Bartlet Crumb Bread Box

Whether you are baking your own breads or picking up fresh-baked breads from your local bakery, cutting the bread can often be a challenge especially for the home chef. Cutting even slices of bread is often the biggest problem, but even with a clean slice of bread there are still many breadcrumbs left on your cutting board or countertop. A simple yet effective way to cut down on this problem is with a crumb box, which surprisingly is not too common in American kitchens. The Bartlet Wooden Crumb Box is an example of such product and one that I have been using.

The Bartlet Crumb Box catches any crumbs and serves as a wooden cutting board for slicing the bread. This crumb box is made of alder and hard wood with the box itself being built very well -- even tongue-and-groove corners for ensuring a long lasting product. The bread itself rests upon a removable grid while any crumbs are able to fall into the box underneath. After you are all done slicing the bread, simply remove the grid and pour the crumbs from the box into your trash bin. It is that easy, though it would be nice if the bottom of this crumb box could slide out to make cleaning out the breadcrumbs even easier. The Bartlet Crumb Box is just over one foot long and nearly nine inches wide, which should be sizable for most loafs of bread.

I have been using the Bartlet Crumb Box when making homemade breads over the course of several weeks and do like this product quite a bit. While simply a wooden box with a removable grid, it serves its purpose and is built very well so that it will last a while and is not an eyesore when out in your kitchen. Using the Bartlet Crumb Box is easier than cutting bread on a cutting board and makes the clean-up process a lot easier. I generally bake two pound loafs of bread, which from my bread maker are sized just under the width of the crumb box. Occasionally some crumbs will land outside of the crumb box, but this is not often.

At a price of $25 USD (at Amazon.com), the Bartlet Crumb Box may seem a bit expensive considering its just a few pieces of wood, but it's built well and will last a long time, though it's certainly functional and useful if you prepare your own bread on any regular basis.