Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So, usually when I make french toast, I make up a batter of milk, eggs and spices, and then put sliced bread in a large baking pan and pour the batter over to soak it.

The problem with this is that, if I want to even make a moderate amount of french toast, I'm getting several large baking pans dirty for the soaking. Also, it's a bit of a tangoes game to get the bread to fit efficiently into the various pans; with large loaves, it's pretty much impossible without trimming down the slices.

Does anyone else have a better way to soak 8-12 slices of french toast, without getting lots of pans dirty, and wasting a lot of time playing bread tangoes?

Josh,

We use a single pan and dip the bread one slice at a time. A dish holds the soaked slices before cooking.

Tim

We pile the bread up and pour the custard over it. Then we re arrange the slices a few times to make sure they are all evenly soaked.

I have to soak them for 15-30 minutes, so that won't work.



Yeah, I tried that this morning, but a lot of the sliced of bread broke with the handling. Hence my question to the board.

I use a large rimmed baking sheet. If there's too much egg mixture, use as much as the pan can hold, then after the bread soaks it up, add the remaining mixture and flip the slices.

I too, like mine to soak a while. I like the bread thick and the inside custard-y.

Here's an idea-get a two gallon ziplock bag. Lay the bread slices out inside it. Add custard. Zip shut, lay flat and turn over once or twice while soaking. At least it would contain the mess.

Fuzzy, what kind of French toast are you making? Just curious.

fitzie

Fitzie,

Well, this time we had some leftover Mexican Easter Bread from Jocelyn Bakery. So I sliced it, and soaked it in a batter of eggs, buttermilk, cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest, ground pasilla peppers, and Mexican vanilla. One of my better french toast efforts, aside from the issue of breaking the pieces due to handling while soaking.

Unsurprisingly, egg/milk breads make the best french toast: pain de mie, brioche, pannetone, challah, etc. As SS points out, the secret to rich, custardy french toast is to soak the bread for 15 to 30 minutes (or overnight, if using stale baguettes), until it's completely soaked through and rather fragile.

The second secret is to season the batter heavily. The seasonings I use include some subset of: orange zest, lemon zest, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cardamom, mace, and powdered ginger. I also add a small quantity of ground black pepper or chili powder; not enough to be tastable separately, but enough to punch up the other spices.

How brilliant is that idea???

Sounds delicious. I'm going to try your recipe and soaking 10-15 minutes. I usually only make it for two people so I think a 9x13 Pyrex will work, depending on the bread and the hunger, of course.
fitzie