Frivolous holiday poll: Who eats the ends/heels of pre-sliced sandwich bread?

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Dh and I are curious about whether it is typical to eat the heel of sandwich bread, or more typical to toss those two end slices to the chickens or into the trash. One of us likes the heels, and the other thinks they're yucky and throws them away. What happens in your family? (Answer as many as are true)

Edited December 22, 2019 by Suzanne in ABQ

[Tanaqui]

1. Heel. Like the heel of your foot.

2. I have been known to turn those into breadcrumbs for recipes. Oddly, we all like the heel of nice bread, just not presliced breads.

[stephanier.1765]

I will but it depends on if it's the last of the bread and how badly I want the sandwich.

 

[Selkie]

We rarely eat bread in our house, but when we do, I'll eat the heels. I'm too frugal to toss them. 

[MysteryJen]

I will, if that is the last bread option. Dh will but only if it bread he likes.

None of my children will touch them.

[Pawz4me]

I only eat sourdough bread, and mostly for making cheese toast for breakfast. I like the heels. They make extra crunchy, crispy toast. DH eats whole wheat bread and he'll eat the heels if he wants a sandwich and the heels are all that's left.

[Kassia]

I love the heel and so does DH.  They seem more like a roll to me than a slice of bread.  Send me all the heels!  

 

 

[Arcadia]

I like the end pieces so my husband lets me have them. My kids will eat them without thinking if making a sandwich. There are four resident squirrels at the palm tree next to my patio who would happily eat them, as will the birds. If bread taste stale, I use them for making croutons.

[Junie]

My dh just told me that the heel is his favorite part.

Some of my kids eat them, some don't.

I have never liked sandwich bread.  At all.  

[Suzanne in ABQ]

18 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

1. Heel. Like the heel of your foot.

2. I have been known to turn those into breadcrumbs for recipes. Oddly, we all like the heel of nice bread, just not presliced breads.

 

Thanks for the correction. I'm gonna edit that.  I do know better. 

[Shoeless]

I'll eat them if I really want a sandwich. DH won't eat them.  

I usually just give them to the chickens. 

[LuvToRead]

I make breadcrumbs from heels.

[MaBelle]

I won't.  If dh needs a sandwich and I'm annoyed at him he gets heels.  Otherwise they go in the chicken bucket.

 

[Emba]

All three of my children will eat the heel, but  under duress. 🙂 If i don’t remind them and insist, they leave it for someone else.

both adults will

[KrissiK]

No one eats them. I throw them out. I feel slightly guilty about throwing them out, but not guilty enough to eT them.

[Elizabeth86]

I hate them, but I always leave them in the bag.  Sometimes someone eats them because it is what we have left.  If we have another bag of bread I toss them.  Sometimes my 4 year old will grab the bag of bread and eat the end.  My dh will say he doesn't mind eating then because that's just how he is, he has lived in very crappy situations ( Marine corps infantry) and he makes it a point not to complain about anything that would be a first world problem, but he would truly prefer not to eat them I think.  I used to have outside dogs that I would feed scraps too, but not anymore.  

[Storygirl]

In theory, I don't mind eating them and sometimes do. But in general practice, we skip past the first heel and start eating the loaf with the second piece of bread, leaving the heel in the bag, next to the next available slice. In my opinion, that heel protects the end of the loaf of bread, so that the first non-heel slice avoids getting stale as quickly. So eventually there are only the two heels left in the bag. By that time, they seem stale, and I toss them out. If they are not stale, I would make a sandwich or toast with them, but usually they are tossed.

Making them into croutons or bread crumbs is a great idea.

[RootAnn]

I don't get it, but I'm the only one who normally eats them. DH will if he's using bread as a bun for a hot dog.  Otherwise, they are all that is left in a bag .... again, I don't understand it, but that is the case in our house.

[dirty ethel rackham]

We never waste the heel.  Depending on the thickness of the heel, it may be used for sandwiches, toast, or ground up for bread crumbs or cut up for croutons.  We don't have chickens.  If it is thick, I personally love it for toast, slathered with butter or cream cheese, and pepper jelly. 

ETA:  The heels are usually eaten last, though because they do help keep the bread from drying out.  

Edited December 22, 2019 by dirty ethel rackham

[Bambam]

We don't eat the heels of pre-sliced sandwich bread, but I have used them in dressing. 
If it is homemade bread, we eat every bite!

[Jaybee]

I answered that nobody eats them, but it isn't entirely true. It's just that so often I end up throwing those pieces away. I will use them sometimes for toast, but I don't eat a lot of sliced bread. Most around here won't use them for sandwiches. On homemade bread, however, it is an entirely different situation, especially when hot out of the oven.

[MercyA]

Oh my goodness, you read my mind.

Not two hours ago, I was thinking, I am always the one who eats the heels of bread in this house! I am always the one who buys the gift wrapping supplies. I am always the one who picks up that annoying piece of thread on the floor, because if I don't, it will stay there forever! LOL. 🙂 

In all seriousness: 

1. It must be lovely to have chickens to whom to give the heel. Alas, I have none. 

2. My husband (good man that he is) will not complain if I make him a sandwich using the heel, but I try never to use two heels, and to add extra mayo. 

