[Sca-cooks] bread crumbs for feasts

[Terry Decker]

When I get low on breadcrumbs, I either buy two or three dozen French rolls 
from a local French bakery or bake a few loaves of bread.  The rolls dry out 
in about two days, the bread three or four (faster if cut).  Then I break 
them up to fit in the food processor, convert them to crumbs (this method 
produces about three to one of fine to coarse in volume), then sieve the 
crumbs to get fine and coarse.  I like to keep a couple quarts of bread 
crumbs around and I have often used leftover rolls or bread from feasts and 
catgering jobs to replenish my supply.

Since I use breadcrumbs in small but regular amounts, I usually replenish my 
stock whenever the opportunity presents and I don't think about how much I 
can get out of a loaf.  Three cups (or possibly less, depending on fineness) 
seems about right for a one pound loaf.  Your oven time is dependent on the 
amount of moisture in a given loaf.  Once you've drawn out all the moisture, 
additional oven time is a waste.

Bear

> How do folks make the bread crumbs for their feasts?
>
> I'm only doing a small luncheon for ~20 people and I've already gone 
> through one loaf of bread and only gotten about 3 cups of bread  crumbs, 
> used in one dish, hais. I expected one loaf of bread to  provide more than 
> enough crumbs for my several dishes.
>
> I started with a loaf of whole wheat bread and let it sit in the oven  at 
> low heat. One set for multiple hours and one for just and hour or  two. I 
> didn't detect a big difference between the two. Both crumbled  as I broke 
> them into a ziplock bag. I then simply broke up the larger  crumbs with my 
> fingers. I considered rolling over the bag with my  roller, but it didn't 
> seem worth it.
>
> So when you need a probably much larger amount of bread crumbs for a 
> feast, how do you get them? How many loaves of bread does it take? Do  you 
> use whole wheat bread? Or white bread? Or whatever is available  for the 
> cheapest price?
>
> Thanks,
>   Stefan