How to Slice Bread
Cutting Hand Made Bread
We prefer to eat organic bread but we live in a small village where there is no organic bread available for purchase. Luckily, husband enjoys baking bread so every six to eight days he bakes six loafs of organic sourdough bread.
If you like homemade bread it is better to bake a few loafs rather than just one. It saves time and it is more economical if you use your ovens full capacity when you bake. Our oven is only big enough to bake six loafs at a time.
Slicing six loaves of bread by hand can be hard work so you may want to look at options that are more mechanical.
(Unless stated otherwise all the photos are my own. )
Sliced Bread
Sliced bread was first sold in 1928. The advertising slogan used to market it led to the phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread" You can read the whole article here:
Wikipedia.org
Cutting Sourdough Bread
Through trial and error we have come to the conclusion that you get the best results when cutting the bread if you leave the sourdough loafs to cool down to room temperature. It may take up to 2 or 3 hours, sometimes even longer. I know it is hard to resist a slice of hot bread when you first start baking. Losing a crust here and there (due to testing/ tasting) will not be a problem.
For us, sourdough bread is a substitute for store bought bread so it should provide the same convenience of use, that is, sandwich size and pre-cut to the same thickness ready to be used when needed.
With each baking session we have six loafs to cut. My husband (Daniel) prefers to slice the bread with a food slicer. He bought one of the older model slicers which you turn by hand, on an auction site and is very happy with its performance. I don't like cleaning the slicer and prefer cutting the bread by hand with a knife on a glass cutting board. I wood cutting board will also work well. If you are worried that you won't be able to cut all the slices to the same thickness you can get a cutting guide to help. It's a case of practice makes perfect. You will soon be cutting uniform slices.
Preparing our Home Baked Bread for Freezing
Bread Knives
A good quality sharp knife with a good grip makes slicing bread easy.
How to slice bread
I have also spoken to people who said for them the only way to cut home baked bread is by using an electric knife. To be honest, we have never owed an electric knife so I cannot comment from experience but I have found a You Tube video where this man has cutting bread down to a fine art. An electric knife definitely takes away the physical effort needed for cutting bread.
Make your own bread cutting guide
Easy to follow instructions on how to make your own bread cutting guide.
Electric Food Slicer
