Reheating Stale Bread with Steam

Steam and a moderate oven temperature work wonders on stale loaves or half loaves of bread. What was once chewy and tough becomes warm and soft, with a crusty exterior, after some time in the Anova Precision Oven. Using the probe to judge doneness means you don't need to guess when the bread is hot in the center. Note: This method works best with breads that have a relatively tight crumb, such as sandwich loaves, sourdough boules, rye bread, and rustic grocery store loaves. Breads with many large holes in the crumb, such as baguettes and ciabatta, do not work as well because it is challenging to insert the probe correctly. If you'd like to reheat such a bread, you will need to judge doneness based on time. Ten minutes is usually a good place to start.