Cutting the Crust off of Bread

Post by **Yasmeen** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:20 am

I eat my PB sandwiches like pawilkes - crust first, then middle. I was trying to see if the people who do it had the habit instilled by their parents. I guess I'll ask Ben in 10 years.

Post by **cliftongifford** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:25 am

When my wife makes bread and soup I use the crust as a spoon. mmmm.

Post by **dhoyne** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:53 pm

Isn't the crust more nutritious than the rest? Is is for potatoes, not sure about bread.

Post by **Canuck** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:57 pm

Ooh, I eat my PB&J like yasi and pawilkes. Crust first because it's my least favourite part, then middle. People laughed at me in college for eating them that way.

Post by **bcombs** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:52 pm

dhoyne wrote:Isn't the crust more nutritious than the rest? Is is for potatoes, not sure about bread.

How could prolonged direct contact with warm air make something more nutritious? Seriously, I'm asking.

Post by **trog** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:35 pm

bcombs wrote:
dhoyne wrote:Isn't the crust more nutritious than the rest? Is is for potatoes, not sure about bread.
How could prolonged direct contact with warm air make something more nutritious? Seriously, I'm asking.

probably not higher in nutritional value, just different; the chemistry of bread is crazy complicated. The crust browns because of oxidation of the sugars, this seals the interior of the loaf and allows rising to complete. The crust has a higher sugar content and slightly less protein because the glutens stop increasing cross-linking and become more amorphous.

eat the crust 1st, save a little at the end for sopping the last of the gravy

Post by **bcombs** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:59 pm

Cool... thanks!

Post by **dmw** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:18 pm

Logan the dog eats bread, not me, but only when we are at the crags and he begs/steals it from people.... (sorry about that still, Bentley!)

Post by **lena_chita** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:55 pm

Yasmeen wrote:I was trying to see if the people who do it had the habit instilled by their parents.

I always wonder about this sort of stuff-- is it the chicken and the egg situation? Did the kids get to be that way b/c the parents were always serving sandwiches that way, or did the parents start serving the sandwiches that way b/c they were frustrated with their kids' refusal to eat crusts, and 100s of other things, and were desperate to serve something that would be easen at lunch without a big fuss.

I happen to have one child (boy, 11yo) who is a picky eater, and one child (girl 6yo) who is not.

As far as bread crusts go, they both love the crust. Luckily bread comes with two heels. On freshly-baked home-made baguettes they usually go for two crisp crusty pointy ends, and leave the middle for others...

But in terms of their food attitude in general, they couldn't be more different.

The younger one (non-picky) sees something new and her first reaction is:"Hey, what is it, can I try some?". There are certainly some foods that she tried and wasn't very impressed with, but trying something she didn't like doesn't seem to turn her off the general attitude of trying new things.

The older one's first reaction to unfamiliar foods is extreme caution. He needs persuasion to try anything new, and the best persuasion is to explain that it almost exactly the same as something he is already familiar with. For the longest time he was refusing to eat mixed foods-- all veggies were O.K., but not if they were mixed in a salad or stir-fry and had any sort of flavoring on top of them, for example. Or pasta was O.K., but not if it was, god forbid, served with pasta sauce. To his credit, he has gotten a lot less picky as he got older, but to this day, he won't eat creamy dressings. Olive oil and lemon juice only for salads. Not a bad thing by far nutritionally, all things considered, but quite frustrating if he is being served veggies with ranch dip at someone's house.

Post by **caribe** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:16 pm

In Crust we trust.