It can be difficult to estimate how much bread you'll go through in a given day or week. If you had a slow week and how have extra loaves of bread (from bread suppliers like Klosterman Baking Company) sitting around your restaurant, don't let them go to waste. Make breadcrumbs or croutons from them. You can advertise your homemade breadcrumbs or croutons on the menu, which will impress your customers, and avoid having to throw away your extra bread.
How to make breadcrumbs:
To make breadcrumbs, start by laying slices of bread out on baking sheets. Place these in a 250-degree oven, and bake them for about 2 hours, or until they are completely crispy and crumbly. If there is any moisture left in the bread, put it back in the oven to keep baking until it is completely crisp. Let the bread cool, and then place the slices, a few at a time, into your food processor.
Process until the bread forms fine crumbs. Dump each batch into a large bowl; keep adding subsequent batches to the same bowl. When you're processed all of the bread, you now have two choices. You can put the breadcrumbs into a sealed container and use them as needed, seasoning them as you use them, or you can pre-season them all right now so they're ready to use.
If you'd like to pre-season your breadcrumbs, add the following ingredients. These measurements are per 2 cups of breadcrumbs. If you have 4 cups of breadcrumbs, for instance, you'll need to double these measurements:
Stir the seasoned breadcrumbs, and transfer them to a resealable container.
How to make croutons:
Begin by cutting your slices of bread into small squares. About 1 inch by 1 inch should do the trick, but there's no need to measure or be overly precise. One your bread is cut into squares, lay the squares out on a baking sheet.
In a mixing bowl, combine the following ingredients. These measurements are per loaf of bread. If you're making croutons from 3 loaves of bread, for instance, you'll need to triple these measurements:
Drizzle the above mixture over the squares of bread. Place the baking sheet in the oven at 275 degrees F, and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, turning often during cooking. When the bread is entirely crisp and beginning to brown around the edges, the croutons are done.
Let the croutons cool completely before transferring them to a bag or plastic container for storage.
Share30 June 2015
When was the last time that you took a good, hard look at your restaurant's menu? Although it might be easy to focus on seasonal offerings or bring in a new type of fish every now and again, the decisions you make on a daily basis are the ones that really matter. For example, what type of bread do you serve in your baskets? Do your customers enjoy those hamburger buns you get from the grocery store in town? Being able to carefully analyze your offerings and make the necessary changes can have a big impact on your overall success. Check out my blog for restaurant tips that could make a difference.
