“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
~ Robert Browning
I am not sure there is a food group I love as much as I do bread, I can eat it in almost all forms, but I think I like a simple slice of toast with butter and jam best of all. I’m used to buying hearty multigrain breads loaded with bits of heathy things that are prone to sticking in the teeth. Unless traveling where bread is unsliced, I almost always buy mine already cut into pieces perfectly shaped for the toaster. In this house, John prefers to buy his bread in long loaves untouched by the baker’s steel. He does a nice job with cutting his own gauging the width based on his mood and appetite. Since his loaves do not come with a sticker on the side listing ingredients along with the all important (to me) fat and calorie content, I have tended to have a different bread in the house which has been previously referred to as my bread. This weekend, they were out of “my bread” so John came home with extra loaves of “his bread.” In the past, I’ve had little experience with slicing my own and it seems I’ve been making a bit of a mess of it. John commented on it in a funny sort of way yesterday. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I worked a bit harder this morning trying to keep it on a straight line. Below are the results…
At a glance it doesn’t look too bad baring the hole in one slice and the missing edge of the other. The loaf itself looks reasonably straight, but see it as it really is below…
Tips on technique would be greatly appreciated.
Gifts Of The Journey 
That’s Hilarious!!!!
Slicing a perfect slice is a skill that requires lots of practice I’m afraid, so get stuck in.
I can’t give you advice on slicing, but I’ve discovered a new food to go with toast, frozen waffles, bagels or English muffins. After toasting, spread fat free plain or flavored cream cheese across the item (bread, waffle, bagel or English muffin-my favorite is waffle), then spread a small amount of your favorite jam or jelly, mine is orange marmalade. Quick, easy and delicious! I would make a joke about your bread slicing except the one time I tried, mine was smushed down that it was half the size it began. I guess it’s like Tina said, there’s an art to it.
Do you have an electric carving knife? The are the only thing I use for slicing bread and carving the holiday birds!
AB (Alton Brown) would decry that is is a unitasker but I am a huge fan!
Put your rellies in wellies! A possilbe story for TMAST? Sounds a bit like “Dress your family in couduroy and denim” by David Sedaris hehehe
Gently does it. Slow and steady.
I’m like John — I prefer the slices more ‘rustic’ than the perfect little thin slices the bakery machine does. Sometimes my slices end up like yours. The thing, methinks, is to slice thicker!
Seriously though I have no technique tips. It looks like you’re using a good knife, so that important element is already taken care of.
my dad makes sourdough bread every single week and has for probably 20 yrs – he always says you’ve got to have a really good bread knife. If he ever catches anyone trying to cut it with a regular knife you’d hear about it. your’s looks fine though.
We call that batch bread where I come from. Oh, I miss it so much!
i agree with the slow and steady approach…and thicker than than thinner.
if it doesn’t fit in the toaster or is a bit fragile (like yours) you can always put it under the grill…but don’t walk away because it will burn if you don’t keep a close eye!!!
mmmmm, toast!!!
:)))
You might want to try laying it down on its side and cutting from side to side rather than top to bottom.
ah, bread, the perfect food.
I don’t have any advice because I see you already have a bread slicing knife. However, bread in any form, torn or whole, sounds delicious. Just as you, I adore bread!
Oh I know all about bread slicing/cutting, I leave it up to my husband otherwise there is hell to pay…”Can you not cut the bread straight”? He goes off on a little rant, I think it comes from his father who was the same 🙂