oven rack. Take the stale loaf (or loaves) and briskly run it under cold tap water (I avoid getting the cut end of the loaf wet, aiming at moistening the crusty end and the loaf crust in general). The idea is to get the loaf dampened, though not soggy.
Put the loaf into the oven on a rack sitting above the one that has the pan of water. Close the door, and leave the loaf in there for about 10 minutes. Experiment with the time - five minutes may be good, sometimes 10 or so. You'll get the hang of it. The process steams the loaf until it's like fresh-baked bread.
When I remove the loaf, I find that it comes out with a pliant crust, but not at all soggy. Put the loaf into a paper bag, and then put a plastic bag over that. Even with fresh-baked bread, we bag ours this way and then often put it into the fridge... but sometimes forget to and leave it on the kitchen counter. But bagging it this way does keep the loaf nice for longer.
