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The Kitchen Table

Moldy breadcrumbs

11 years ago

I took my glass jar of bread crumbs out of the cupboard and they had turned all grey. Moldy.

These are homemade, with bread that I dry in the oven, then process into crumbs. They keep in the cupboard as they are dried. I've never had them mold before. Any ideas what went wrong? How do you store your dried breadcrumbs?

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Comments (17)

mary_c_gw
11 years ago
I store them in the freezer, in a ziplock bag. It wouldn't even occur to me to leave them unfrozen - but then I use dried bread crumbs only about 4 times a year, LOL.

If they went moldy, I suspect they weren't dried quite enough.
azzalea
11 years ago
Or perhaps the jar wasn't quite dry, or you made them on a humid day. Somehow, moisture invaded them.

I keep most things like that in the freezer. Just not worth letting things go past their prime, and tossing out good money.
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breenthumb
11 years ago
I use commercial breadcrumbs and keep them in the fridge now. Always used to keep in cabinet but pulled them out once to find worms. Probably would have gotten infested with meal moths if I hadn't found them in time. I keep flour in fridge now too, simply because some things last too long with the kids gone.

Seems mold, though, should need to come from moisture, no?
sheilajoyce_gw
11 years ago
There was some moisture in there somehow that led to the mold.
Jasdip
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks guys.
This is the first time I've used a glass jar. I usually use a recycled plastic container....ice cream or something.

I suspect the glass had something to do with it.
iowagirl2006
11 years ago
I always keep mine in the freezer. Humidity is usually a factor around here.
jemdandy
11 years ago
Very likely, there were mold spores in the jar. Mold spores are microscopic and can be everywhere. In order to seal food in a jar, the jar has to be sanatized. That's why when canning fruits and vegtables, these are cooked while in the jar and sealed soon after pulling from the cooker. As the jar cools, the steam condenses and 'pulls' a vacuum. There should be no air in the jar since the steam should have displaced all air during cooking.
patti43
11 years ago
I put my bread through the food processor and store in a plastic bag in the freezer. Never had a mold problem.
teresava
11 years ago
I have my store bought breadcrumbs in the pantry. Seems I should go check them, but I've always kept them there and they've been fine?
cynic
11 years ago
They probably weren't as dry as you thought. The glass wouldn't really have much to do with it, except it would keep the moisture in there although plastic will hold some too. Plastic breathes where glass does not. Don't know what time frame you're talking about but it generally takes heat and humidity to get the mold going. If it's above the stove or nearby, that provides a warm, moist area for mold to thrive.
OnAHolliday
11 years ago
In freezer bags in the..uhm.. freezer.
Just like Patti43, I don't dry the crumbs in the oven, I take stale bread and pulse it a few times in the food processor.
jannie
11 years ago
I use commercially made breadcrumbs and I keep them in the freezer. Had grain weevils a couple of time, just plain gross!
OklaMoni
11 years ago
Jas, I don't think it is the glass. I have some in glass in the pantry, and some in tupperware in the fridge.

Both been there for a while, and neither has mold.

The fridge ones... I just wasn't sure they were totally dry.

Moni
susan_on
11 years ago
I make my own and I dry them for several days before I pulse them in the food processor. If the oven is warm from something I've been cooking, I put them in there, but otherwise don't bother to toast them. I always keep them in a plastic container in the freezer. They don't freeze into a solid mass, and you can pour out whatever you need and put the container back in the freezer. Since I make them from leftover bread that I've made, there are no preservatives in them, so I wouldn't want to just store them in the cupboard.
Jasdip
Original Author
11 years ago
Susan_on.....that's what I do too. I freeze my leftover bread heels, and pieces and when I have lots I dry them on cookie sheets.

I do dry the crumbs further in a warm oven as an added precaution. I'll keep them in the freezer from now on.

Thanks again, my buddies :)
cynic
11 years ago
"leftover bread heels" What's that? Never see them leftover around here! That's the best part of the bread AFAIC!
kacram
11 years ago
Yeah, cynic! Left over bread of any kind is unheard of
in this house! wow... lol. I like bread! lol
but I just started WW again, and I am not willing to use the points very often on all the bread I WAS eating! lol

Rye bread, pumpernickle (sp) bread... yucky bread. lolol

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