We found the best way to toast your bread.
Our toaster broke.
And with everything we've learnt about bread, heat and ovens we set out to find the perfect way to toast bread with a pan. And we did. It's so good, we might not bother getting our old toaster fixed. We aren't the first to try this. A Japanese company made a 500 dollar single slice toaster with steam injection and smart temperature control. It's beautiful, but we're going to get that same result with a pan, a lid and a stovetop. We're using our Country White Sourdough, but it's the same for any bread.
Let's first agree on what we're trying to do here.
We want toast, crispy, with a pleasing crunch and if your bread is a few days old, we want it a little freshened up.
Toasting is not slow drying out bread on low heat or charring it on high. Your pan needs to be medium hot and it's going to take you a try or two to figure out what the right heat setting is. Cut a slice of bread into a few small pieces for your trial.
Toasting is not frying bread. Do not add butter, fat or oil to your bread before or while toasting. It starts the process of making croutons and immediately toughens your bread into joyless leather. I know you can't hear it, but I'm screaming in resonant horror in the bakery every time someone does this. Butter it once it comes off the pan.
Start with a flat bottomed non-stick pan.
Toast scratches, so save your best Non-Stick pans for omeletes and dig out that old pan. You could use heavy Cast Iron Skillets (which feel like a waste to heat up for a slice of bread) or Carbon steel pans. It needs to be flat. Set your stove to medium and drop in your bread leaving space to drop some water;
Angle the pan a bit so you can drop in a teaspoon of water and it doesn't soak your bread. There isn't anything as annoying as when that happens.
Close the lid. Let it steam.
Leave the lid on a bit after the water has evaporated for the steam to work it's magic on your bread. Turn the toast over and add another teaspoon of water and close the lid. Leave it on another 30 seconds.
Is your pan too hot?
If your pan is smoking or the toast is charring, it's too hot, reduce the heat. if the water isn't bubbling and steaming up your pan, it's not hot enough, raise the heat.
After your second splash of water has steamed your bread, remove the lid and now toast the bread till it's as crispy as you like it.
Steam is the game changer.
It transfers heat to the toast fast and deep. It revives stale bread, keeps the toast from drying out and you'll never be able to eat bad toast again after you try this. I am sorry, it is a curse, of sorts.
BREAD.lk is a specialist bakery focused on making the best handmade wood-fired Sourdough and Brioche in Sri Lanka. We rely on a combination of wild yeast fermentation and traditional breadmaking techniques to get the best out of all-natural ingredients. We make wholegrain, healthy seed and grain sourdough bread, crusty rustic white bread as well as sinful Brioches and Babkas. We use no artificial additives or preservatives. Order your loaf at www.bread.lk and pick it up from one of our collection points across the city.
