It can certainly be tricky to know how many slices you can get from a loaf of bread. And the truth is that there is no correct answer for all bread loaves. But here is a foolproof way to know how to have enough slices for your next dinner party.
A typical store-bought loaf of white bread serves 20-24 slices of bread. The number of slices all depends on the length of the loaf, the thickness of the slices, and the type of bread. The thinner the slices, the longer the loaf, and the denser the bread, the more slices you get from a bread loaf.
This article answers – how many slices in a loaf of bread? – and everything you need to know about how you can get more of them.
Yes, there are some tricks that will give you more slices from your bread loaf!
The Number Of Slices Depends On The Length Of The Bread Loaf
The number of slices you get from a loaf of bread depends on the size of the loaf. Is it a small loaf? Or is it maybe a large loaf of bread? And how long is it? Because the longer the loaf, the more slices you get from it.
Typically, a standard store-bought loaf of sandwich bread is about 12-15 inches long. This classic loaf will weigh about 1 to 1.5 pounds. And usually, you get 20 to 24 half-inch thick slices of square-shaped bread. The number of slices includes the end pieces that your might not kids like. These end slices are called “heels.”
But for homemade bread, the dimensions look different. The standard loaf pan is an 8×4×3 -inch pan holding a 2-pound loaf of bread. And the smaller loaf tin is 6×4×3 inches for a 1-pound loaf of bread. Here you can count on slicing around 1-ounce loaf slices which means you can get about 12 slices from an 8×4 loaf pan.
Here is a rough idea of how many slices are in different sizes of loaves:
| Loaf weight | Loaf size (length × width × height) | Number of slices |
| 1lbs | 6×4×3 inches | 9 |
| 2lbs | 8×4×3 inches | 12 |
| 3lbs | 10×4×3 inches | 15 |
| 4lbs | 12×4×3 inches | 18 |
Another standard size loaf pan is the 9×5×3 -inch pan.
With these 9×5 -inch loaves of bread, you can count on serving 16 slices of bread weighing 1 ounce each. And the great thing about baking bread is that you decide for yourself how big you want your loaf to be and how many slices you want. There are so many different sizes of loaf pans out there for you to try.
Loaves of bread look different and always differ in their dimensions. This is why you can’t just create a general rule on how many slices you can get from a loaf of bread. More factors play a role in how many slices are in a loaf of bread, such as the thickness of each slice.
And The Thickness Of The Slices
Just like the number of slices depends on the length and size of the bread loaf, the number also depends on the thickness of the slices.
The rule goes: the thicker the slices, the fewer slices you get from a loaf of bread. So, if you enjoy larger slices of bread, then you get fewer slices from the loaf. It is pure math. If you want more slices from a loaf of bread, you basically just have to cut your bread into smaller slices.
Sometimes you don’t get to decide the thickness of the slice; the ingredients decide that for you.
Let’s explain:
How The Texture Of Bread Affects Number of Slices
Dense bread will often allow you to cut a loaf into thinner slices. And more airy bread, like sourdough bread, for example, needs slices to be cut thicker.
Otherwise, you risk breaking the sliced piece of bread. It is the ingredients in the bread that decide this difference in texture.
Flour, water, and temperature play a role in determining its texture and how thin you can slice your bread. Even though some types of bread are crumbly to start with, you as a baker can still make mistakes that will make your bread even crumblier.
So, to not end up with fewer slices and crumblier bread than planned, keep these things in mind:
- Do not use too much wholewheat flour. You will get a crumbly loaf of bread if you have used too much wholewheat flour and too little regular white flour. This will cause your dough not to create enough gluten, which gives you a denser texture.
- Add enough water. If you haven’t added enough water, you will end up with too much flour, which will cause the bread to be crumblier. This often happens when people add more flour to a sticky dough. Usually, the bread isn’t as sticky anymore after some kneading, and the extra flour was unnecessary. So instead of adding flour to your sticky dough, try to knead it a little longer to see if that helps.
