Victorinox bread knife not cutting it, anyone use a hack or bow saw for frozen french bread?

After struggling mightily with my bread knife on frozen bread and remembering how impressed I was with how easily the house bow saw went through soft wood, I think I'm starting to have a revelation. I think microplanes started as woodworking tools too. Is there any reason why I shouldn't use a wood/hack saw on hard bread? Searching the internets I see an appalachian bow bread saw but a regular coping saw is like half the price.

Curious why you are cutting frozen bread? I usually just use a chef's knife for unfrozen bread...

Because Costco French bread comes in a two pack and I'm not sure how long the second loaf will last before going stale. Since I'm the only one eating it, it takes a bit of time to go through.

WingKKF said:

Because Costco French bread comes in a two pack and I'm not sure how long the second loaf will last before going stale. Since I'm the only one eating it, it takes a bit of time to go through.

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Cut before freezing?

That might work. The idea is not just for frozen bread but also for breads with hard crusts. I've experienced bread with crusts that gets harder the longer it sat. I could preslice it all but I get the feeling I'm reducing the quality of the taste by exposing the bread surface to air too early.

Fresh baked french bread pan toasted with butter is a most amazing tasting thing but practically I have to try and preserve as much of the taste as I go through the bread over time.

Any chance this would work for you? http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/single-bread-bags

Back in the day when I baked bread frequently I would put 1/2 loaf per bag and then into the freezer. Remove as necc.

No joy on the bone saw w bread. I would try different approach vice cutting frozen.

At one kitchen I worked at, we'd slice par-frozen loafs 1/16" thick on the bias, then toasted them for soup garnish. Pointy, thick Germans was the only ones that did it for me, but fighting with it's steering was no fun. My Tojiro ITK called it quits after a couple of slices.

Bread bags are a good idea but the bread already comes with one and I already use freezer ziplocs. I suppose I could try vacuum sealing next but thats going to be more of an investment/hassle and possibly crush the bread. As long as there isn't anything inherently toxic in the saw blades, I'm guessing it might be safe to try using a saw on bread.

Farmers market near my house has great breads. Try not to order more than will use in a week. Fresh loafs & French for garlic bread use a sharp gyuto. usually feeding 3 people.

Not a good idea to cut frozen bread esp. large loafs you can have an accident. Worst cut I ever got was not at work, at home cutting frozen fish for my cat.

I would be interested to hear how a coping saw works on frozen French bread. I will reiterate that cutting frozen anything is not a good idea. Perhaps some of the money saved on the saw could be spent on a cut glove.

im not sure i understand the correlation between worrying about diminishing the quality of the bread by preslicing vs freezing the bread anyway... not to mention... costco bread... in any case, if you're going to freeze, pre slice is the way to go. i don't think there's any difference to the quality of pre sliced frozen vs block frozen. it's still frozen. also, with regards to unfrozen hard crusty bread, i've never had a problem with a decent victorinox or whatever bread knife is lying around. or i'd just use my gyuto. no problems whatsoever.

the only frozen bread we keep is gluten free. and i pre slice those and slip some baking paper or go between.

or maybe buy better bread, just less of it

I'll try preslicing. Buying less but better bread? You underestimate the power of delicious delicious Costco french bread for $5.99 for two loaves.

Obligatory mention, since it probably suits frozen bread:

[video=youtube;kcjGRXTpHGI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcjGRXTpHGI[/video]

ajrh said:

Obligatory mention, since it probably suits frozen bread:

[video=youtube;kcjGRXTpHGI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcjGRXTpHGI[/video]

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Cute. Might have to dig through this guys back catalogue.

ajrh said:

Obligatory mention, since it probably suits frozen bread:

[video=youtube;kcjGRXTpHGI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcjGRXTpHGI[/video]

Click to expand...

Now there is a kickstarter knife I would support! :doublethumbsup:

Also, in response to the original poster's question about coping saws, with enough effort and good technique it would work, but not terribly well. Coping saws are great for cutting out jigsaw puzzles with tight curves, but absolutely dreadful for cutting straight lines. It would be more trouble than it was worth, and would it would yield some really funny looking bread slices.

+1 for cut it and then freeze it.

This would slice it:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Heavy-Duty-Benchtop-Meat-Cutting-Saw/G0770

but seriously, just cut it before freezing.

Aww look. It's a bandsaw the size of my Harbor Freight 1x30.