Before throwing away the bread (or other baked goods) because it has gotten old or very hard, you can try making it tasty again using heat and humidity. These methods work best if the bread has been stored indoors and is still slightly soft to the touch, but they can improve the texture of even the toughest loaves.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: With the Classic Oven
Step 1. Preheat the oven to a low temperature
Set it to 150 ºC. Generally the heat allows you to soften any variety of stale bread (but the effect will only last a few hours).
Step 2. Only wet it if the crust has hardened
Even when it is now stale, the bread still contains a lot of water; it becomes hard because the starch molecules bind and trap it. For this reason there is no need to wet the inner crumb. If the bread has an external crust that has become very hard, sprinkle it with a little water or, in extreme cases, place it for a few moments under the cold stream of the tap.
If, on the other hand, the bread has become hard because it has been heated for too long or has been exposed to the air for a long time, it is likely that it has lost much of its natural moisture. In this case, it is best to moisten the entire loaf to try to make it soft again
Step 3. Wrap it in foil
Sealing it in a wrapper helps to prevent the steam from escaping, so that the moisture stays inside in the bread.
Step 4. Heat it until it's soft again
If you have wet the loaf, leave it in the oven until it loses its soggy consistency. Depending on the size of the bread and the need to wet it before putting it in the oven, you will need to heat it for about 5-15 minutes.
Step 5. If the crust has become too soft, remove the foil and return the bread to the oven for another 5 minutes
If the crumb has softened but the crust has gone from hard to spongy, remove the foil and heat the bread for another 5 minutes (or as long as it takes to get it crisp again).
Step 6. Eat it right away
The heat forces the starch molecules to release the water they had trapped, but at the same time accelerates the deterioration process of the bread once it has cooled. You'll only have a few hours to eat it before it gets stale and stale again.
Method 2 of 3: With the Steamer
Step 1. Bring the water to a boil in the steamer
Pour some water into the bottom of the pot, then heat it with a high flame to bring it to a boil. At that point, remove the steamer from the heat.
- If you don't have a steamer, you can use a pot with a lid and a metal basket. The basket will be inserted into the pot, but it must not come into contact with the water below.
- Compared to the oven, the steam heats the bread less, but manages to give it a higher degree of humidity. For this reason, this method is more suitable for very hard and stale bread (for example because it has been left exposed to the air for a long time).
Step 2. Put the stale bread in the basket
Place it in the steamer, then close it with the lid.
Step 3. Wait for it to come back soft
It will take at least 5 minutes for the steam to work its magic.
Method 3 of 3: With the Microwave Oven
Step 1. Slice the bread and eat it right away
The microwave is able to soften it, but does not guarantee a perfect result. Most likely after a few minutes the bread will become chewy and even harder than before. It is therefore a suitable method for occasions when you have little time and want to prepare a snack to eat immediately.
The benefits are only temporary, because the microwave forces part of the water to evaporate, consequently the starch molecules are further concentrated giving the bread an even denser consistency. Gradually heating it in short intervals can help reduce this effect, but finding the right degree of heat is not easy
Step 2. Wrap it in a damp paper towel
Lightly wet an ordinary white paper towel, then wrap it around the bread. This step is to add moisture to the process and allows some of the steam to be trapped inside the bread to keep it soft.
Step 3. Heat it at 10 second intervals
Depending on the power of the microwave oven, the bread may be ready after only 10 seconds. If not, keep heating it by checking it frequently.
Advice
- Bread with a soft and light texture keeps fresh longer. In general, all baked goods that contain fats, sugars, and other additional ingredients besides water and flour remain soft for several days.
- If you want to prevent the bread from becoming stale, put it in the freezer; you can slowly defrost it in the oven when you are ready to eat it. If you don't want to freeze it, you can try to keep it fresh longer by wrapping it tightly in cling film or foil.
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When you heat the bread in the oven to soften it, you can flavor it with butter and garlic to make it even tastier. To prepare garlic bread, follow the directions of the first method (with the classic oven) and perform these extra steps before baking it:
- Cut the bread as if you wanted to slice it, but without cutting it from side to side;
- Smear a little butter on the inside of each incision;
- Peel a clove of garlic and rub it on the surface of the bread, then sprinkle it with salt and some herbs, fresh or dried, of your choice.
Warnings
- Storing bread in the refrigerator keeps it from getting moldy, but it doesn't keep it soft. In fact, the cold in the refrigerator accelerates the phenomenon of starch retrogradation (the process by which the bread becomes stale).
- Heating the bread for too long causes the water inside to evaporate, making it dry and hard. In particular, the microwave can harden it easily because it does not allow you to precisely control the degree of heat.
