How To Use The Ends Of Bread As Edible Paper Towels

When it comes to shelf life, bread is underwhelming. At room temperature, store-bought bread only lasts about seven days. If you don't use it up within a week, you lose it. For people who enjoy making their own bread, however, that window closes slightly — you only get three or four days of enjoyment.

Since a loaf of bread typically has 18 to 24 slices, for most families, it's not a problem to finish it up within the allotted time. However, those two end pieces do not have the same appeal as the rest of the loaf. In fact, people call them by several unappetizing names, such as heel, butt, or crust. Consequently, those end pieces often get tossed in the trash. When you do that, you are throwing away one-tenth of the bread and creating unnecessary waste.

But you can give those ends a greater purpose. Even if you never eat them, you can use them to help you accomplish a variety of common household tasks. Believe it or not, some of those uses even make the heels more palatable.

Turning bread into towels that you can eat

During the fermentation process, networks of air pockets are created within a loaf of bread. This happens because yeast creates carbon dioxide as it feeds. The result makes bread a porous material that is highly absorbent — just like a paper towel. Even if no one in your family enjoys eating the crust, save up those end pieces by putting them in a plastic bag and storing them in your freezer until needed.

According to a budget-stretching tip found on Rachel Ray's website, those end pieces can be placed face up on a platter and used to absorb the excess grease of fried meats. The bread does just as good of a job as paper towels.

In this situation, you would not want to consume those grease-saturated heels. However, if you have a small spill or you want to clean your plate a little better before washing, The Washington Post says bread is an excellent option. You can swipe up that extra gravy or salad dressing and create a yummy bonus treat.

Other uses for the ends of your bread

The wonders of bread don't just involve cleaning up spills and absorbing excess grease. There are several nonedible uses for bread. Bread is an excellent tool for removing oil and lingering grounds from your coffee grinder. Additionally, bread is better than a broom when it comes to cleaning up small shards of glass. It is important to be very careful when doing this so you do not cut your fingers. It is also essential that this bread goes directly into the trash, so there is no chance it will be confused with edible slices.

If you pour a little white vinegar over bread that you've placed in a small dish, it can help remove odors from a room. Even better, the moisture in bread can help keep other treats, such as cookies and cakes, from drying out and becoming less desirable.

The important takeaway is that every slice of bread should be utilized, whether you eat it or not. Besides helping to stretch your budget, training yourself to use the entire loaf will help you discover purpose in other items as well. The end goal is for you to use rather than create more refuse.