How do you make bread soft again without a microwave?

Preheat your oven to 300º F (150º C), wrap your bread in foil, and set it in the oven for 5-15 minutes . If the crust is soft, unwrap the foil and give it an extra 5 minutes. Or, pour a shallow layer of water into a steamer and bring it to a boil. Place your bread in a steamer basket and steam it for 5 minutes.

What makes homemade bread softer?

The Magic Behind Soft Bread Oil or Butter: These fats coat the flour proteins, leading to a tender crumb. ... Sugar: Not only does it sweeten the bread, but sugar also retains moisture. ... Baking Soda: When added, especially in recipes with acidic ingredients, it can make bread soft and spongy. Sep 26, 2023

What is the trick to soft bread?

One of the easiest ways our bakers follow to make bread soft and fluffy is by using 1-2 tablespoons of lubricant/fats such as vegetable oil to wet the ingredients . This will prevent the formation of excess gluten, as excess gluten makes bread chewy.

Does microwaving stale bread make it soft?

All you need to do is place your bread inside a damp paper towel, and microwave it on a plate for 10 seconds. The water will revive the starch molecules in the bread's flour, the reaction between the two will occur again, and you'll have your soft bread back.

How do you soften bread on the stove?

Let your bread cook for 6-7 minutes . Set a timer on your stove, microwave, or phone for about 6 minutes, and check on your bread after the timer is up. Your loaf should be warm and soft. If your loaf is very wet, you may need to extend the cooking time to 10-12 minutes.

How do you make bread soft and spongy?

Final answer: Baking soda is used to make bread soft and spongy. Q. Baking soda is used in small amount in making bread and cake. It helps to make these soft and spongy.

What additive makes bread soft?

Reddi-Sponge is a reducing agent made with dairy whey and L-cysteine and I bet that 6% level really gave you a soft and extensible dough. The best suited product for your application is an additive co*cktail made with SSL (sodium stearoyl lactalate) and distilled mono-diglyceride.

What to add to make bread more moist?

Fats keep your bread moist . If your loaf was too dry, try adding a tablespoon or two more oil next time you make it. Likewise, water does more than hydrate your dough. It helps yeast do its thing, activates gluten and determines the volume of your loaf—all crucial for the right results.

Does baking soda make bread soft?

It helps to make these soft and spongy . An aqueous solution of baking soda turns red litmus blue. It is also used in soda acid fire extinguisher.

Does heating up stale bread make it softer?

To soften a stale loaf of bread, you need to heat it so that the starches will reabsorb the water . The thing to know is that this reabsorption starts to happen at about 131 F and continues up to around 185 F. The point is, you need a relatively low temperature to do it properly.

How do you soften hard bread on the stove?

Let your bread cook for 6-7 minutes . Set a timer on your stove, microwave, or phone for about 6 minutes, and check on your bread after the timer is up. Your loaf should be warm and soft. If your loaf is very wet, you may need to extend the cooking time to 10-12 minutes.

How to Make Stale Bread Soft Again: 3 Quick & Easy Ways (2024)

Categories
Food and Entertaining
Food Preparation
Food Preservation Techniques

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Simple hacks for softening crunchy, hard bread

Reviewed byJennifer Levasseur

Last Updated: December 19, 2023References

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Heating in the Oven

Steaming

Microwaving

Tips

Warnings

Before you throw out hard, stale bread products, try restoring its texture with heat and moisture. This is most effective if the bread was kept wrapped and still has a little give, but it can even improve rock-hard loaves to some extent.

Things You Should Know

Preheat your oven to 300º F (150º C), wrap your bread in foil, and set it in the oven for 5-15 minutes. If the crust is soft, unwrap the foil and give it an extra 5 minutes.
Or, pour a shallow layer of water into a steamer and bring it to a boil. Place your bread in a steamer basket and steam it for 5 minutes.
Alternatively, wrap your bread in a damp paper towel and heat it in the microwave using 10 second intervals.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Heating in the Oven

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1
Preheat your oven to a low temperature. Set your oven to 300ºF (150ºC). The heat will restore most stale bread, although the effect will only last a few hours.^[1]
2
Add water only if the crust is hard. Even stale bread still contains plenty of water. It feels dry because the starch molecules have linked up and trapped the water. This means you don't need to add water to the crumb of the bread. If the bread has a hard outer crust, flick water onto it, or run it under the cold tap if extremely stale.^[2]
- If the bread turned dry from overheating, or if it was exposed to air, it has lost some of its water.^[3] Wet the whole loaf to restore moisture.
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3
Wrap the bread in foil. This prevents steam from escaping, keeping the moisture trapped in the bread instead.
4
Heat until soft. If you dampened the bread, wait until it no longer feels soggy. Depending on the size of the loaf and whether or not you added water, this could take 5–15 minutes.
5
Unwrap and heat for another five minutes if the crust is too soft. If the bread is soft but the once-hard crust is squishy, take off the foil. Keep heating for another five minutes, or until you've restored the crust to the right texture.^[4]
6
Eat soon. Heat "melts" the starch molecule structure to release the trapped water, but also speeds up staling once the bread cools down.^[5] The bread will only last a few hours at most before it turns stale again.^[6]^[7]

