No kitchen is complete without a microwave. It is one of the most important appliances to have because of its many uses. Among others, it can be used for reheating leftovers, making sure that you will enjoy them while they are hot. It can be used even for warming your bread.
Interested to know how to microwave bread? Keep on reading the rest of this post and we will provide you with insights on how exactly this can be done. It might seem like as easy as putting the bread in the microwave, but it takes more than that. You should do it the right way so that the bread will end up tasty!
Also, as it will be mentioned in the rest of this post, the microwave can be used not only for reheating bread. It can also be used for making an actual bread! Yes, there is no need for you to invest in a bread maker. Later, we will let you know the simple way on how this can be done.
What You Will Need to Follow this Tutorial
If in case you are using the microwave to reheat cold bread, here are the things that you will need, aside of course, from the microwave and bread:
- Microwave-safe plate
- Paper towels
- Small bowl
- Water
- Brown paper bag
On the other hand, if you want to make your own bread in the microwave, here are what you should prepare:
- Yeast
- Warm water
- Flour
- Salt
- Sugar
- Baking Soda
Guide on How to Microwave Bread
If you store bread in the fridge or freezer, reheating it in the microwave is a good thing to do before it is eaten. However, you should be careful on how this is done to avoid the bread from turning soggy and chewy. You should also do it in such a way that the bread won’t end up being too dry. In this case, here are the simple steps you should follow:
- Prepare a microwavable-safe plate. Have it layered with paper towels.
- In the center of the plate, place a small bowl that is filled with at least ¼ inch water. Make sure that there is still enough space for the bread that you will heat.
- Now, it is time to arrange the bread on the plate. Make sure that you do no stack the bread on the top of each other. You should also leave a space in between each bread. As much as possible, keep a four-bread limit in each reheating.
- Place it in the microwave and start heating. Ideally, 20 seconds under low heat will be more than enough if it is frozen. If it was just kept in the fridge, on the other hand, 10 seconds will suffice.
- Open the microwave and check the bread. If it is still not hot enough, repeat the reheating process for 5 more seconds.
Aside from microwaving in a plate, using a brown paper bag can also be helpful. In this case, here is what you should do:
- In a brown paper bag, put your bread.
- Outside the bag, spray water. This will help to make the bread moist. However, you have to be careful when doing this. It should never be overdone as you can soak the paper.
- Microwave it for at least 20 seconds. The bread will absorb the water from the bag and will be helpful in keeping it moist.
Meanwhile, you can also consider using the microwave for making your own bread. This is a significant time-saver. Usually, baking bread will take about an hour or more. With the microwave, on the other hand, it will be done within six minutes, but that does not include waiting time for the dough to rise. Here are the simple steps that you should follow:
- In a half cup that is filled with warm water, add one and a half teaspoons of yeast. Mix thoroughly until it has fully-dissolved.
- In a large bowl, mix one tablespoon of sugar, two teaspoons of salt, and three cups of bread flour.
- Combine the mixture of the flour with the yeast. Beat it until they become smoothly integrated. After beating, add two cups of bread flour, which will make the mixture stiffer. Cover the bowl with a towel, and wait for an hour, which should be more than enough for the dough to rise.
- Once you notice that the dough has already grown twice as large, add a quarter of a teaspoon of baking soda. Leave it for another 45 minutes.
- By now, the dough has probably risen. You can place it in the microwave and heat it for three minutes on high setting. Rotate the loaf and heat for another three minutes. Let it cool for a while and it is now ready!
Pro Tips
Aside from following the steps that have been mentioned above, below are other things that you should keep in mind as well:
- Proper storage is vital to make sure that the bread will taste fine once it is reheated in the microwave. Avoid slicing the bread. Also, keep it in a container with air tight seal. Freezing it is also recommended if you intend to keep it for a longer span of time.
- Perform a visual inspection of your bread before it is warmed. Make sure that there are no molds. See to it that it is still safe to be eaten. Microwaving it will not get rid of the contaminants that have already caused the bread to spoil.
- Watch out for the heating power of the microwave. As much as possible, use only the lowest setting. Microwave in intervals of 10 to 20 seconds and do it longer only when the bread is not yet warm enough.
- Think about the type of bread before reheating it in the microwave cinnamon swirls and other soft breads, for instance, are better to be reheated in the oven.
- One of the best things that you can do is to stop the microwave when it is already halfway through the heating process. Turn the bread on the other side. This will help to make sure that the bread will be evenly heated.
- If you are using the microwave to make and not heat bread, on the other hand, make sure that the dough has already risen before you put it inside. Remember, the microwave won’t do a lot to make it rise. It will just heat it up.
- To know if the bread is already done, use the knife test. Simply poke the knife in the middle of the bread. If the blade turns out to be wet, it means that the inside of the bread is not yet cooked.
Conclusion
Now that you are done reading, we hope that you are already aware of how to microwave bread. Do it the right way and your bread will not end up being soggy. Also, you can use the microwave not only for reheating cold bread, but more importantly, even for making your own bread.
