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Drink

Crust Coffee

A beverage made by steeping bread crusts in boiling water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Crust Coffee

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the crusts

  1. Place crusts of bread in a 300°F (150°C) oven until very crisp and brown.

  2. Break the crusts into small pieces.

Brew

  1. Cover the pieces with boiling water.

  2. Wait until the water has been absorbed.

  3. Add more boiling water to cover the bread.

  4. Set the mixture at the back of the range or over boiling water for 15 minutes.

  5. Strain through cheesecloth.

Serve

  1. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Crusts of bread
Toasting dries and browns the crusts, giving the brew its roasted, coffee-like flavour.
Boiling water
Extracts flavour and colour from the toasted bread as it soaks and steeps.

The step that matters

Toasting the crusts until very crisp and brown. Toasting drives off moisture and triggers browning reactions that create the roasted flavour and colour. Under-toasted crusts will taste flat and bready, while over-toasted ones turn bitter and burnt.

“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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