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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Steaming

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See Also
Four Wheat-Free Crostini How to Soften Stale Bread How to Make Stale Bread (Yes, on Purpose!)Crostini
1
Bring water to a boil in the base of a steamer. Pour a shallow layer of water into the pan. Heat over high until the water reaches a rolling boil, then remove from heat.
- If you don't have a steamer, you'll need a colander that sits on top of the pan, and a lid that can fit over the colander.
- This methods adds less heat than the oven, but more moisture. The extra moisture is most helpful when the bread is very stale and hard, or if it was left out unwrapped.
2
Place the stale loaf in the steamer basket. Place the basket over the steaming pan and cover with a lid.
3
Leave covered until the bread is soft. Give the steam at least five minutes to soften the bread.

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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Microwaving

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1
Slice bread to eat right away. Microwaves do soften bread, but the results aren't perfect. Within a few minutes, the bread usually turns rubbery and even tougher than before.^[8] This is the fastest method, but it's best to save it for an immediate snack.
- This happens because the microwave boils away some of the water. The escaping steam pushes the starches into a denser structure, and leaves the bread dry. Slow heating in small increments can reduce this effect, but it's difficult to find a sweet spot that's still hot enough to soften the bread.
2
Wrap in a damp paper towel. Lightly dampen a plain, white paper towel. Wrap it around your bread.^[9] This adds more moisture, and traps some of the steam in the bread to keep it soft.
3
Heat in ten second intervals. Depending on how strong your microwave is, the bread might already be soft after ten seconds. If not, try again, checking frequently.

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Community Q&A

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Question
Why does hard bread become soft when I wet it?
Community Answer
Because it brings the moisture back. When wet starch (i.e. dough) heats up (i.e. baked, it becomes partially gelatinized. That's the nice, moist texture of fresh baked bread.
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Why does microwaved bread become even harder than before?
Maggie Peterson
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A Guide to the Perfect Crostini
Microwaving bread causes it to lose moisture. Trying putting a mug of water in the microwave when you microwave the bread. The steam will help keep the bread soft.
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Tips

Light breads stay fresh for longer than dense breads. Breads and cakes with fats, sugars, and other additional ingredients also tend to have a longer shelf life.^[10]
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To extend shelf-life, freeze the bread and thaw it in the oven when ready to use. If you'd rather not thaw it, wrap the bread in plastic or foil until airtight and store at room temperature to keep it edible for an extra day or two.^[11]
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You can make garlic bread while refreshing the bread. Follow the oven instructions with these extra steps before heating:
- Slice the bread in advance, but leave the slices attached at the base.
- Spread butter onto each slice.
- Rub with crushed garlic, salt, and dried or fresh chopped herbs.
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Warnings

Overheating the bread will boil away moisture and make it tough and dry. This is easy to do in the microwave, due to uneven heating.
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The refrigerator may prevent mold from growing on your bread, but it won't keep it fresh. Starch retrogradation (the process that makes bread go stale) happens much faster at cold temperatures (above freezing).
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About This Article

Reviewed by:

Jennifer Levasseur

Personal Chef

This article was reviewed by Jennifer Levasseur. Chef Jennifer Levasseur is a Personal Chef and the Owner of The Happy Cuisiniere based in Breckenridge, Colorado. She has over 12 years of culinary experience and specializes in Mountain and Contemporary Rustic cuisine. Moreover, she can craft dishes and modify menus to accommodate dietary restrictions, such as gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, and dairy-free diets. In addition to a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Management from the University of Houston, Chef Jennifer holds Associate’s degrees in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts from Houston Community College. This article has been viewed 315,722 times.

10 votes - 88%

Co-authors: 11

Updated: December 19, 2023

Categories: Food Preservation Techniques

Article SummaryX

If you want to make stale bread soft again, wrap the bread in foil. If the crust of the bread is very hard, sprinkle a little water on the outside before you close the foil. Place the bread in a 300°F oven for 5-15 minutes or until the bread feels soft. If you added water, heat the bread until it no longer feels soggy. Eat the bread right away, since it will only stay soft for a few more hours. To learn how to steam stale bread to make it soft again, keep reading!

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How to Make Stale Bread Soft Again: 3 Quick & Easy Ways (2024)

Things You Should Know

Heating in the Oven

Steaming

Microwaving

Community Q&A

Tips

Warnings

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References

About This Article

Reader Success Stories

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