I eat my words - you lot were right about the bread.. but what about the crumbs?

[StripeyBear]

Posted previously asking what things are good to make from scratch. I said I'd discounted bread as it seems a lot of messing around even with the breadmaker... OK, ok... have been following the advice to give it a go, and I have to eat my words... Breadmaker that sat sadly on the shelf is now mostly up on the counter. I can load it in 5 mins flat, the houses smells delicious (feel a bit cheaty... but hey ho) and the bread is such a vastly superior product to a cut loaf that even a simple sandwich feels a bit of a gourmet treat. We've mostly been making a 50/50 loaf - and I think we are saving money too, compared to our usual sliced bread buy.

So win win.

The only thing is I'm often ending up with a heel or the odd end - have made bread pudding on occassion... did thing about making breadcrumbs for gratin tops and fried meat etc

Does anyone know if the crumbs will keep? Any other ideas about what to do with the end of the bread?

You can freeze the breadcrumbs.

As Katherine says freeze the crumbs and just use from frozen also make treacle tart with them if you enjoy that

At this time of year, the birds will be grateful.

Ooh yes, treacle tart, yum.

Freeze Breadcrumbs, defo. Also good as topping for mac cheese, cauliflower cheese, pasta bake etc. mixed with a bit of cheese, crispy bacon bits... Mmmm.

ok - do you freeze then on a tray first to keep them separated?

Everyone fights over the crispy heel in this house! Smoother it in butter and jam!

No never bother to worry about keeping them seperated they never seem to properly clump and defrost so fast anyway!

I freeze the crusts in a large freezer bag. And then once the bag of crumbs used up, I defrost the crusts and blizz them. Then they went back to the freezer. (In other words, I have a bag of crumbs and a bag of crusts).

Another use of breadcrumbs is meatballs and burgers!

My Italian friend showed me this use for old crusts (which I keep in a bag in the freezer until needed). Cut the crusts into chunks and put them on a tray in the oven on the coolest setting for about two hours. Then turn off the oven and leave overnight with the door slightly open. Next morning blitz the now extremely dry rusk-like bread in the Magimix. The crumbs can then be stored in an airtight jar for months and are really crisp as a coating.