Make Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are often a fabulous way to use up stale bread and improve the texture of food. If you have always purchased ready-made breadcrumbs until now, trying one or more of the suggested methods here will convince you that they're simple to make at home and probably taste better than the commercial version too.

Ingredients

  • Fresh or stale bread, according to the recipe chosen

Steps

Making Breadcrumbs from Toasted Bread Slices

This method works for either stale or fresh bread.

  1. Preheat an oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Alternatively, do this straight after cooking, to take advantage of the residual heat left over after cooking.
  2. Place slices of stale or fresh bread directly onto an oven shelf. Use as many slices as you'd like, but you won't fit a whole loaf in most ovens!
  3. Heat until the slices turn dry and crisp. Remove from the oven using oven mitts. Don't allow the slices to brown––about 7 to 10 minutes should be enough but keep an eye on them, as every oven behaves differently.
  4. Crush the dry bread slices. This can be done easily using a food processor or a blender. Simply add broken pieces of the toasted slices in small batches, process or blend, then remove the smooth crumbs to the storage container. Repeat until all bread slices have been crumbled.
    • You can also crush the slices manually using a rolling pin on a chopping board. Either simply roll over the bread slices to crush onto a cutting board, or place inside a large bag and roll the rolling pin over the bag to crush and collect at the same time (less mess). And it doesn't have to be a rolling pin either––a heavy pot, a heavy utensil or other item that can be held easily and pushed down to crush will work just as well.
  5. Store the breadcrumbs in an airtight glass jar.

Making Dried Breadcrumbs from Fresh Breadcrumbs

Fresh breadcrumbs are larger than dried breadcrumbs and are useful where you'd like a chunkier breadcrumb texture, such as inside a nut or bean loaf.

  1. Make fresh breadcrumbs. Use a good quality fresh bread to grate or process into crumbs. Remove the crusts before processing or grating.
  2. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF.
  3. Arrange the fresh crumbs on a baking sheet. You can line it with parchment if wished, but this isn't usually necessary.
  4. Bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove before the breadcrumbs brown.
  5. Cool before using or storing. Store in an airtight container.

Making Breadcrumbs from Fresh Bread by Freezing

Sometimes a recipe will call only for fresh breadcrumbs that have not been dried; this means that you cannot heat them. Fresh breadcrumbs can be grated directly on a grater or processed but the method suggested here makes things just a bit easier for you:

  1. Select the fresh bread. Bread without seeds or big grains is best.
  2. Slice as much of the bread as you want to turn into breadcrumbs. Put the rest aside for other uses. Remove the crusts of the slices being used.
  3. Place the slices into a resealable freezer bag. Put the bag into the freezer.
  4. Once frozen, remove the slices from the freezer. Grate by hand using a metal grater. The crumbs should form instantly and they will be fine and even in texture. They're now ready to use.
    • You can separate frozen bread slices by slipping a butter knife between them.

Making Panko Breadcrumbs

Panko breadcrumbs are based on a Japanese style of breadcrumbs. These breadcrumbs tend to be coarser and crunchier, making them suitable for recipes that need a heavier texture.

  1. Cut a loaf of day-old French bread into cubes.
    • Slice the bread into 1 inch (2.54 cm) slices along the loaf.
    • Remove the crust. Avoid removing as much of the bread as possible.
    • Cut each slice into cubes measuring roughly 1 inch/2.5 cm. Some pieces that are near the top of the slice will measure slightly less, that's fine, it's about good guesswork as nobody expects cooking by ruler!
  2. Process the bread cubes in the food processor. Use a high speed, and process in pulses. The resulting breadcrumbs should be coarse.
    • See the above method for making toasted breadcrumb slices for manual crumbling using a rolling pin; this is useful if you don't have a food processor or blender.
  3. Preheat the oven to 300ºF/150ºC.
  4. Spread the breadcrumbs evenly on baking sheets. Avoid doubling the layers, to ensure that they will dry evenly in the oven and not burn.
  5. Bake the breadcrumbs. Aim to dry the breadcrumbs, not brown them. Bake for 4 minutes once the oven has reached the necessary temperature.
    • Shake the baking sheets to turn and shift the breadcrumbs. This will ensure that they dry evenly.
    • Bake the breadcrumbs for another 4 minutes.
  6. Cool the breadcrumbs on the baking sheets. Allow them to cool for about an hour (maybe more). The crumbs should be completely dry to the touch.
  7. Store the panko breadcrumbs in an airtight container. They may be stored for several weeks at room temperature.

