Wet the bread before it goes back in

Because stale is not the same as dry, people say. One person gives the mechanism the others use without naming it: the starch in bread sets into crystals as it sits, and heat with a little water lets the starch take the moisture back and go soft again; some people do it in the microwave, with a spray, with a mug of water standing beside the bread, or with a damp paper towel around the slice, and one runs the bread under the tap and wraps it in foil for the oven. People argued about whether that counts as “reheating” or physics or chemistry, many people finding the framing pedantic; the action is the same. The timing is the honest gap: some people say eight seconds will not work for everyone because wattage and the amount of bread change it, one says a ceramic mug soaks up heat so give it ten seconds instead, and some say the result is a texture some find unpleasant — chewy, though one of them prefers the microwave for pizza. For crisps the water is not needed; one person says the burst drives moisture out, the way the fryer did, and the crunch returns on cooling. Whether it works on crackers is asked and not answered — not covered here; it worked on a corn tortilla chip for one person; rice, one person rates eight out of ten and one person warns do not. One person asks whether the tip is only for people who cannot afford new chips, and the answer given is no — the bag you have is the bag that is stale, and the shop is further away than the microwave.

The bag, the seasoning, the recycled towel and the twist tie — the safety line above has them. The rest of the warnings are about results rather than fire: do not repeat the microwave on the same chips, people warn, one person each, because the second time they go hard; popcorn goes chewy and wants the oven, one person warns, and people in one discussion argue whether the microwave suits every snack; and microwaved bread has to be eaten at once. One person notes the energy cost as a downside. The argument about whether the oven does the whole job better is rendered below.

Then it is an ingredient, and this is where people agree most. Many people cube or blitz stale bread and dry it in a low oven for croutons, breadcrumbs or a breading; one person makes croutons first and blitzes them later only if crumbs are needed, one saves heels in the freezer until there are enough to process, and one lets them air-dry for a few days instead. Many people say stale bread is the right bread for French toast or bread pudding, because dry bread drinks the custard; some say stale tortilla chips want frying up with salsa into chilaquiles rather than reviving; others add stuffing, panzanella, meatballs and patties, dumplings, and muffins blended with ripe bananas and eggs. On storing crumbs, people warn, one person each: dry them fully and cool them before jarring, or they mould, and check the jar now and then for weevils. Whether any of this is worth the bother is argued three ways in one discussion — whether the savings are pennies against the storage and the memory it takes, whether eating the heels as they are beats processing them, and whether shop crumbs are fine; people’s own decider is how much bread your household would otherwise throw away and how much you mind a small kitchen chore. One person objects that commercial crusts taste of additives; the answer given is to buy better bread.

Scrape it with a knife, people say — in one discussion, many people choose the knife over the cheese grater one person proposed, because the knife is already in your hand and washes in a second; one person rubs the two burnt faces together instead, and one says shaving off the burnt layer is standard in restaurant kitchens. Some people say the burnt taste and smell stay however you scrape, others say the scraped bagel is fine, and one says it depends whether the burn is on the surface or has gone into the crumb; some people warn that the jokes about power tools are jokes — nothing with a motor near food. The line people do not have is the UK Food Standards Agency’s: acrylamide is a chemical that forms when starchy foods such as bread and potatoes are cooked above 120°C, and its advice is to aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter when toasting, baking, frying or roasting. That is a reason to scrape the black off, and a better reason to toast lighter next time, which one person says is the real tip.

The freezer, some people say — freeze the loaf when you buy it or slice it, and take slices out as you need them; that has its own page, linked below, with the fridge-makes-it-worse finding. One person keeps opened crisps in a large glass jar with a tight lid and reports months. The bread-bag argument is one person each way: one says a cotton pillowcase slows staling by letting humidity move, and another person says their homemade loaf went stale faster in a cotton bag than in a plastic one; people’s own decider is whether the bread is homemade or commercial and how damp your kitchen is, and this page does not settle it. One person notes that reviving frozen bread is a different job from reviving stale bread — longer, and better under a grill. How long a revived crunch lasts, which oven temperature counts as low, and whether sourdough behaves like sliced white are not covered here, and this page leaves them open.