Need Help/Suggestions on Keeping Bread from Drying Out

[michaelman2]

I am going to be making a large quantity of tea sandwiches (crusts off and cut into small triangles and shapes). I have heard about dampening a paper towel and placing it on top of the arranged sandwiches.....It works but not really well....

Anyone know how to keep them moist and nice to serve?

 

[sudsmaster]

I would try keeping them in a tightly sealed container until they are to be served.

Once they are out in the open, doubt there is much you can do. If they are good, however, they won't last long anyway.

Or you could try making your own bread and adding some food grade STPP. It's supposed to keep things hydrated (never tried it, myself, though).

 

[tomturbomatic]

What's wrong with sealing the trays up with SaraAnn wrap until serving?

 

[maytagbear]

What worked best for me.........

when I was catering, was lightly dampened paper towels with aluminum foil OVER the paper towels, and the foil lightly crimped to the tray/plate.

Oh, and remember--keep them under 40F or above 140F until served.

Save thr crusts, and throw them out to the wild creatures, or save them and make bread crumbs from them.

Good luck.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[sudsmaster]

Um, bad idea to keep any bread product under 40F until served. That's refrigeration temperature, and it just so happens that the process of bread going stale is accelerated at refrigeration temps. Better to keep the bread product at room temp, or freeze it. Freezing means the bread will go through the refrigeration temperature range quickly, so the staling won't be as accelerated. Same thing for thawing - just a small amount of time would be spent in the stale zone.

If you are worried about fillings spoiling at room temp, make the sandwiches the night before, freeze them (sealed in plastic), and then let them thaw (covered, of course) for about 1 hour or so before serving.

I routinely buy bread in bulk. That is, two big loaves for the price of one. I freeze one immediately, and then thaw it out when the first loaf is consumed. I can't tell the difference between the two loaves. Sometimes I'll freeze it in the original package overnight, and then vacuum seal it gently for longer storage. Not too much vacuum because it might squash even frozen bread, esp the lighter textured ones I favor.

PS-forget about adding STPP to a bread mix. Sugar, glycerine, salt, and oil help to keep baked products from going stale. But oils will make the bread more like cake, and salt will slow the rising process. There's always polysorbate and di-glycerides as humectants, if you can find them on the shelf.

 

[mixfinder]

Dry is Better than Dead

If you are using a potentially volitile filling with protiens, dairy and mayonaise it is imperative to store it under 36 degrees.  The health department gives you a 2 hour window of safety away from refrigeration or heat in the danger zone.  That 2 hours includes  shopping time, trip home on the car, the time it sat on the counter while you put away the groceries, preparation, assembly and then time on a buffet.  Lawrence is dead on right.  Make the sandwiches and pack them tight together with the crusts on.  Lay a lightly dampened paper towel over top and tightly seal the tray with foil or Saran by wrapping completely around the pan.  When ready to present at time of service, trim crusts and cut into serving sized shape.  The rest over night allows the sandwiches to meld and they become much less prone to dripping or losing their innards.

 

[sudsmaster]

OK, but if you refrigerate bread, don't be surprised if it's stale.

Like I said, if you are concerned about spoilage, then freezing them not only is safest, but it also may result in the least amount of staleness.

If you are concerned about "melding", then add more oil or mayo to the fillings.

Toothpicks can be used to anchor the parts as well, can't they? Just use a portable drill with a 1/8" bit to insert them into the frozen sandwiches... ;-)

Anyway, the food service refrigerate tea sandwiches custom combined with an irrational fear of mayonnaise seems like a good explanation for why those things almost always are stale, dry, and tasteless, at least in my experience.

PS-Commercially prepared mayonnaise is one of the safest ingredients in the mix. The vinegar, lemon juice, and salt in it makes it sour which inhibits bacterial growth. Can't vouch for rotten or rot-prone ingredients that someone might mix into it, however.
[this post was last edited: 6/5/2011-17:24]

http://www.dressings-sauces.org/foodsafety_picnic.html

 

[mixfinder]

Get Over It

Tea sandwiches by their very nature are stale.  There is simply no way to make everything fresh when planning a large party or catering.  You pick and choose your battles.  No one ever picks up a tea sandwich and remarks on the nature of the bread.  The filling is the king and the bread is simply a glorified paper plate to hold it until it reaches your mouth.  I'd scratch it off my worry list.

 

Now then Sudsy, your spot on in regard to bread storage but that wasn't the question.

 

[sudsmaster]

Um, I must be blind.

I thought the question was how to keep the bread in tea sandwiches from drying out.

As in, "Need Help/Suggestions on Keeping Bread from Drying Out"...

My bad.

I *suppose* one could eat a tea sandwich like an Oreo: split the two halves apart, lick off the tasty filling, and then toss the nasty carb wafers off into the trash.

Hehehe.

 

[mixfinder]

Lick it Off

You are absoluletly right on and funny.  I have actually taken at least the top half off and surepitiously ditched it.  I am a bit of soggy one myself and dive in by the hand fulls when the filling is so moist the bread has gone soft.  I remember reading once the best place to store potato chips was in the fridge because the moving air and lack of humidity would keep them dry and crisp.  Just think of all the time you'd save while making toast if the bread was in the fridge first. More of a midwest and humidity problem then here in the bone dry interior of the Northwest where every one adds sliced apple to the brown sugar box to keep it from turning to stone.

 

[sudsmaster]

Actually....

Toasting performs two functions: it browns and crisps the outer surface of the bread. But the heat of the toasting drives moisture back into the crystallized starch molecules, making them soft and fresh again (they got crystallized and hardened, or stale, in the fridge).

I have also found that stale bread can be softened considerably with a very brief zap in the microwave. Same idea as the inside of a piece of toast - the water has been driven back into the starch of the bread, restoring that lovely fresh texture. But one must take care, as it's very easy to overdue the microwaving and wind up with either a soggy mess or an over heated taco shell.

I hadn't heard of the potato-chip fridge connection, but it makes sense if you are after hard starch.

My location varies between wet and damp. The summers can get hot for a week or two. Right now, it's wet. In a month or two we'll be hearing horror stories of flooding in Sacramento and other low-lying areas from what looks will be a record setting run-off from the mountains. I guess that means the drought is over. And of course, water rates are going up.