I make mine using my Cuisinart and the metal blade. Just tear off small hunks of the bread and zap it. Don't fill it more than halfway.

If you want fresh bread crumbs, freeze them in a freezer bag.

For dried bread crumbs, I pour them right from the FP, onto a rimmed cookie sheet. Place in a low oven, stir occasionally until nice and dry. Once good and dry, store in an airtight container. Nice to have on hand!

Nancy

I freeze them all the time and use the Gladware containers, easier to dip and measure.

I usually whirl them in the blender, but grating sounds good and I might try that with dry bread. I'm thinking it might be flaky like Panko.

I use the grating disk. I read about using it in Cook's Illustrated to make crumbs more like Panko. I found the grater worked much better than the regular metal blade. Hard ends, etc. were always getting stuck on it. I just use the grating disk that came with my Cuisinart. But I ordered the disk that produces thinner shreds. That might make even better crumbs.

Plllog:
I do just about the same as Nancy.

Sometimes I cube all the bread and dry it a warm oven and

sometimes I forget to turn the oven off.
I remember when I smell smoke.
Now I turn the oven on and wait until it is warm.
Turn it off and put in the bread cubes.

Anyway when they are completely dry.
I put them into a gallon zip lock and beat the hell out of them, with a rolling pin. Takes a minute.
You can control the courseness and leave small pieces,
like for meatloaf, or
make them finer.

I store them in plastic gallon Mayo jars, that I get from the market here.
I do saltine Crackers and Corn Flakes this way to make a Flakey Breaded crust for Fish or Chicken.

The best crumbs for stuffing, etc.
I found were made from Italian bread that was left out in the paper bag for 3 days.
It has to be almost hard.
I cut it in small pieces and use the Blender, pulsing it to what I want.

I wind up with crumbs and small pieces.
Hope this helps.
Lou

I also use the grating blade on the cuisinart.
I prefer to grate them when they are "very stale" not completely dry.....and then I put the crumbs on a baking sheet and further dry them in a 300 degree oven...even brown them.
Sometimes I season them in batches with things like granulated garlic and dry parsley, pepper etc....and other times with things like grated lemon peel and dry dill and sometimes with brown sugar and cinnamon and add some butter before putting on an apple crisp.

Like Nancy, I toss all the stale stuff into the food processor, and I just use the metal blade. Mine are seldom dry enough to grate, so I put them in bags and into the freezer.

I've usually got an assortment, right now I've got cheese with beer, whole wheat, farmhouse white and a few of swiss and black pepper loaf I made.

Annie

I use the regular metal blade in the FP too. The only other thing I do is toss in pats of cold butter, so the bread crumbs are already buttered when I put them back in the freezer. It's another step I don't have to mess with later on, which I always appreciate when it's time to use them.

I make both fresh and dried bread crumbs, process them in a FP, or grate the dried bread on a box grater or stick in a zip-lock bag and attack it with a rolling pin, and keep them in the freezer. I put too much work and expensive healthy ingredients into our breads (freshly milled flour, chia seeds, high maize resistant starch, multi-grain cereal blends, flaxmeal, etc.) NOT to use every bit of it - even that last heel.

I have gone through old cookbooks gleaning recipes that use bread crumbs and use them in recipes for cookies, pie crust (similar to a graham cracker crust), pancakes and waffles, muffins, and even a recently-found brownie recipe (that's not too bad), along with other more traditional uses. In some recipes the bread crumbs are used instead of flour; in others used in combination with flour.

CHOCOLATE CRUMB BROWNIES
1/3 cup margarine or butter
6 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use Hershey's 100% CACAO)
2 3/4 cup medium-fine soft bread crumbs*
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup chopped nuts, optional
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1 cup brown sugar, packed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Melt margarine and cocoa powder together over low heat, stirring occasionally. If using a microwave, cook on LOW power for 1 1/2 -2 minutes or until margarine is melted; stir to combine. Cool.

In medium mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs, baking powder and nuts. In separate bowl, beat egg and water together. Stir in cocoa mixture and brown sugar; beat until combined. Combine cocoa mixture with bread mixture until all ingredients are moistened.

Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until done. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes 16 brownies.

*Do not use commercial dry bread crumbs. Bread that is at least 3 days old works best. Using a food processor, blender, or by hand, shred bread into medium-fine crumbs.

Nutrient Analysis. One brownie provides: 128 Kcal, 1.6 g protein, 18.4 g carbohydrates, .3 g dietary fiber, 6 g fat, 13 mg cholesterol, 82 mg potassium and 122 mg sodium.

-Grainlady

If the bread is really stale, as in rock hard , I use the grater blade but if it's just good and stale I use the regular metal bread. I freeze them in zip lock bags.

All you who use the metal blade on the processor for stale bread....dry using the grating blade.
I have used it to grate whole loaves of only slightly stale bread when I needed a lot of crumbs for a huge batch of meatloaf. It goes much faster then the whirling it with the metal blade way....and you can get coarser crumbs is you want that.
Linda C

Grainlady, I wonder if it's regional, but we always called the crusty ends of the bread the "heel". Sometimes other people look at me in confusion, they don't know what I'm talking about.

None of my homemade bread goes to waste either, it gets made into crumbs. I don't use a lot of bread crumbs, but when I want some, I have them.

Claire, I've never buttered bread crumbs, ever. Is that for toppings?

Annie

Yes, Annie; Mac and Cheese comes to mind! I freely admit I'm lazy...

Annie - I'm not sure the answer to the "heel" question, but I'm going to bet you're right. I've also heard people call it the "crust" (typically British). My parents, who were from British subjects from Canada, called it the "crust".

Upon further research, I've found it called:

-hupfermumber
-grunchsteak (German)
-bread-ends
-hilt (Irish)
-bread cap
-upper crust

Who knew???

-Grainlady

I always called the end of a loaf of bread the "heel", at least when I was in Texas.

I use the grater attachment to my KA mixer for grating very hard bread, and it gives me a much better texture than using the metal blade in a food processor. The FP tends to make the crumbs into a powder and still leave some large chunks, whereas the grater gives very even and consistent results. If the bread is soft, the FP would be better, but I tend to make the crumbs from hard bread that is otherwise unusable.

Lars

That's a great tip for using the disc for grating hard, stale bread. I'm going to try that if I ever have any! I love the idea of fluffier bread crumbs, than what I usually end up with, which would make a difference to the finished product. (Most of the time the bread I'm turning into crumbs isn't quite that dry, which is why I use the blade.) It's nice to have two different methods to try for this now, depending on the bread I end up with, and how I'm going to use the crumbs.

We say "heel" too, but that might have come with my folks from the Great Lakes region.

Since I usually grate breadcrumbs by hand, and since so many of you use the grating disk, I'm going to try that with my loaf, as soon as I can clear space. First there was the cleaning of the drawers that got mortar crumbs in them because of the workmen working on finishing them. Then it was the cleaning out of almost all of my canisters. The challah flour and the big sugar are fine, as is the open waffle flour, and some brown rice. Everything else bit it! The canisters are airtight, and it seems to be the ones that had too much air space that went off during the remodel. (Guess who hasn't had time to bake!) Now I have canisters airing on every surface! And I'm tired of crumbs!!!