My brother and I bought our parent this breadmaker for their wedding anniversary. They love it and the bread that comes out is fantastic, the only problem is that cutting the loaves into sandwich-sized slices is nigh on impossible so you end up with 2-inch thick sandwiches and half a loaf gone after making yourself lunch!!
So, can anyone recommend a tool/gadget for slicing homemade bread into thin slices, they have tried Breville’s own bread slicer but despite claiming it fits any sized loaf it doesn’t. The loaves that come out of the Breville machine are too big to fit in the slicer. Something highly adjustable would be preferable.
Yeah they have a super sharp bread knife that can cut through the head of a hammer but it’s still really hard to cut a slice anywhere near the thickness of pre-sliced bread.
A very thin bladed, finely serrated bread knife can be used to cut slices about the same thickness as commercially sliced bread.
The problem is that some homemade bread doesn’t have the right texture to be cut thinly. Lighter textured bread tends to fall apart if not sliced into thicker portions. Another issue is trying to slice the bread while still warm. Thin slices will almost always fall apart.
My Mom INSISTS that one must turn the loaf of bread on its side to cut it. She swears that this makes it less likely that you’ll cut slanty slices. I remain dubious.
Every loaf of bread I’ve seen come out of a bread machine has been oddly-shaped. That would annoy me greatly, so I use regular ol’ bread pans. That is an option with most machines – just mix the dough in the machine, and bake it in regular pans.
There are these boards which come with a multi-wire cutter (sort of looks like someone stuck a wire harp to the board). You place the bread on the board and flip the wires across it, presto! Regularly-sized slices. It’s what I’ve seen bakers use, and I’ve also seen them in fancy kitchen-stuff stores.
We rarely buy bread. I make the doughball in a bread maker, then bake it either in a pan or on a cookie sheet. I can cut paper thin slices if the bread texture permits using a sharp bread knife and ninja skills. Seriously, practice is a big part of it.
I usually make 2 or 3 loaves, slice and freeze two and eat one.
What kayaker said. A serrated edge bread knife and some practice is all that’s needed.
Also what missred said - if you’re looking to get as thin as store-bought bread, forget it. Most homemade just doesn’t have the right texture for that. But you can get better than 2" slices, and plenty thin enough for sandwich making, if you practice some.
OK, so I’ve never heard of a cake leveler before, and I happen to think it’s an awesome idea! I went to youtube and saw some double bladed cake levelers in action. Very neat.
Anyway, a short trip around the net reveals that fresh bread is more crumbly and that you should let it cool it first. A common suggestion I also see is to use an electric knife if possible, barring an electric knife the biggest hint I found on the net was to use a good quality sharp bread knife.
I think I’m going to make some bread this evening.
I’ve seen bread knives with a serrated blade for cutting the bread and a parallel non-sharp blade that guides the cut. The idea is that you run the guide blade down the face of the loaf and the real blade cuts off a uniformly sized slice.
I’ve always used an electric knife to cut mine. The knife came with two blades: one for meat, and one for bread. Seems silly to not use it.
To keep the slices uniform, I turn the loaf on its side (we’re talking about a bread machine-style “tall loaf”, right?) on a cutting board and make slice number 1. I then “roll” the loaf a quarter turn before making the next slice, and each successive slice thereafter, turning in the same direction rather than back-and-forth. That way, if I’m off a tiny bit toward the bottom, it doesn’t get progressively worse and worse the more I slice.
