Stuffing: When Do You Buy Your Bread?

[Philly Ray]

If you are using fresh bread for your stuffing, when do you buy it and cut it into cubes? Some recipes call for "day old bread" so if you make your stuffing on Thursday, do you buy it on Wednesday and then cut it up Thursday morning? Or do you do it earlier in the week?

[biondanonima]

I made my stuffing bread on Sunday night and tore it up to dry the same evening. I like it to have a chance to REALLY dry out. I remember my mom usually sat hers out for a week, but then again she used Wonderbread-type white bread and it's so full of preservatives that it takes forever to go stale!

[DiningDiva]

Depends upon what type of bread I'm using for stuffing. If I'm using regular (i.e. the light and airy crumb kind) white bread I'll usually shingle out the slices on sheet pans to dry adn then cube it up sometime on Wednesday. I've found that if I don't get the slices to firm up some, they don't keep their shape when I cut them because the bread is so squishy. If I'm using an artisenal bread with a denser crumb and crust, I'll usually cut it on Wednesday. I will also salt and season the bread cubes with both fresh and dry herbs the day before. I usually put the bread cubes in the turkey roaster and toss it throughout the day. I ususally end up with some very dry cubes and some that are still soft.

I always buy the bread earlier in the week, or even the weekend before if I'm using standard white bread. I'm using and artisenal French loaf this year and purchased it yesterday. It will probably get cut up tomorrow morning.

[Philly Ray]

I'm using a ciabatta loaf, but since I'm making the stuffing tomorrow (to transport on Thursday), I bought the loaf yesterday and cut it up this morning.

[DiningDiva]

Yeah, I'm kind of watching my loaf and if I think the crust is getting too tough, I'm going to cut it. May be this afternoon.