by Alison Penland

Created on: December 22, 2009

Do you ever wonder what to do with those few pieces of bread that never seem to get eaten and invariably get stale?  Or possibly someone in your household likes to have the crusts trimmed from their sandwiches or won't eat the heel pieces of the loaf and you hate to see food go to waste, no matter how miniscule the scrap is. 

Those "scraps" make excellent homemade bread crumbs, so grab yourself a zippered freezer storage bag and start collecting them.  At the end of each week, make a round through the kitchen and gather up all the leftover bread slices, put them in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer until you get a good stockpile (just make sure none of the bread has molded). Pay no mind to whether the bread is sourdough, white, or wheat ~ put it all into the same bag.  Depending on your tastes, though, you may want to keep any heartier tasting bread such as rye or pumpernickel separate because they tend to overpower in abundance.  Process these breads separately or add just a few slices to your other crumbs when processing to avoid having the prominent flavor. 

Once the bag is full, let the bread defrost at room temperature.  If you aren't in a great hurry, lay the bread out in a single layer on a baking sheet and let it sit overnight to dry out and get stale.  If time is of the essence, place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake the bread until it is lightly browned and crispy.  Once the bread is stale, feed the slices through a food processor and process until they are the desired crumb size you want.  They may be processed until they are fine and powdery or you may want to leave them in slightly larger pieces, depending on what you plan to use them for.  Again, depending on the use, you may add some dried herbs and seasonings such as Italian seasoning to the crumbs.  Store the crumbs in a freezer storage bag and pull them out a few minutes before needed, let them defrost, measure out the amount you need and continue to store them in the freezer. 

Making your own bread crumbs is an easy and economical way to ensure you always have this important pantry staple on hand.  The crumbs can be used in meatloaf recipes, as toppings for casseroles or for coating chicken or eggplant Parmesan. 

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