How to Slice a Loaf of Bread

Well-sliced bread is best thing since . . . you know.

There is more than one way to slice a big, round loaf of bread. But there is only one way to do it correctly.

We are living in a golden (golden-brown?) age of bread. Bread — especially the chewy, crusty, artisanal variety — is back. Gone are the dark days of white, industrial sandwich bread: Bring on the natural-starter, ancient grain levain.

Except . . . what happens when you get home from the farmers market or bakery and find yourself staring down that crusty-brown boule? Here is how to slice your bread right.

First, choose your weapon.

A stable, heavy-duty serrated knife is what’s called for here. The ideal choice, used at many restaurants and pro kitchens, is the Victorinox Fibrox Pro 10” Bread Knife. This knife is sharp and substantial, and will easily saw through the crustiest breads, but any long serrated knife will do.

Slice the Bread, Part I.

The goal: Create slices of approximately equal size. Someone who just begins cutting the loaf into slices from one end to the other at this point will end up with small bread slices on each end, and enormously long slices in the middle which probably won’t even fit fully in the toaster.

But that is not us. So, cut a few slices off the right and left sides, and put them aside. Those are your smaller sizes. You now have the bigger middle portion of the loaf to work with.

Slice the Bread, Part II.

Slice this remaining loaf in half. Place each half face-down, so that the crusty edge is facing up at you. Now, slice downward into slices, at your desired thickness.

Voilà! You now have a loaf of bread of relatively equal-size sizes. Now just grab the butter and dive in.