- Knead the dough for the recommended time. Don’t be lazy and skip on kneading time. Kneading bread dough is crucial for the stretching and development of gluten strands. It traps air inside and makes your dough rise better, and helps make the bread denser. However, you can also overdo it and make your bread too dense from over-kneading the dough. So, just stick to the recommended kneading time for your bread.
Luckily other people have been making these mistakes for you, and you can easily avoid them by just following the recipe. Make sure to read the recipe thoroughly before starting, and don’t be afraid to try many different ones to find what works best for you.
Number Of Slices For Each Bread Type
How many slices are in a loaf of bread also depends on the kind of bread loaves you refer to. Some types of bread are crumblier and break when the slices are too thin. Other loaves of bread are denser and allow thinner slices. Here are the different types of bread loaves and how many slices you can expect from each one of them.
Wondering – how many slices in a loaf of bread?
Let’s take a look:
Multi-Grain, Sourdough, and Texas Coast
Multi-grain, sourdough, and Texas coast bread all go in the same category for their number of slices. A regular homemade loaf of multi-grain bread usually serves about 16 to 18 slices. But these types of bread can allow thinner cut slices, and more giant loaves will serve up to 26 slices of bread.
Texas coast bread is not so dense, multi-grain bread can be crumbly, and the sourdough bread is airy. Because of their textures, their slices can easily break into two when cut too thin, so that is why you serve them with thicker slices.
Rye Bread
Rye bread is a dense bread made of wheat flour and comes in many different shades of brown. Because of its dense texture, this bread usually serves at least 24 slices when baking this bread in a standard loaf pan. You can slice this type of bread thinner than other bread types, which is why it gives you so many slices in only one loaf of bread.
Whole Wheat Bread
A whole wheat bread of loaf from a standard bread pan will serve 8 to 10 slices of bread. You will have to slice the bread into different-sized slices because of its different textures.
Some whole wheat loaves of bread are made of extra fine whole wheat grind and give a smoother texture with more sliced servings. Contrary, whole wheat bread with an extra coarse grind will require thicker slices because of its crumblier texture.
Traditional White Bread
The traditional white bread, also called the sandwich bread, will definitely serve most slices of all types of bread. Because of the density of the white bread, you can cut it into thinner slices. Usually, the traditional white bread from the grocery store serves about 26 to 28 slices of bread. It simply doesn’t crumble that much.
French Baguette
The French baguette is long, and yes, it counts as a loaf of bread. Because of its length and despite its airy texture, this type of loaf serves about 20 to 25 slices. The standard French baguette is at least 26 inches long and can be up to 39 inches long. So even though the slices of French baguette are thick, you get so many.
Homemade Bread
There is no rule when it comes to homemade bread.
You can bake the biggest and longest loaf ever if you want to and get just so many slices you want. So, you are in charge of the number of slices you get from your homemade bread. You decide its length and the thickness of slices, so you decide how many slices are in your homemade loaf of bread.
Bread From A Bread Maker
Bread created with a bread machine is usually 1 to 2 pounds and typically serves around 20-25 slices of bread. But again, depending on the type of bread you make in a bread machine, you will get various kinds of slices. Nowadays, there are hundreds of bread machine recipes for you to choose from, and the number of slices from this type of bread is anywhere between 16 and 25 slices.
How To Get More Slices Out Of Your Loaf Of Bread
There are many ways to get more slices out of your load of bread. The trick is getting the slices as thin as the bread load allows.
Using a better knife, adjusting your slicing techniques, or counting the heels are just a few ways to get more slices.
Use A Good Bread Knife
A good bread cutting knife will make all the difference when you slice your loaf of bread. A dull blade will not be able to cut thin slices. The sharper the bread knife, the better control you have over the thickness of your slice.
A good knife has deep serrations. The blade with its serrations should run all the way to the handle. Cheaper knives often have shorter blades, and the serrated edge does not run all the way to the handle. Instead, having a knife with deep serrations running all the way to the handle makes your knife sturdier and easy managed.
Slicing bread with a knife without serrations is never a promising idea. You will end up with crooked slices in assorted sizes. And worst of all, you will not get as many slices out of a bread loaf as you could have. Slicing bread with dull or no serrations will often leave you with thicker slices.