Making Fried Breadcrumbs

If your recipe calls for fried breadcrumbs, they're very easy to make.

  1. Make fresh breadcrumbs. Remove the crusts from slices of bread and either process, blend or grate into breadcrumbs.
  2. Heat either oil or butter in a deep pan.
  3. Add the fresh breadcrumbs and fry until golden. This will take about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat. Use as required.
    • Fried breadcrumbs are best used immediately rather than stored.

Making Browned Breadcrumbs

These are breadcrumbs that are lightly toasted for a different flavor and appearance. They're not used as often but if your recipe calls for this type of breadcrumbs, here is how to make them.

  1. Make the breadcrumbs as outlined above in the section "Breadcrumbs from toasted bread slices". You now have two alternatives:
    • Allow the bread slices to brown before turning them into breadcrumbs. You have instant browned breadcrumbs.
    • Or, lightly toast the dried breadcrumbs whenever you need browned breadcrumbs. This second method may be more convenient if you only need browned breadcrumbs on occasion rather than more frequently.

Using Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs have a variety of uses, some more well known than others. Here are just a few of the main things you can do with them, and no doubt, if you're a seasoned cook, you'll find even more ways to use them too.

  1. Use breadcrumbs to coat meat, fish and vegetables. Many recipes call for breadcrumbs to be used as a coating, often accompanied with butter, oil or an egg mixture. Follow the recipe's instructions and simply use your homemade breadcrumbs in the way required. Here is a basic method used to coat food in breadcrumbs:
    • Dust the food with flour first.
    • Dip in beaten egg.
    • Coat with the breadcrumbs as thoroughly as possible. It's great for items that might otherwise disintegrate when fried.
    • Alternatively, for less delicate foods, simply moisten with milk or melted butter and sprinkle on a thin layer of breadcrumbs before baking or grilling (broiling).
      • Be aware that any dish coated in breadcrumbs needs slower cooking, to avoid browning the breadcrumbs before the food has cooked. Alternatively, cover with foil, then remove later during the cooking.
  2. Use breadcrumbs to soak up liquid. Breadcrumbs have a wonderful way of soaking up excess liquid in a stew, casserole, meatloaf or nut-loaf. If you've been too generous with a sauce or liquid flavoring, use a sprinkling of breadcrumbs to adjust. Add more if needed.
  3. Thicken foods with breadcrumbs. Both stews and soups can be thickened by the addition of breadcrumbs. If the consistency seems too watery or isn't hearty enough, adding breadcrumbs will fix it quickly without overpowering the flavor.
  4. Use as a topping. Breadcrumbs are a typical gratin-style topping. They can be sprinkled on top of many casseroles, oven-baked dishes, etc., to add crunch. Usually you'd also add a drizzle or oil or some dollops of butter to add both flavor and delectable crunchiness.
  5. Make puddings with breadcrumbs. The Victorians were especially fond of turning old bread into desserts. There are specific pudding recipes that need breadcrumbs, such as Queen of puddings, apparently once a favorite of Queen Victoria.
  6. Finished.



Tips

  • Fresh breadcrumbs are known as panure, while dried breadcrumbs are known as chapelure in French. This might be useful to know if you're doing French cooking and need to know which type to use.

Things You'll Need

  • Cutting board and knife
  • Handheld or manual grater
  • Food processor or blender
  • Baking sheet
  • Airtight storage jar (glass)

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Sources and Citations

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