I get the distinct impression that people think of me as something of a bottom feeder, but the fact is that my favorite part of bread is the heel and crust. When I look at those loaves that had all the crust peeled off and tossed away, I feel almost… violated. When I was a kid, I did the opposite: I peeled off the crust and ate it, leaving the spongy wad of dough.
Lucky for me, I guess, that I’ve never encountered anyone else who fought me over the heel of a brand new loaf. But I have been wondering, is there anybody else ought there?
Whenever anyone brings bread into the office, they know they have to save the heels and crust for me. Pizza crust too. I’m so-so about passing on many favorite foods, but I will kill for bread heels and crusts.
Yes - although not enough to eat them until very last, since they keep the loaf from going stale.
I also have a dim view of those who toss their pie crust edges away. If your parents had been Depression-era kids like mine, you ran the risk of being made to dig it out and eat it.
(trivia from one of those Rick Steves travelouges: the crust edges on Cornish pasties were made to be thrown away - so that the pasty could be held by the mercury miners without ingesting mercury. Do I believe everything I see on PBS?)
It totally depends on the kind of bread. With a good baguette, I love the heel and crust. But with sandwich bread, like a Pullman loaf, I’m pretty indifferent to the crust, and will often throw the heel away.
Henceforward, of course, I’ll be mailing it to you.
I save the two heels (the heel and the toe?) and make a sandwich with every loaf of bread we bring home. I, too, am saddened when the wife brings home bread which doesn’t have heels.
I once catered a tea type event for my wife’s department. Lots of little cucumber sandwiches and the like. Every bit of bread had the crust cut off, and I was left with this massive pile of crusts.
Made the best damned stuffing ever, and cemented my reputation as a waste-not stingy use everything yet still metrosexual in certain circles.
Liberal, you’ve shown your usual good taste. I’m another heel and crust fan, and the better the bread, the better the crust. Later today, I may make a loaf of soda bread, and once nice thing about it is, because it’s round with a cross cut into the top, you get even more crust.
I do have a question for my fellow crust lovers. While the man I love has many virtues, he insists on putting partially eaten loaves of bread in plastic bags. While it does mean they last longer, it also means the crusts lose a bit of crispness. Is there anything which can be done about this?
Ditto – if it’s ordinary sandwichy sliced bread, the ends are nothing special, and don’t work as well for hot dogs (which is virtually my only use for bread nowadays). For something like a baguette, where the crust is nicely crunchy, the whole thing is good, and the ends are better because they deform less when buttered.
The crust really is the best part, especially if it’s a good loaf of bread with that nice chewy/crunchy crust, like a loaf of good French bread or sourdough.
I don’t like to eat the heels of regular sandwich bread, but I have if the need arose. I don’t usually throw out the heels though, I grind them in the food processor and freeze them for fresh bread crumbs.
I like 'em okay, though I wouldn’t say they’re my favorite part. I don’t really care much for sandwiches without crust though, and I’ll happily use the heels for hot dog buns if there are no buns in the house (keeps the mustard & chili from seeping through).
ETA: The aforementioned goes for regular household bread only. I love the crust and heels on French, Italian and sourdough bread…especially with oil & vinegar or spinach/artichoke dip. Mmm…
The crustier the crust, the better, I say. I like the crusts and heels of a nice homemade loaf best, but even the crust off of a white store loaf is good, and far superior to the mushy bread it encompasses.
I’m another one who saves the crusts from pizza and pie, too. Pizza crusts, especially, make me happy.
