Staling

Cubes of stale bread can be dipped in cheese fondue or seasoned and baked in the oven to become croutons, suitable for scattering in salads or on top of soups.

It can be a subsidiary ingredient in dishes such as fattoush (a type of salad in Levantine cuisine).

Stale bread can be used as a base for dips such as skordalia (in Greek cuisine) or substituted with another ingredient.

In medieval cuisine, slices of stale bread, called trenchers, were used instead of plates.

Anti-staling agents used in modern bread include wheat gluten, enzymes, and glycerolipids, mainly monoglycerides and diglycerides.