# Problems with old bread



## watermelonman (Aug 18, 2007)

Are there any problems with eating older bread products? I don't mean moldy bread, just bread that is no longer fresh.

I heard someone trying to link it to cancer; that doesn't seem very realistic.


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## jpmcgrew (Aug 18, 2007)

How old of bread are you talking about?I dont think its a health risk at all as old or stale bread is used in many recipes like stuffing,bread dumplings etc.Now if you are talking every day like with a meal or sandwiches you want fresh bread because it just tastes better.


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## Uncle Bob (Aug 18, 2007)

Stale bread.....I'm thinking bread pudding, home made croutons, or toast to make bread crumbs....etc


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## Jeekinz (Aug 18, 2007)

Slice, toast and top with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, grated parm, fresh basil and EVOO.

I LOVE 'ol bread!


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## kitchenelf (Aug 18, 2007)

watermelonman said:


> Are there any problems with eating older bread products? I don't mean moldy bread, just bread that is no longer fresh.
> 
> I heard someone trying to link it to cancer; that doesn't seem very realistic.



I THINK the OP wasn't asking for recipes on what to use stale bread for! 

I have never heard this before.  Can you cite anything that makes reference to this?  Like the others have said, stale bread can be used in the recipes mentioned along with other recipes.  A bit more information is needed here.


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## Andy M. (Aug 18, 2007)

Stale bread has been used in cooking for centuries.  I am not aware of any health risks associated with its use.


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## Dave Hutchins (Aug 18, 2007)

The French use old bread and we call it French toast.. I can not use my sour dough bread up fast enough so I slice mine and let it dry for a day or two then I run it through the food processor to makke crumbs which I use to bread what ever with  
PS I freeze my crumbs till I need them


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## keltin (Aug 18, 2007)

As long as it isn’t molded, you’re ok. Then again, penicillin is derived from bread (and fruit) mold, so who knows about eating it in the raw?!?!?! 

(uh, don't do that....don't eat mold, seriously)

If you’ve got stale bread and want a better sandwich from it, you can wipe it with a little water or ice cube and then nuke it for 10 seconds. You can also heat up a large pan, throw in two slices on the edges and then drop in a 1/2 to full teaspoon of water and cover for 10-12 seconds. The steam will loosen it up while the heat from the pan contact will give it a light toast for a great sandwich.

Also, using stale bread for open faced sandwiches that involves a sauce like gravy and beef roast over bread eliminate the stale factor. Or use a rolling pin or other round object, roll the bread flat and thin, spread butter all over it, sprinkle with garlic powder, then roll it up tight like a cigar. Bake these bread rolls (bread sticks of sorts) at 400 for 5 or so minutes until the outside begins to brown, and serve with your favorite spaghetti or dipping sauce.


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## auntdot (Aug 19, 2007)

And give us this day our daily bread - but make it fresh.  

Everyday it seems for the last thirty years or so we have been told that one food or another rushes our inevitable demises.  

I remember a story, I think it was in the New England Journal of Medicine, a prestigious journal indeed, that said coffee drinking increased the incidence of pancreatic cancer.

I think it ran thirty years ago.

Since then coffee has been given a paliative effect for some diseases, I forget which. 

Have never seen a retraction on the coffee - pancreatic cancer thing.

Just yesterday I read an article that claimed tumeric - yep - the spice could cut the odds of getting Alzheimer's disease.  

Well I like tumeric in some dishes and would prefer my exit from this orb not be sans Alzheimer's diseae.

But I am not going to mainline tumeric, and I have a feeling that the findings in the article had more to do with the genetic makeup of the people who use tumeric, God bless them, than anything else.

My bottom line is I would use the bread


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## llvllagical_llkook (Aug 19, 2007)

Bread can be used as long as it's not supporting any life, as in mold. If it is supporting life, toss it out. Stale bread is edible, nothing unhealthy about it. Some people don't like it since they have to use their teeth more but that's about it. Smell the bread and if it has a vinegary or pungent odour, then there's probably some life you cannot see and should be pitched. Stale bread is perfect for frying or microwaving since it won't fall to pieces and be a pain like fresh bread can.


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## Uncle Bob (Aug 19, 2007)

I am with Andy's thinking! If stale bread posed any health risk, mankind as a species would have died off hundreds of years ago. Now where is my bread pudding! ha!



Enjoy!


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## Caine (Aug 19, 2007)

watermelonman said:


> Are there any problems with eating older bread products? I don't mean moldy bread, just bread that is no longer fresh.


 
I certainly hope not, considering I BUY my bread old. I could never understand why, when a loaf of bread will usually last me a week, I should pay close to $4.00 in the supermarket on Wednesday afternoon for a loaf of bread baked tuesday night, when I can get three loaves for $4.00 at the *USED BREAD STORE* on Thursday afternoon.

Oh, BTW, when it does get moldy, I break it up and toss it out on the lawn. I bet we have the healthiest sea gulls in the western United States!


