Toast-water
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut slices of stale bread.
Toast over a slow fire until very dry and evenly brown, not burned.
Infuse and strain
Put the toasted bread into a pitcher and cover with boiling water.
Infuse for 1 to 2 hours.
Strain the water and use.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Stale bread
- Toasted bread gives the water its flavor and light brown color as it infuses.
- Boiling water
- Hot water draws flavor and color out of the toasted bread during infusion.
The step that matters
Toasting the bread evenly to brown, not burn. Toasting develops the flavor and color that the water will extract. Under-toasted bread gives a flat taste, while burned bread adds bitter, acrid notes that carry into the infusion.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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