Bread is one of the most wasted foodstuffs in the Netherlands. According to Together Against Food Waste, 60 million sandwiches are wasted every week, which is approximately 4 sandwiches per person. Or as I recently read at the Nutrition Center: that households can dispose of about 2 million kilos of various types of bread from the waste bin every week …
Bread is one of the most wasted foodstuffs in the Netherlands. According to Together Against Food Waste, 60 million sandwiches are wasted every week, which is approximately 4 sandwiches per person. Or as I recently read at the Nutrition Center: that households can save about 2 million kilos of various types of bread from the waste bin every week. That is equivalent to 2.5 million loaves of bread. Weekly.
These numbers are bizarre when you think about it. While there are plenty of ways to keep fresh bread good or to store it longer. In addition, you can make many tasty dishes with stale bread. All this inspired me to write an article to combat bread waste. Today I am sharing all my tips with you!
An article about lemon was previously published in this series. You can read more tips to prevent food waste here.
This is how you store fresh bread
You can keep fresh bread for at least 3 days in a sealed bread bag that you put in a bread bin. The less oxygen reaches the bread, the better. If you want to keep your bread soft, a plastic bag works better. Paper works better for a crispy crust, but then the bread will go stale faster. There are also special bread boxes where you no longer need a bag. Never store fresh bread in the refrigerator, as it will quickly become stale.
After these 3 days, the bread is usually still fine to eat, but it will become drier and mustier. But that’s when you can make bread dishes with it. More about that later in this article.
Are you a cap person, like me? Then eat it right away! Because these often only last on day 1, when the bread is really fresh, nice and crispy.
And if you have the idea that you always have bread left after 3 days, buy a little less bread for a while. For example, a half instead of a whole loaf. Sometimes we just buy too much and I know all about that, because that was always the case with us. This tip is only for people who can’t or don’t want to freeze.
This is how you freeze fresh bread
Now that we have come to freezing, this is really the best tip to waste less bread. You can freeze fresh bread immediately after purchase. You can do this in the bag that often already surrounds the bread. But you can also freeze it in a cotton bread bag. You can even use paper, but your bread will dry out much faster.
Frozen bread keeps well in the freezer for up to 1 month, but the taste and quality can deteriorate after 2 weeks, according to a baker I spoke to about this. It is already starting to get a bit drier, but the nutrients are still preserved.
If you freeze a whole loaf of bread, you also have to thaw that whole loaf in order to eat it. Freezing sliced bread is much easier and more efficient, because then you only take out the slices you really need.
Loose, frozen slices often thaw in 10-15 minutes in the morning if you want to eat it right away. I always put a cloth or paper towel over it during defrosting so that it doesn’t get dry during defrosting. But you can also spread frozen sandwiches and put them in your lunch box, by the time you go for lunch they will have thawed. My sports trainer Vanessa even goes a step further. At night before going to bed she spreads frozen sandwiches and puts them covered in the fridge. The next morning she can immediately take her drum with her.
This way you can quickly make stale bread tasty again
It happens to everyone from time to time, having leftover stale bread. Think of half a baguette after a barbecue, 2 croissants left over from breakfast, but especially those few slices that are still in the bag but are really too old to eat like this. First I will give you a few general tips on how to get it back quickly and then there will also be a lot of tasty recipes with stale bread.
Slices that are a bit stale and dry? Put them in the toaster, grill them in a grill pan or fry them with a little oil in a frying pan. This way you quickly have delicious toast.
Baguette that has become hard? Wet the baguette a little and pop it in the oven at 200 degrees for 5 minutes. This also seems to work well with Turkish bread.
Recipes with stale bread
Croque madame of stale baguette
Brioche French toast with smoked salmon, avocado and egg
Savory bread pudding with brie and bacon
French toast with fresh fruit
Toasties from the pan
French toast from the oven with raspberries and cardamom
Knoflook croutons
Panzanella brood salad with avocado
Pappa al pomodoro (Italian bread soup)
Homemade crostinis
Bruschettas with anchovies, arugula and balsamic tomatoes
At Together Against Food Waste I also saw good tips for a bread pizza, bread quiche and how to make your own breadcrumbs. You can find it here.
Hopefully I have been able to inspire you with my tips to prevent bread wastage. From now on we will drastically reduce those 60 million wasted sandwiches together, deal?
Text: Francesca, Photography: Francesca Kookt & Shutterstock
Sources: Together Against Food Waste, Nutrition Center, Brood.net, Real Bakker Frentz