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## jpmcgrew (Aug 19, 2007)

Ive heard of day old bread stores but never a Used Bread Store.So how used is this bread just slighty and how many people have used this bread?


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## Caine (Aug 20, 2007)

jpmcgrew said:


> Ive heard of day old bread stores but never a Used Bread Store.So how used is this bread just slighty and how many people have used this bread?


 
The bakery bakes bread, rolls, etc. every night, then delivers it to the supermarkets early a.m. The next early a.m., they remove all the baked goods that didin't sell the previous day and replace it with stuff they baked last night. 

The baked goods that did not sell are then moved to the "used bread store" which is owned and operated by the bakery that produced the goods, to be sold at a tremendous discount, like 1/3 to 1/4 of their original price, in order to at least recover the cost of materials. I now consider this _used bread_ because it was on a store shelf, didn't sell, and was returned to the original owner for a refund.


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## Claire (Aug 26, 2007)

Gee, everything leads to cancer if you read those forwarded emails.  I'll chime in with evreyone here.  If bread pudding and pain perdue caused cancer, if bread crumbs could kill you, there would be no one left on earth.


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## auntdot (Aug 26, 2007)

I am with Claire.  If someone was to list all of the foods that someone has tied to cancer, I suspect we would be left eating, well drinking, Scotch.  To the best of my knowledge no one has linked any form of cancer to Scotch drinking, in any quantity, and if someone has I definitely do not want to know about it.


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## elaine l (Aug 26, 2007)

Other than the obvious reason, why shouldn't you eat bread that has mold? I have heard that if one piece has the slightest bit, throw it all out.  I know this sounds awful but the urge to just pick off the dot of mold is tempting (especially when there is no other bread around) and yes I have done it.  

What about the mold growing on aged cheeses?


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## GB (Aug 26, 2007)

Andy M. said:


> Stale bread has been used in cooking for centuries.


I always find logic like this kind of funny. Cancer has been around for centuries too  (sorry Andy, I hope you don't think I am picking on you. I swear I am not!)

I have never heard of any links to cancer from old bread either.


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## Andy M. (Aug 26, 2007)

GB said:


> I always find logic like this kind of funny. Cancer has been around for centuries too  (sorry Andy, I hope you don't think I am picking on you. I swear I am not!)
> 
> I have never heard of any links to cancer from old bread either.


 

No offense, GB.  Not sue I follow your logic, however.

My point was that it has been around for centuries feeding people with no apparant ill efects.

A scare monger could attack that statement and claim I can't prove it doesn't cause cancer (or something else ) and that that means stale bread could cause cancer.  But I guess we could say the same thing about everything we eat and drink.


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## GB (Aug 26, 2007)

But that is my point exactly Andy. Just because people have been doing it for years does not automatically mean it does not cause harm.

People have been smoking tobacco for a long long time. It is just recently in the history of smoking tobacco that we have found out it causes cancer. Prior to that discovery people could have said that we have been smoking tobacco for years and never had a problem. They would be wrong of course.

Again, I am not saying that old bread causes cancer. I personally doubt it does and I will have no problem continuing to eat old bread. But citing the fact that people have been doing it for years as proof that it is not bad for you just does not seem logical to me.


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## Andy M. (Aug 26, 2007)

GB said:


> But that is my point exactly Andy. Just because people have been doing it for years does not automatically mean it does not cause harm.
> 
> People have been smoking tobacco for a long long time. It is just recently in the history of smoking tobacco that we have found out it causes cancer. Prior to that discovery people could have said that we have been smoking tobacco for years and never had a problem. They would be wrong of course.
> 
> Again, I am not saying that old bread causes cancer. I personally doubt it does and I will have no problem continuing to eat old bread. But citing the fact that people have been doing it for years as proof that it is not bad for you just does not seem logical to me.


 

The difference is that with tobacco, there was an effect and tobacco was eventually proven to be the cause.

With old bread the only effect is, maybe, gaining weight.


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## GB (Aug 26, 2007)

Well that is as far as we know right now Andy. 200 years ago they did not see the effect from tobacco. They did not make the connection between smoking and illness.


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## Andy M. (Aug 26, 2007)

I'm willing to risk it.


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## GB (Aug 26, 2007)

As am I         .


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## babetoo (Dec 23, 2007)

*bread*

i shop for groceries once a month. i live alone so a loaf of bread takes a long time for me to use. 

when i get the bread, i try to freeze half of each loaf. i buy the 1/2 loaves.

then later  in the month when i need more it is still fresh. i do the same with english muffins, etc. 

i am sure it saves money and always have fresh bread

babe


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## mcnerd (Dec 24, 2007)

Stale bread gets tossed into the dehydrator or oven to become croutons, which supposedly have a 100-year lifespan though I've never had them last that long before getting used up.


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## oneoffour (Dec 25, 2007)

The only thought I have is what kind of bread are you starting with? My feelings are I would treat a really good loaf of bread that was going stale differently than pieces of McBakers wonder loaf. Bagel chips anyone?


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