Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process inbread and similar foods that reduces theirpalatability.Stale bread is dry and hard, making it less suitable for different culinary uses than fresh bread. Countermeasures and destaling techniques may reduce staling.
Staling is a chemical and physical process inbread that reduces itspalatability. Staling is not simply adrying-out process caused byevaporation.[1] One important mechanism is the migration of moisture from thestarch granules into the interstitial spaces,degelatinizing the starch; stale bread's leathery, hard texture results from the starchamylose andamylopectin molecules realigning and causing recrystallisation.
Stale bread is dry and hard. Bread will stale even in a moist environment and stales most rapidly at temperatures just above freezing.[2] While bread that has been frozen when fresh may be thawed acceptably, contrary to popular belief, bread stored in a refrigerator will have increased staling rates.[3] Staling alone does not make bread unsafe to eat. However, mold growth can make bread unsafe to eat. Mold growth can be slowed by refrigeration.[4]
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Many classic dishes rely upon otherwise unpalatable stale bread. Examples includebread sauce,bread dumplings, andflummadiddle, an early American savoury pudding. There are also many types ofbread soups such aswodzionka (inSilesian cuisine) andribollita (inItalian cuisine). An often-sweet dish isbread pudding. Cubes of stale bread can be dipped in cheesefondue or seasoned and baked in the oven to becomecroutons, suitable for scattering in salads or on top of soups. Slices of stale bread soaked in an egg and milk mixture and then fried are used forFrench toast (known in French aspain perdu'lost bread'). In Spanish and Portuguese cuisinesmigas is a breakfast dish using stale bread and traditionalgazpacho[5] is a soup based on tomatoes puréed with olive oil and thickened with stale bread. In Tunisian cuisinelablabi is a soup of chickpeas and stale bread.
Stale bread orbreadcrumbs made from it can be used to "stretch" meat in dishes such ashaslet (a type ofmeatloaf inBritish cuisine, or meatloaf itself) andgarbure (a stew inFrench cuisine). It can be a subsidiary ingredient in dishes such asfattoush (a type of salad inLevantine cuisine). Stale bread can be used as a base for dips such asskordalia (inGreek cuisine) or substituted with another ingredient.
Inmedieval cuisine, slices of stale bread, calledtrenchers, were used instead of plates.
Anti-staling agents used in modern bread includewheat gluten,enzymes, andglycerolipids, mainlymonoglycerides anddiglycerides.[1] Stale bread can be partially made fresh again by heating to 60 °C (140 °F)[1] in a conventionaloven ormicrowave oven.
But the basic food ideas that resulted in gazpacho might easily have evolved separately in Spain … Frugal peasants anywhere around the Mediterranean would have wanted to make use of stale bread. Soaking it in available liquids was an obvious solution.
The dictionary definition ofstaling at Wiktionary