Bread – special way to dry bread out to make breadcrumbs

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I have a recipe for making Italian Breadcrumbs. If I leave the bread out on the counter it molds before it dries enough. I thought making breadcrumbs would be a great way to use some of my homemade bread. I love making bread but unfortunately it dries out to fast for sandwiches, but not enough for breadcrumbs. Is there a way to dry it out before it molds? I have tried all kinds of bread, some hydrated more than others.

Best Answer

You don't want to dry it on the counter... put slices or small pieces in the oven on low heat or grind it in a food processor and toast it in a skillet until it's crisp and brown.

Stale bread is not "dry"... it's stale and it's only on the surface. If you want truly dry bread, you need to toast it and really get rid of all of the moisture.

From Serious Eats, they discuss the difference and Kenji explains their preferred method (though this is for stuffing, the information is the same):

Drying involves the evaporation of moisture from within a piece of bread. The structure of the bread remains more or less the same, though it becomes less pliable because of the moisture loss. Dry but not stale bread will be crisp like a cracker and crumble into a fine powder.

Staling is the process by which moisture migrates out of swollen starch granules and into the spaces in the bread. The moisture-deprived starch molecules then recrystallize, forming tough structures within the bread. The moisture may remain trapped within the structure of the bread, giving you a loaf that's simultaneously moist but stale. It'll taste leathery and chewy, but not cracker-y or dry.

Staling occurs most readily at refrigerator temperatures, so it's best to store bread either on the counter or in the freezer (well wrapped, to prevent drying).

So, knowing this, we realized that despite all the recipes that call for stale bread for stuffing, what we're really after here is dry bread—bread that has had plenty of moisture driven out of it, giving it more room to absorb flavorful stock. Staling takes time. Luckily for us, drying is fast.

I dry my bread by toasting it in a low (275°F/135°C) oven for about 45 minutes, tossing it a couple of times halfway through. By drying the bread like this, you make enough room in two regular-sized loaves (about two and a half pounds of bread) to absorb a full four cups of chicken or turkey broth. It's so much broth that it almost tastes like you baked it in the bird, even if you decide to do it in a separate pan. I recommend starting it with foil on top to trap some moisture, before removing the foil and crisping up the top.

So, please don't waste your lovely home-made bread by leaving it out to go stale. Dry it using heat.

Also, I'm going to hazard to say, if your recipe doesn't already call for truly drying your bread, you might want to find a better one.

You can always make lots of it and freeze it... my dad's been freezing his breadcrumbs for decades and they work great.

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