The Butter Wrapper Hack That'll Keep Your Bread Nice And Soft
Whether you've got your hands on a fresh loaf from the bakery or ventured into the world of baking homemade bread, you'll always want to emulate that deliciously warm and fluffy first slice. It can become hard and stale over time because it goes through a process called retrogradation, which means the water inside evaporates over time. So, to keep your precious bread nice and soft for longer, you'll need a way to lock the moisture inside the loaf and prevent it from drying out.
Thankfully, you just need to turn to that stick of butter you originally used in your recipe because the wrapper is covered in water-locking gold. That extra bit of butter on the wrapper can help to soften the exposed bread while the wrapper traps in any existing moisture, just like it did when it was protecting the stick of butter. Simply unravel the wrapper from the stick of butter and spread it out to cover the cut end of your loaf of bread and your dry woes are no more.
Why a butter wrapper works to keep the moisture in
This clever hack hails from Instagram user and home cook Joy Huang. Huang was making homemade bright and beautiful fairy bread and shared this clever way to keep it moist. As she mentions, make sure the butter has softened and comes to room temperature first so the wrapper easily peels off and doesn't lose parts of the margarine in the process. This type of paper is usually made of a waxy, parchment-like material, making it particularly suitable for sticking. The extra butter acts as the glue here, creating a tight seal at the end of your loaf of bread.
In the second slide of Huang's post, you can see how the butter wrapper fits perfectly over the edge of the loaf. If your piece of bread is larger, use two or more butter wrappers to do the trick. And if that's too much margarine to use all at once, just place the extra sticks in a glass dish for later.
More clever uses for butter wrappers
If you've been tossing the packaging away, you're missing out on a load of other clever baking tricks using your butter wrappers. A bit of margarine will always remain on the wrapper and you can use those bits to grease your pans for cooking or cake dishes for baking. This is not the first hack to hit the scene, as the wrappers prevent mess when melting butter in the microwave as well. It acts as a simple barrier to cover the top of your dish, eliminating the need for any paper towels.
On the other hand, if your margarine happens to be wrapped in foil, you shouldn't use it for the microwave. However, foil butter wrappers will still work for the loaf of bread hack. You can even use it to cover a potato before baking in the oven or a few ears of corn for some oily, delicious goodness. Ultimately those butter wrappers are precious kitchen tools that can save you time, money, and most importantly, a delicious loaf of bread.