Popular Chef Shares an Easy and Cost-Effective Method To Bring Stale Bread Back to Life

Food wastage has emerged as one of the biggest problems in this day and age. While tonnes of food items are discarded from households, restaurants, and supermarkets, millions struggle to find three meals a day. Also, food waste is no friend to our environment! Realizing this, Chef Tristan Welch, who goes by @chef_tristan_welch on TikTok, is doing the good work of sharing expert tips on reviving stale food with simple items at home. “Nothing gets wasted in my kitchen,” quips Chef Welch in a viral video that promises to bring a rock-hard loaf of bread back to life. 

“We’re eliminating food waste and bringing this loaf back to life,” the chef began, showing a parched piece of loaf with dehydrated insides. Welch recommended putting the bread loaf under the tap “until it’s completely soaking with water.” For the next step, he popped the soaking wet loaf in the oven set at a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees F) for the duration of five minutes. The time limit may vary for different sizes. He then takes out the steaming hot bread with a softened and bouncy texture. Flaunting the final results, Welch tops it up with a slice of butter and voila! “All you need now is lots of butter and someone to eat it,” he says, chomping on the fresh bits of bread. For sliced pieces of bread, it is advisable to keep the exposed ends out of the water while following the same recipe. 

This method of reviving stale bread with a splash of water and some reheating in the oven goes a long way in reducing food wastage at home. Bread is one of the most basic ingredients and a kitchen staple in every household across the world. So, it is also one that is easily thrown out in the garbage as soon as it goes stale, or might be sitting in the pantry for longer than usual. However, Chef Welch’s suggested way of reusing the bread reintroduces taste and texture, with a crispy exterior and softer inside. 

According to The Cool Down, starches play an important role in the bread-making process. When placed in water, the starches in bread are rehydrated and turn into a gelatinous form after baking, before they eventually soften into the typical bread-like texture. However, it recrystallizes and de-gelatinizes once out of the oven and turns dry and stale if not consumed within days. So, when a stale piece of bread is soaked in water and reheated in an oven, the residual moisture turns into steam that rejuvenates the bread’s interior. Simultaneously, the dry bread crust crisps due to heat, making for the ideal texture for the bread to be consumed. 

Chef Welch’s brilliant hack was met with applause by viewers on the internet, attracting over 4.8 million views. “This is so cool! I didn’t know you could do that to bread,” wrote an enlightened user (@nebby273) while another (@joyytoyy) noted, “I love this, but also soaking bread in water feels wrong.” However, many people claimed to know the trick beforehand. “I thought I was clever doing this, but I guess everyone knows,” said a viewer (@corey.woodcox). “Done this but using milk. works a treat on those half-eaten big baguettes,” recalled a fellow internet user (@stop_it_lisie). 

You can follow @chef_tristan_welch on TikTok for more amazing cooking hacks.