crouton maker

[matty2670]

Don't laugh... Can you get such a thing as a crouton 'maker'? i.e - something that cuts a slice of bread up into little bits without having to do it with a knife or pair of scissors!!!

[society]

I've never thought about that before, but I wonder if an egg slicer might work?

[Fitzer]

The problem is that bread can only really be cut with a sawing action, so I suppose you could, theoretically, get such a machine but it would be so horribly expensive you'd be better off employing someone to cut croutons for you. Unless you have some sort of problem preventing you from using a bread knife then I'd suggest just keep doing them by hand. Don't forget that you really want slightly stale bread for croutons and so it is easier to cut.

[Alibobs]

I am sure that I have seen one in the past - a square grid that you"stamp" on to a slice of bread and it leaves you wirh squares. My only thought is that the bread would probably stick in the squares and would have to be poked out

[chamois]

Following on from what alibobs said, try using a grid cutter from a hand chip cutting machine. If you've not got one yourself, someone in the family probably has a chip-cutter stored away in a cupboard or you should be able to pick one up in an outdoor market etc.

These grids are solid enough to cut chips, so you should have no problems pressing down on them into bread. You will have to poke the croutons out though.

[matty2670]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I actually want something for my girlfriend's mum - she buys loaves of bread by the dozen and spends ages cutting slices up with scissors into little bits to feed the ducks! I was actually thinking of a 'stamping' machine - but I probably imagined it!

[lidlicker]

Years ago I bought (from a kitchen shop) a plastic circle with squares cut out. I use it for making fruit pies. You put your pastry over it and roll. It is fairly sharp and it cuts little squares out and means you eat less pastry and you can also see what's in the pies.
I thought this might help.

[Alibobs]

Matty, if it is bread for the ducks she could whizz it to large breadcrumbs in a blender/food processor

[society]

the best way to solve your friend's problem is like this:

whatever portion of bread she wants to feed her ducks, she just need to soak it in water fifteen or twenty minutes before feeding time, and then squash it with her hand or a large spoon. we did this all the time and it worked great.

[BBWCHATT]

http://uk.best-price.com/procSystem,showProduc tSearchByUserSearch,,0,dicer.html