Does anyone make their own breadcrumbs?

[babylonsister]

I know, get the bread stale and grind it up. I'm just worried about mold, or preserving the finished product as I use breadcrumbs only occasionally. But it's so wasteful throwing all that bread out. Any hints? Thanks!

[wildeyed]

1. Freezer.

I make the breadcrumbs, then put them in a freezer bag, whoosh out all the air and put them in the freezer. Never had a problem with freezer burn, either. Maybe I just use them fast enough?

[babylonsister]

2. Worth a shot-thanks! nt

[Warpy]

11. Dry them in a slow oven

or even overnight if you have a gas oven with a pilot light, which will do the trick.

I confess I never get to breadcrumbs. I cut all my old bread into cubes and toss it with a little olive oil, garlic salt, parmesean, and Italian herbs and turn it into croutons for salads and soups.

[housewolf]

12. Frozen bread cubes => Bread Pudding!

I cube mine, keep them in the freezer and then one day, I turn them into Bread Pudding! Something I've only come to appreciate as an adult, I never had it as a kid. A couple of months ago I had made a small Creme Brulee bread pudding... OMG, what a treat that was!

But then... I rarely use bread crumbs for anything since I don't really bread and fry anything (being a person who lives alone, it's just more work than I'm willing to do). But if I DID use bread crumbs frequently, I'd probably make them from frozen pieces of old bread.

[eyesroll]

3. You could also just make a small amount of breadcrumbs

I have one of those $10 mini-choppers they sell at the grocery store, and it makes just a slice or two worth of crumbs. Good for using the stale remnants of bread (instead of letting it get stale on purpose) too.

[da_chimperor]

4. You can also bake fresh bread until it's hardened, no mold to worry about

Not sure of the temperature or time as I'm relying on theoretical rather than practical knowledge, but it'll work. Just keep an eye on it and experiment.

[grasswire]

5. I like fresh breadcrumbs, not stale ones

I put them in meatballs, particularly. Whirl a couple of slices of sourdough bread and add them in. Yum. I freeze bread ends for this purpose.

[babylonsister]

6. You just inspired another question, grasswire.

I too put breadcrumbs in meatloaf, burgers and meatballs because Mom did it that way. She was cooking for a family of 7 while I only cook for 2. Do you think the crumbs were a way of stretching the meat, or is that just the accepted way of making these recipes?

[grasswire]

7. I think the crumbs lighten the dish.

That's what they do to the meatballs, anyway. I make both Greek meatballs and Italian meatballs using fresh bread crumbs. For meatloaf I use oatmeal 'cause it makes the outside nutty. Of course any kind of grain product stretches the meat, too.

I also put some of the pasta sauce IN the raw meat mixture when I make Italian ones. And I put unflavored yogurt IN the Greek meatball mixture.

Italian:

ground beef
thawed and thoroughly drained chopped spinach
fresh bread crumbs
fresh minced garlic
about 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
some pasta sauce
lots of finely chopped parsley
basil, any other herbs finely chopped
a good dash of olive oil in the mixture
salt & pepper

brown in a bit of olive oil, then cover with your favorite pasta sauce and simmer till done.

Greek:

ground beef and/or lamb
minced garlic
peppermint
lemon juice
fresh bread crumbs
dill weed
unflavored yogurt
dried or fresh thyme
finely chopped onion

brown in a bit of olive oil and then simmer till done. You can put some yogurt in the pan and simmer while scraping up all the good brown bits.

If there's too much fat on either of these, skim it off, of course.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Breadcrumbs are both a "lightener" and a "binder"

They get put in to help "glue" it all together. The side effect is lighter meatballs/loafs/patties, etc.

But it is also true ... they stretch it.

Talk about stretching, when I was a kid I recall my father going downstairs where they had this ancient hand cranked meat grinder. After their weekly trek to the neighborhood (Italian) grocer, they'd have a small wedge of precious Reggiano. To make it last the week, he'd grind it with saltines, about 1 part crackers to 3 parts cheese. The ground cheese went in a jar in the refrigerator and got used in all sorts of thing.

[wryter2000]

9. One thing I've found

I also freeze the crumbs. They stay fresh forever.

I have discovered, though, that if you use crumbs from a sweetish bread (such as Orowhead potato bread) to coat things for frying, whatever sugars are in the bread will burn slightly. For coating for frying, I only use French/Italian/sourdough crumbs.

[mandyky]

10. I use my bread "heels" for some things

I do use canned bread crumbs, but I take all my ends of loaves of breadand put them in the frig for when I make meatloaf, meatballs or stuffing. I just break them up by hand in small pieces as I need them.
(I use store bought bread)