Fresh out of the oven is just one of the pleasures of life. It’s just a choice to buy bread from the store, but homemade bread are unbeatable for creating awesome sandwiches that will put a smile on the face of everyone. Depending upon your recipe, you get a number of slices per loaf. Here’s everything you will need to know before you start slicing.
How big is a normal bread slice?
Your slice of sandwich bread that you buy in a store is approximately 1 ounce per slice. An 8×4-sized homemade loaf will yield about 12 1-ounce pieces while a 9×5 serves around 16 slices.
Well, I like an 8×4 sized bread that perfect matches exactly two perfect sized bites. But if we see at both the sizes, there is not much difference. But the love for bread is the same as walking on regular-sized stairs. If 1 inch of the stair goes up or down, you might fall back hard.
For bread lovers, the size of the bread matters a lot. 8×4 is not the same as 9×5, and different people have different bread size cravings. 8×4 can leave you an extra 1 cm and, ultimately, an extra bread slice at the end of the loaf slicing.
Otherwise, if you can bake a loaf of bread when needed, here is what you need to know while slicing a loaf of homemade bread.
How to slice a homemade bread?
As you are yourself cutting against the loaf struggling not to squish your bread, consider turning it on to its side before you begin slicing. It becomes easier to cut, particularly for crusty homemade bread. If you bake bread on the regular, then investing in a bread slicer will make all the difference in getting perfect slices every time.
Follow these tricks for the perfect bread slices from the homemade loaf.
Before you break out your bread knife, ensure your loaf has cooled. Don’t be tempted to cut on it straight away! Give it an hour or two before you start slicing. There’s no denying that there is a cool loaf easier to slice.
- Use a bread slicing Guide: For evenly matched pieces, you should use a bread slicing guide and look for one with slice size. They will come in handy when you are working with multiple bread types that may require thicker or thinner slices such as rye bread and wholemeal bread.The slicing guide also acts as a security mechanism protecting your fingers out of the knife’s sharp edge. Most bread slicing guides are equipped that prevent the slicing board as you’re working on the loaf.
- Let it cool: Fresh out of the oven bread is generally too soft to slit perfectly. To avoid mashing the bread, allow it to cool completely before trying to slice it. If you wish to eat the bread warm, then you’ll require a sharp bread knife to get the job done. Now slice the bread on the board. Concentrate on the sawing movement rather than a downward cutting motion. This way, your hot bread will keep its shape.
- Use a special knife: Bread tends to crumble or mash-up in case you try slicing it with the wrong knife. For even and thin slices, you should use an Offset Bread Knife. This design allows the knife to slice without squishing the delicate parts of the bread. This makes it easier to work on the bread without having to hack around on the loaf. If the upper side is too squishy to work with, you can turn the bread to its side and work from the bottom that is crusty instead.
- Use an electric bread knife: Bread slicing can be rather the monotonous job, especially when working on multiple loaves of bread. If you are baking and bread slicing frequently, it’s definitely something to think about purchasing.
The electric bread knife provides a much cleaner cutting compared to free-hand slicing giving much smoother slice edges. Having an electric knife will also decrease the amount of time taken to slice through every loaf.
In conclusion:
Bread slicing is as much as an art as bread making. Some people can make the bread with two ingredients, and some recipes make perfectly flavored bread. All comes down to how well you slice it to have the store-bought taste and restaurant like quality in your food. Look at the aforementioned slicing guidelines and proceed with caution.
