Many, many people all around the world are well aware of the fact that there are countless different types of bread out there. There are breads that are used in savory dishes, breads that are served sweet, and breads that can fill every category in between.
Out of all these different types of bread, there are some types of bread that are far more popular and widely liked than others.
One good example of this is the classic garlic bread dish. Garlic bread, which can be as simple as butter (or a butter alternative), garlic, and a light amount of toasting to get the bread to the perfect level of crispiness, is one of the easiest types of bread for people to make, as it can generally be done with any store bought variant of bread.
With that being said, garlic bread is a common dinner side dish, especially in the southern United States. If you are planning on making your own garlic bread, no matter if it is completely from scratch or if you bought it from the grocery store, you may want to consider sharing it with friends and family.
By its nature, garlic bread is one of those types of foods that does not reheat well, so it is always best to consume it while it is still hot.
What this means is that when you are planning on serving or sharing garlic bread, you are going to have to find a way to keep it warm. There is one problem with this though.
Warm garlic bread, assuming that it is cooked right and properly, has a tendency to steam. If the garlic bread is not kept warm properly, that steam can condense and soak back into the garlic bread, leaving you with a soggy mess that tastes vaguely of garlic.
This is something that nobody wants to have happen to their favorite garlic bread, making it all the more important for you to have a good understanding of how to keep your garlic bread warm for a period of time without turning it into a mess in the process.
Keeping Garlic Bread Warm at Home
Sometimes, rather than needing to take the bread to someone, you may find that you actually just need to keep the bread warm at home.
Compared to other methods of keeping garlic bread warm, this is going to be the most effective, safest, and easiest way to get the job done. If you can, you should opt to keep your garlic bread warm with this method above all others.
Essentially, what you will want to do is take whatever garlic bread that you intend on keeping warm and then wrap it in some tin foil. You should leave a small slit on the top of the foil simply to allow air to escape so it does not condense in the foil and run the risk of the steam reabsorbing into the bread, though this is completely optional.
From here, all you will need to do is turn your oven on its lowest temperature. With most ovens, this will be in the 150 to 170-degree Fahrenheit range.
You can safely keep your garlic bread warm in an oven at a very low temperature like this, although if you are going to be waiting more than an hour or two, you may want to consider another method.
After all, the goal of this is not to cook the garlic bread, but simply to keep it warm so that when it is time to eat it, you can open it up and eat it while it is still hot.
Keeping Garlic Bread Warm on the Go
If you are in a situation where you cannot take your oven with you to your destination, you may feel a bit more lost as to how you should be keeping your garlic bread warm. In these situations, keeping your garlic bread completely warm is going to be a little bit more complicated and difficult.
There are some products that you can consider purchasing if you transport garlic bread on the regular and need to keep it warm, otherwise you can usually get away with using a microwave (that you can transport), or a casserole carrier alongside some fabric to keep the heat in.
One option that you could consider is using a heated bread basket. As long as you have an outlet that you can plug the basket into, you will be able to keep any bread inside of it warm.
This way, the source of heat remains constant and there is no need to worry about it diminishing, as you would with trapping the heat in, so you don’t have to think twice about trapping the steam in with the bread.
If you have a spare microwave on-hand, you could consider putting the garlic bread in there so that it can keep warm. Microwaves are not the best at holding their heat, but they are designed to hold it in to some extent so that it can cook its food properly.
This can be a useful situation if you also plan on microwaving the garlic bread at your destination, so that you can immediately plug the microwave in and set it to heat the bread up to perfection.
Finally, if all else fails, you can consider one of the easiest solutions out there. Casserole carriers, while not specifically designed for garlic bread, are designed to keep the heat of the casserole contained when you are moving it from one place to another.
Here, you can consider using a casserole carrier, along with some towels over the top and around it to contain the heat, to keep your garlic bread warm while you take it to your destination.
With all of these different methods that you can rely on to keep your garlic bread warm, no matter if you are at home or you are on the go and trying to share the joy of garlic bread, you can rest assured knowing that you will be able to open up the loaf of bread and have it be steaming hot, no matter how long you have been waiting for it. Everyone loves a delicious warm slice of garlic bread.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.