Bread should be broken

Dunno. If you like fluffy bread, sometimes it gets crushed in the act of rending. Then there's all the crumbs to deal with.

Best to leave bread-piecing to the experts. They have degrees and stuff.

I think it depends on the bread, of which there is a huge variety. But, in general, I like coarse-textured seedy bread rather than smooth soft bread, and unless I was making a sandwich or toast, I'd just break it in my fingers and eat bites that way.

Then there's Navajo fry-bread, which is the kind of bread the angels make in heaven . . .

caw

Depends on the type of bread. At least for me. Dense sandwich-style breads can be better sliced, baguettes or most rolls best broken. My standard, four-loaves-a-week sandwich bread is way to dense to really eat in chunks (but slices beautifully thin for homemade bread).

Agree with Mooky, it depends on the bread.

At the moment, though, I'm smelling fresh cinnamon rolls baked by my Man Child. I may not even bother with my hands, face first.

I think it depends on the bread too...

Crusty breads like Boule and baguette I prefer to break because the crunch of the crust underneath my fingers adds to the experience.

With something like focaccia, I prefer it cut, and then straight into the maw.

With modern Asian breads (like Tous les Jours or Bread Talk), I find that in general they're so soft I can't really slice or break them. I either pick tufts of bread off gently (if I'm sharing with someone else) or stuff the whole bread in mah mouf. They're so soft it's like biting into a cloud of bready deliciousness. Mmm.

...I'm so hungry now. Stupid thread.

This is just reminding me that this year, I really need to make for my bread experiment is Matnakash.

blacbird said:

Then there's Navajo fry-bread, which is the kind of bread the angels make in heaven . . .

caw

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Had to google that. Looks delicious, but such a sad story!

Friend's wife makes biscuits from scratch.
So hard you gotta take a hatchet to them.

I spent three months making biscuits a couple of times a week to get them just they way I wanted them. A lot can go wrong. Over-kneading is a likely culprit if they're hockey pucks. Using baking soda in addition to powder to offset the acid from buttermilk is important.

Relative to pulling apart, though, I don't use a rolling pin. Just flatten out on the counter, fold over 4 times and flatten out again and cut. That's how you get those defined layers that let you pull them perfectly in half after they've baked up. The strata's already there.

Man I love biscuits.

There's a Paula Deen recipe for biscuits that uses butter and it's quite simple. So it's from a few years ago. Delicious!

As for pulling bread apart, I have to agree. When it's pulled it seems fluffier somehow. BUT one time a relative made monkey bread that is made to be pulled apart. Someone at the table sneezed and reached for the bread. No one said anything. And then the thought of all those unwashed hands all over the bread, pulling it apart....

Best bet for fluffy bread: biscuits made right.

MookyMcD said:

I spent three months making biscuits a couple of times a week to get them just they way I wanted them. A lot can go wrong. Over-kneading is a likely culprit if they're hockey pucks. Using baking soda in addition to powder to offset the acid from buttermilk is important.

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Will pass this info along. Thnx for the tip
(hockey pucks = perfect description)

Most breads from India (eg. chapathis and paratas) have to be broken (more like torn) for eating. Maybe it's cause they are flat breads.

I guess I'm just too genteel. Tearing apart bread seems so Neanderthal. Might as well just get rid of all the silverware and tear at everything with our hands and teeth.

Sorry. Count me among the knife wielding set -- with pinky extended.

Shadow_Ferret said:

I guess I'm just too genteel. Tearing apart bread seems so Neanderthal. Might as well just get rid of all the silverware and tear at everything with our hands and teeth.

Sorry. Count me among the knife wielding set -- with pinky extended.

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For me it's more my slight bit of being germophobic. In fact, when we have company over,
I make dinner rolls or slice the bread before time.

Depends on the bread. Also depends on what, if anything, is being spread on it. If you want an even coating of butter or jam, sliced breads are better. If you're eating it plain or dipping in olive oil, nooks and crannies are better.

Shadow_Ferret said:

I guess I'm just too genteel. Tearing apart bread seems so Neanderthal. Might as well just get rid of all the silverware and tear at everything with our hands and teeth.

Sorry. Count me among the knife wielding set -- with pinky extended.

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Count me as a Neanderthal then. I tend to find most foods more enjoyable eaten with the hands. Ribs, bread, burgers.... The list is endless.

kuwisdelu said:

What about hashi? (Chopsticks?)

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Cool. "Chopsticks." Only civilized way to eat, IMO.
A bit at a time. Unlike other in other parts of the world where forks and spoons are used.
Why not used a blasted bulldozer to shovel it in while you're at it !

kuwisdelu said:

...how often have you seen people who regularly use chopsticks actually eat?

The bulldozer approach is quite common with chopsticks, actually.

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The foodie/hipster dainty chopstick thing makes me laugh like hell. Rice was not meant to be picked up with two sticks. It can be shoveled pretty well, though.

kuwisdelu said:

...how often have you seen people who regularly use chopsticks actually eat?

The bulldozer approach is quite common with chopsticks, actually.

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My best friends were Japanese. Ex-girlfriend too. But three isn't exactly enough to base a sweeping generalization upon. Mostly I was just having fun and declaring my love for eastern culture. Probably a more mature way of doing that ;-) (Apologies for any offense.)

MookyMcD said:

Rice was

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...meant to be eaten one grain at a time, with 10 second intervals between. Invite me over some day and I will demonstrate the technique. The meal will take several hours to consume so be sure to set aside a good portion of time.