How do you make breadcrumbs? Any alternatives?

[klmwong]

Hiya,

So how do you make breadcrumbs?

I have no food processor and have already tried leaving stale bread out for a day and that wasn't great because I still ended up chopping the bread into tiny bits myself and got SO fed up.

I have seen recipes talking about "oven dried breadcrumbs". Do I literally put slices of bread into a low oven to dry out? If so what temp and roughly how long?

Does anyone have any alternatives to breadcrumbs? I am considering trying the bits left in the weetabix box. Also I ahve seen (Annabel Karmel?) a suggestion to use crushed up cornflakes. However I wanted something "softer" and suitable for a toddler and a 10m baby.

Thanks for any help.

MW

[motherinferior]

Do you have a hand blender? They don't cost much - and even if you never use them for baby food they're great for soup - and you can whizz up stale bread in those.

[Ivor]

I put the stale bread, with crusts removed, into a large freezer bag and smash the hell out of it with the rolling pin. It's an idea to put a couple of small holes in the bag to allow the air to escape and to prevent it 'blowing up' in your face at the first smack

[grouchyoscar]

split some pitta bread and leave to dry ouy for about 20 mins

Scrunch up the dry pittas.....BREADCRUMBS!

[Iota]

my mum used to dry chunks of bread in the oven (low setting) and then use Ivor's method to smash it into toasted breadcrumbs.

I put slices in the hand-blender then spread tthem on a baking sheet and toast them

If you want soft white breadcrumb, buy a whole loaf, let it go stale for a couple of days, then cut it in half and gouge the breadcrumbs out with your fingers

[CantSlimWontSlim]

If you only want a few then you can do it by rubbing the (slightly stale) bread by hand - not chopping with a knife.

Depending on the recipe, you could possibly use polenta grains as an alternative.

[MrsApron]

i used cous cous in a breadless household one day. also oatmeal v successful.