3. If there is other bread available, I usually don't serve either my husband or my daughter the heel.

4. I don't eat a lot of sandwiches, but I am frugal, so usually either I eat the heel, or it gets tossed. 

5. My FIL claims to like the heel best, but I don't know if that is just politeness. 🙂 

[barnwife]

We eat them sometimes. If used in a sandwich, they taste better (trust me on this) if the crusty side is inside the sandwich. Or at least, that's the only way my kids will eat them in a sandwich. Sometimes they get tossed in my "to be made into bread crumbs" freezer bag. The other option is they go into the "to be used for french toast" freezer bag.

And yes, sometimes we do toss them to the chickens/goats. 
 

[Amy in NH]

I chose squirrel, because we save the heel ends in the freezer.  When we get a bunch we either:

1. Make bread pudding, or

2. Make bread crumbs in the food processor to use when making meatballs.

[sbgrace]

I don't eat sandwich bread hardly ever, but my kids have never complained when I use heels for their sandwiches or toast. My husband definitely doesn't care.

However, I do most of the sandwich and toast making. If the heel seems old/dried out to me, I tend to toss it out. 

[cjzimmer1]

I didn't vote because to me it seems that vote implies that people like to the heels.  In our family no one likes to eat them but we very much adhere to the mantra of don't throw anything away.  So everyone here eats the heels although no one chooses to.  The Rule is you take the bread in the order in comes, so if you open a new loaf, you have to take a heel.  If it's the last piece, you get it.  But keep in mind, we probably buy less than 10 loaves a bread of year, so this really isn't as big of a hardship as it might sound.  

We don't own any animals otherwise I might consider that a suitable option for the heels.

Edited December 22, 2019 by cjzimmer1

[J-rap]

My dh often chooses the heel.  I don't, but it would never occur to me (or anyone else in our family) to throw them away!  If all that's left of a loaf is two heels, we'd make a sandwich out of two heels whether people loved them or not.  People would just put up with it.

[Ausmumof3]

It’s complicated

home made bread it gets fought over

Shop bread may get eaten, may get fed to the chooks, may be eaten by DH, may get turned into bread crumbs depending on how frugal we’re feeling, how much bread I have in the house at the time and the quality of the bread.

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I didn't vote because to me it seems that vote implies that people like to the heels.  In our family no one likes to eat them but we very much adhere to the mantra of don't throw anything away.  So everyone here eats the heels although no one chooses to.  The Rule is you take the bread in the order in comes, so if you open a new loaf, you have to take a heel.  If it's the last piece, you get it.  But keep in mind, we probably buy less than 10 loaves a bread of year, so this really isn't as big of a hardship as it might sound.  

We don't own any animals otherwise I might consider that a suitable option for the heels.

The trouble with that is if you eat the heal first the next slice gets dried.  

[ashfern]

My child who moved out will eat all heels. I only the eat heal of certain brands of bread.

[Pickle Dust]

I am the only one in our household who eats the heels. I am also the only one who rarely eat sandwiches.

[carriede]

We need 2 loaves of bread for 3 days of lunches for my family. Discarding 2 slices over a years time would equal many loaves of bread!

If I had animals to feed it to, it maybe wouldn't be a big deal. But we don't, they'd go on the trash.

That said, then end slice has to be about as thick as the normal pieces to be used.

[cjzimmer1]

6 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

The trouble with that is if you eat the heal first the next slice gets dried.  

I rarely buy sandwich bread and when I do it's for a specific purpose (like we are packing sandwiches for a trip and I didn't have time to make bread) and thus the whole loaf always gets used at once.  With 8 of us, using up an entire loaf (or even 2) in sitting isn't a problem so we don't have partial loaves siting around.

[Lady Florida.]

I'll eat them only when the bread is fresh, right after I bring it home. Dh will eat them any time. Ds and dss do not eat the heel. If they had chickens they'd give the heel to their chickens.

[Annie G]

We eat the heels from bread I make, and in fact they are highly sought. But store bought bread heels get made into bread crumbs. Nobody here eats them. 

[SKL]

I don't like them, but I will eat them, and one of my kids isn't too picky.  The other kid, I don't know, but since she hates almost everything, I'm guessing no.

I will make a sandwich with the white sides out and pretend the slices are ordinary slices.  Or I'll use the heel like a skinny hotdog bun.

[SKL]

I love the hard crusts of traditional baked bread.  So different from what we're discussing here though.

[math teacher]

Most of the bread eaten here is toasted, and I especially like the heel toasted with butter. Yummy and crisp.

[Ausmumof3]

7 hours ago, WendyAndMilo said:

Immediately upon opening a new loaf of bread I throw away the heel.  I have never had a problem with bread drying out (I would remember because that would get thrown away as well).

My family has always figured that the heels are on the bread because it would require too much logistical changes and money for new machinery at the baking plant to remove the heel before packing.  

It definitely does for us if someone eats it.  But our homemade bread dries faster too so may depend on the preservative levels, packaging or climate I guess.  Or maybe I’m just fussy.

[sweet2ndchance]

I have one child who will eat the heels of store bought bread by choice lol.

And I chose squirrel because the best part of homemade bread is the heel but I don't like the heels of store bought bread. And it's the best part of making bread because that means I get first pick and I pick the heel lol. But I don't usually have anyone to fight me for it. I get one, ds that likes heels gets the other, and the rest is devoured long before it has time to dry out or even cool off most of the time for that matter!

[sassenach]

I’m the only one willing to eat the heals but I’m completely off of bread so in the trash they go!

[SamanthaCarter]

Heels from industrial bread exist for breadcrumbs. 

Homemade gets entirely eaten.