Breadcrumbs: How to Use Them and How Long They Keep

Dry breadcrumbs keep 6 months in a sealed container, and panko weighs less than half as much as regular crumbs, giving a lighter, crispier crust. Breading, gratins, meatballs and homemade crumbs from stale bread, with storage times.

Dry breadcrumbs keep 6 months in a sealed container, according to the North Dakota State University (NDSU Extension) food storage guide. That shelf life holds because the crumbs are made from bread that has been baked or toasted until nearly all its moisture is gone, as Wikipedia describes them; without moisture there is no mould. Everything crumbs do in the kitchen, from the crust on a schnitzel to binding meatballs, rests on the same property: a dry crumb absorbs fat and water while holding its shape.

Regular crumbs and panko are not the same

On King Arthur Baking's ingredient weight chart, a quarter cup of dry breadcrumbs weighs 28 g (1 oz), so 112 g per cup, while a cup of panko weighs 50 g (1 3/4 oz). Panko is more than twice as light because, according to Wikipedia, it is made from bread baked by electric current without a crust and ground into flakes, giving a crisper, airier crust that holds up both in the oven and in deep fat. Fine regular crumbs give the denser, classic crust of a Wiener schnitzel. For gratins and toppings both types work equally; for breading fish or vegetables, panko uses less oil because it absorbs less.

Breading: flour, egg, crumbs, 70 °C

The order is flour, beaten egg, crumbs. Flour absorbs surface moisture from the meat, the egg clings to the flour, and the crumbs stick to the egg. Press the crumbs on lightly with your palm and let the breaded piece rest a few minutes before frying so the coating sets. The Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, in its "5 keys to food safety", calls for meat and poultry to be cooked thoroughly and gives 70 °C (158 °F) as the temperature cooked food should reach, so finish thicker cutlets in the oven after frying instead of burning the crust. Cutlets and chicken breasts for breading are available from local butchers, hake and squid from fishmongers.

Gratins, meatballs and stuffings

Wikipedia lists five common roles for crumbs: breading (tonkatsu, schnitzel), topping baked dishes, stuffing poultry, thickening stews and bulking up meatloaf. For a topping, mix the crumbs with a little olive oil or melted butter, because a dry crumb without fat does not brown in the oven, it burns. In meatballs and patties the crumbs absorb juices and hold the mixture together; add them a spoonful at a time, because the excess only shows after cooking, as a dry, hard bite. Recipes with breaded and baked dishes are in the recipes section.

Homemade crumbs from stale bread

Homemade crumbs are made from bread that is dry but not mouldy; mould on bread does not disappear when ground. Cut the bread into slices or cubes and toast it in a low oven until completely hard and dry, then grind or grate it. Let the crumbs cool to room temperature before storing: a warm crumb in a closed container releases steam that turns into moisture on the lid. If the crumbs hold together in a clump when squeezed in your hand, they still contain water and go back into the oven. For soft crumbs from fresh bread, used in stuffings and meatballs, the pantry is not an option; they are kept in the fridge and used quickly, or frozen.

Storage: dry, sealed, away from the stove

Crumbs follow the same rules as the flour on the same shelf. King Arthur Baking advises one or two extra layers of protection around an opened packet, for example the bag inside a lidded container, because dry goods are spoiled by moisture, odours that pass through paper, and heat. The same source notes that four days in the freezer kills insect eggs that arrive from the shop, which applies to crumbs as much as to flour. If the crumbs smell rancid, change colour or show threads and tiny insects, discard them together with every other open dry good in the same cupboard.

Sources

• NDSU Extension: Food Storage Guide
• King Arthur Baking: Ingredient Weight Chart
• Wikipedia: Bread crumbs
• HAH: 5 keys to food safety (Croatian)