Make day-old bread brand new again in two easy steps.
This quick, genius trick will revive stale bread in minutes, refreshing your loaf back to its crusty exterior, soft interior glory.
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Fresh Bread, Stale Bread
There’s nothing quite as good as a well-made loaf of artisan bread, fresh from the oven so the exterior is crisp and crusty on the outside with a chewy, soft interior. There is just one problem: Fresh bread becomes stale quickly, and not many of us eat a whole loaf of fresh bread in a day or two. Baguettes especially turn stale very quickly.
Sure, you can wrap and freeze leftover bread, or turn the bread into homemade breadcrumbs if the loaf really dries out. But there’s also a way to refresh stale bread so it’s virtually fresh as new. The tip you’ll learn below works especially well for reviving stale baguettes.
What makes bread turn stale?
Stale bread suffers from two problems: 1) an exterior that loses is crustiness, and 2) an interior that gets tough. Staleness happens when starch molecules go through a process called retrogradation. In most simple terms, it means that the water and starch bonds that formed during baking essentially reverse: the bread’s moist interior starts to dry out as the starch “gives back” the water; meanwhile, the dry, crusty exterior begins to feel soggy.
How to refresh stale bread
But! Fear not, bread lovers. There is a very simple way to revive stale bread to make it crusty and new all over again. All you need is water and a few minutes of oven time to make the crust crusty and the interior fluffy and fresh. It is a pro pastry chef trick I learned from a French baker years ago, and then again in pastry school at the Culinary Institute of America. Read below to learn how.
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The Genius Trick to Refresh Stale Bread in Two Easy Steps
Refreshing slightly stale bread (i.e., day-old bread whose crust has lost its crusty glory) is as simple as it is magical.
- First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Next, generously brush the bread all over with water, using either a pastry brush or your hand.
- Put the bread in the oven and “bake” for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the loaf, until crusty and hard again on the outside. If it does not feel crusty after 15 minutes, let it go a bit longer. It will get there.
Why Water Revives Stale Bread
How the does the magic work? How does wetting bread actually refresh the bread?
Bread that goes stale goes through a science-sounding process called starch retrogradation, where the starch in the bread flour releases the moisture it absorbed in the baking process. When the starch releases the moisture, the bread gets spongy and a little soggy. By adding water back to the bread and then re-baking it just enough, the starch can reabsorb the moisture and trap it in there, instead of releasing it.
But here’s the rub: You can revive stale bread into being good as new, but starch retrogradation will happen all over again. So enjoy this second bite of the apple — err, bread — while you can.
Originally published July 22, 2020. Updated March 10, 2025.
How to Revive Stale Bread to Make It Fresh Again
Ingredients
- Loaf of day-old or mildly stale artisan bread
- Water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Brush the exterior of the bread loaf with water, using a pastry brush or your hands. The bread should be wet over the entire surface, but not soaked.
- Place in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes or slightly longer, until the crust feels hard and dry.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
3 comments
jen
Hi, Lisa. I had to write and just say this WORKED! I used this on a baguette yesterday. Fresh as new. Thanks for this genius hack.
Ricki
Thx for the tip, it works!
Unpeeled
Thanks!!