The Genius Hack That Makes Stale Sourdough Bread Fresh Again

On a scale of moldy fruit to dull knives, stale sourdough bread is pretty high up on the kitchen frustrations list. For years, the seemingly best solution to salvage stale bread was to repurpose the tooth-shattering loaf by turning it into croutons or making your family eat a recipe that calls for stale or dried-out bread. But we've found a way to restore your stale sourdough loaf if not to its freshly baked glory, then mighty close.

All you need to do is hold your loaf under running water for a few seconds until the whole surface has gotten a good dose of moisture. Next, place the entire loaf in your oven which should be pre-heated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's a larger loaf you're working with, bake it for about 15 minutes, until the crust is crackling and the inside is soft to the (cautious, oven-mitted) touch. For smaller loaves, cut that time in half and keep a closer eye on the bread. You can revive a partly eaten loaf, too, but may need to trim off the toasted open edge once it's out of the oven.

Sourdough bread is about texture as much as it is about taste. A freshly baked slice should have a loud, crispy crust that shatters under the pressure of your bread knife, only to expose a steamy, airy core that gives a slight stretch as you sink your teeth into it. This is because during the baking process, the water that's hydrated your loaf and been absorbed into your gluten, begins to evaporate in the heat, coating your bread in moisture. The crust helps trap that moisture and results in that mouth-watering slice we were talking about. Unfortunately, you'll only get a couple of days of this perfect texture-to-taste ratio goodness before your bread begins to go stale.

When bread sits out, even if it's perfectly wrapped, it will begin to go stale. This is largely because the softening process, created when you heat up starch and water molecules, begins to reverse as the bread cools. By reintroducing water — even if it's to the exterior of the loaf — and heat, you're able to break down those starches which will help them reabsorb the additional water and bring more moisture to your loaf. However, this is a temporary fix. We recommend you eat your revived sourdough right away because once the starches cool off, it will quickly turn back into a rock of a loaf.