The Cutting Technique
Not only is your bread knife your best tool to achieve thinner slices, but your cutting technique does half the job.
The trick is not to push your knife through the bread too hard. Let the bread knife do the job. Instead of adding weight to the blade by pushing it down, sawing through the loaf of bread with a light back and forth motion will do the trick.
You will get thinner slices from your loaf of bread, slicing it this way because you are not squishing it but cutting it. It is only toward the end of the slicing process that you want to add pressure.
A loaf of bread usually has a more rigid bottom crust and is softer in the middle so that you will adapt the added pressure downwards only on the harder parts of the bread.
Also, wait with slicing your loaf of bread for when it has cooled down. It is harder to get thinner slices from a loaf of bread when it is warm and soft. So, to not squish your bread when slicing, wait until the bread has cooled down and then apply this cutting technique to get more slices out of the bread loaf.
The Bread Slicer
Using an electric bread slicer is a great way to get uniformed-sized slices from your loaf of bread. Some of these extra slices can easily get lost when the slices are not the same size. You can just imagine how easy it is to get some slices thicker than others when cutting by hand.
A machine bread slicer used in factories will have pre-set cutting widths and makes it easier for you to get just the correct number of slices you want. They usually come with width settings that make both thick and thin slices. But if you’re going to get as many slices out of a bread loaf as possible, I recommend using the setting that gives you thinner slices.
Other machine bread slicers are also used as meat slicers and can be trickier to use. These can sometimes be found in traditional homes but are more common in restaurants. These do not come with a pre-set width option, and you have to make sure that the slices are of the same size.
And because of the sharpness and the speed of the round knife, you can often get slices thinner using this machine than with a regular bread knife. That is how you get more slices out from a loaf of bread.
But for you to use at home is also this bamboo bread slicer that works more like a template rather than cutting the bread for you, as the machine does. You place your bread knife across your loaf as usual, but this time also in between consistently sized gaps in the wooden bread slicer.
Having the knife in these gaps will make sure your cut is straight and give you more control. It is thought to provide you with more uniformed-sized slices just like the machine bread slicer.
Use a Horizontal Bread Maker
Baking bread with a horizontal bread maker is a way to create loaves, as you can find them in the store but at home instead. It is a machine that will make bread loaves more rectangular. This baking method can be used at home, too, when trying to get as many slices from a loaf of bread as possible.
Because this bread maker bakes bread loaves horizontally, it creates longer bread loaves and gives you more slices than what a vertical bread maker would. It is expected that people have difficulty slicing the top of a loaf from the vertical bread maker since it’s all just the crust. The horizontal bread maker has the crust on the horizontal top instead, just like any other store-bought loaf, making it easier to slice the ends.
And because it is easier to slice that horizontal kind of crust, you end up with more slices using a horizontal bread maker. However, both bread makers have tended to create holes in the bread loaves, making it more difficult to thinly slice the bread. This is because of the paddles that are attached to the bottom of the bread maker.
But you can easily avoid those holes by removing the paddles in the final rise when the machine starts pounding the dough down. And without those holes in your loaf, you will better be able to thinly slice it and get more slices out of your bread loaf.
Final Thoughts on the Size of Bread Loaves
A standard-sized loaf of bread that you find in your grocery store will serve around 20 to 24 slices or 16 to 18 slices.
To summarize, the longer your load of bread, the thinner your slices, and the denser it is in texture, the more slices you will get from a loaf of bread.
For example, a multi-grain bread will serve about 16-18 slices because of its texture. You slice this bread in thicker slices to avoid unnecessary crumbling. The traditional white bread is denser in texture, allowing you to have thinner slices without falling apart. That is why the white bread, which is usually longer in dimensions too, can serve 20-24 slices.
When slicing your loaf of bread at home, you can use easy techniques to get the most slices from your loaf of bread. Using a sharp, deep serrated bread knife, you don’t have to use much downward pressure to slice the loaf. Trust the blade and only use a sawing motion to get those thin slices without squishing the bread.
Using the right bread maker or bread slicer can also make the slicing easier for you.