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What is a Bread Slicing Guide?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

A bread slicing guide is a kitchen tool which is intended to facilitate the slicing of even cuts of bread. It may be combined with a bread box as well, or used in a bread slicing machine. Some kitchen supply stores carry bread slicing guides, and they are also available through direct order. While not a vitally necessary piece of kitchen equipment, a bread slicing guide can certainly be handy, especially if you make a great deal of bread.

A typical bread slicing guide is usually box-shaped, with a series of slots along both sides. The slots act as knife guides, allowing you to insert a knife and quickly and evenly cut off a slice of bread. The slots are often at varying widths, to allow cooks to cut both thick and thin slices of breads. It is also not unusual to see a bread slicing guide built on a tilt, ensuring that the bread does not slide out while it is being handled. A serrated knife is ideal for cutting most types of bread, and you should be able to find one in any well equipped kitchen.

A bread slicing guide will help facilitate even slices of bread.
A bread slicing guide will help facilitate even slices of bread.

Both wood and plastic can be used to make a bread slicing guide. As a general rule, wood is untreated, so that it will not impact the flavor of hot breads, which can tend to absorb things like oils from wood. Wood tends to be more durable in the long term, since it holds up better to knife slips. A plastic bread slicing guide, on the other hand, can be easily thrown in the dishwasher to be cleaned.

A serrated knife is ideal for cutting most types of bread.
A serrated knife is ideal for cutting most types of bread.

In most cases, a bread slicing guide is designed to accommodate breads of varying widths. A bread slicing guide may even be adjustable, meaning that it can be manipulated to hug loaves of all sizes. Some bread slicing guides are bundled into bread boxes, allowing you to store bread in a convenient slicing guide, so that it is easy to cut off a slice when it is needed.

A related concept is a bread slicing machine, which is a device built specifically for cutting breads. A bread slicing machine has a series of blades, typically serrated, which vibrate when the machine is turned on. The cook gently forces a loaf of bread through the blades, which simultaneously cut the loaf into a set of even slices. In some cases, a bread slicing machine may be adjustable, so that the blades can be moved for slices of different thicknesses.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

John57

Since I grind my own grain to make fresh bread, I use a bread slicing guide quite frequently. It is nice to have even slices without trying to guess how big or small your slice of bread will be.

Since we also use this bread for sandwiches, it makes a big difference. Before I had a bread cutting guide, my sliced pieces were never the same. It doesn't matter so much if you are eating toast, but when it comes to making a sandwich, it is nice to have uniform pieces of bread.

poppyseed

Since most of us now buy our bread pre-sliced from the store, it isn’t until someone gets adventurous and tries to bake their own that they realize how hard it is to slice bread evenly and without tearing it all to pieces.

That is when these bread slicing gizmos can really come in handy. The kind of helper that a person gets really depends on how often they are really going to bake bread. There are some fairly inexpensive options out there, with bread slicing guides being nice choices.

But for the die-hard bread baker there are all kinds of gadgets, including special, electric knives that can save a lot of the aesthetic, pretty part of slicing bread a lot of trouble.

blackDagger

There is just something about freshly baked bread that says ‘home’ to me. And around the holidays my clan and I get to be very giving folks. The problem is that our budget doesn’t agree with our generosity.

So, my husband and I decided that we could spend one day just before Christmas baking homemade bread for our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers to show our love without breaking the bank.

It is delicious, but we soon realized one flaw to our plan; bread is not easy to slice and make pretty. Imagine our delight when an online search showed us the wonderful bread slicing guide that saved our Christmas spirit that year.

The one that we had allowed you to simply put the guide over the top of the bread. You held it firmly while you used a good bread knife to slice the bread. It worked beautifully!

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    • A bread slicing guide will help facilitate even slices of bread.
      By: SATYRJA
      A bread slicing guide will help facilitate even slices of bread.
    • A serrated knife is ideal for cutting most types of bread.
      By: 135pixels
      A serrated knife is ideal for cutting most types of bread.