Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I've always dried overnight in the oven.....that's the way my mom taught me. Perhaps the older generation did it that way, and continue to do it that way to save on energy? For me I don't consider it prep time....I just consider it one less thing to fuss over...just pop in the (turned off) oven on cookie sheets, and pull out when I'm ready for it in the morning.

I bought two Wegman's "W" loaves and cut them up and dried them Sunday. My mother never did. She made stuffing with fresh bread.
Of course she basted the whole thing with a stick of melted butter and it as crispy and good. I asked her why she used fresh bread and she said thats how her mother did it. Go figure.

The grandmother of Margaret Rudkin, founder of Pepperidge Farm, would dry thick bread for "days". They would then dip the dried bread in cool water, wring it out (Rudkin wrote she didn't know why they'd dry it then wet it but it worked), then rub the damp bread between their hands to get fresh crumbs. Her grandmother then made the sage & onion stuffing with these crumbs.

I've never tried this, but someday I might.

@LunaPierCook
That's something I might try one day. But sometimes I get so overwhelmed by how seemingly simple and straightforward recipes can get so complex. In terms of stuffing, I found a recipe that called for you to make your own sausage specifically for the dish. It was on epicurious and had really high ratings...but the second I read " meat grinder" my mind went "oh hell no."

@Alyrmc, I'm trying not to do this much anymore, but I will anyway: This afternoon I posted the story of Pepperidge Farm Sage & Onion Stuffing, complete with the original recipe ... and then found your post a while later. The original recipe is probably one of the simplest I've seen. I'll bet you could do it! ;-)

I can remember my mother drying bread overnight on the counter, and some of it would be seriously dry, and then she'd dip it in milk and then wring out the extra wetness. As a kid it seemed like it was all a mistake -- first the bread it too dry, then it's too wet. But it really made sense to want the bread a little dry, and the added milk was probably intentional. You want the bread moist, but not sopping...you want it a little stale, but not crunchy.

But the crunchy is okay if you add enough liquid afterward. Like the dried stuffing croutons they sell.

If you use fresh bread and it's a Wonder type of bread, it can get gooey and gluey. Better bread holds up better, and using stale bread probably started as a strategy to use up the old stuff and keep the fresh bread for eating with the meal.

I think I've got enough bread. I made a loaf today, there's some left from a previous loaf, and I've got croutons I made standing by. All I have to do is remember that I'm not feeding an army, and I'll be okay.

@JT I paid a whole $5 for my copy. Not only was she an amazing cook but a helluva writer.

@izzy ... ain't got no email yet and it's 6 hours later. Whaddup whid DAT??? ;-)