Image: iStock

There are few sadder moments in life than going to the kitchen to make yourself a delightful sandwich, or two, only to find your airy, spongy loaf of bread has turned staler than your morning breath after a night of tequila shots.

Having your bread go bad doesn’t only dash your glorious sandwich dreams, but having to throw out any kind of food before you get the chance to eat it is a huge waste of produce and your hard-earned dollars.

RELATED: This is why bread is not the enemy

There isn’t much you can do to salvage certain foods when they move beyond ‘edible’ (oh cucumbers, you pathetic perishables) but mercifully your sad, rock-hard loaf can be resuscitated. And you don’t even need the surgical skills of Grey’s Anatomy‘s Cristina Yang to make it happen; according to the team at Bon Appetit magazine, all you need to give your bread a second life is a working tap, an oven, and one ingenious trick.

We’re warning you now, you’re going to find this first step deeply confronting: you need to grab that loaf and stick it under some running water. Yep. Bread. In water. On purpose.

This seems so wrong, and in any other context it absolutely would be; but for the purposes of breathing life back into your Burgen it's crucial. Ideally, you should have the cut-away side of the bread facing away so it's mostly the crust under the stream, but it's okay to get the insides wet too.

Once your beloved has showered to your satisfaction, stick it in an oven pre-heated to roughly 150-160 degrees Celsius, or use the 'warm' function if you have one. The loaf needs to stay in the oven for around six to seven minutes unless you completely saturated it, in which case it might need up to 12 minutes.

RELATED: Herb ice cubes and 4 other ways to stop wasting food (and money)

When the time's up, your bread will be back to its delicious, moist, crunchy-crusted self, and you can go forth and whip up the BLAT or salt-and-vinegar-chip-and-butter sambo (no judgement) you so desire.

Or you could try one of these mouth-watering bread creations from Instagram user Wiktoria Banda (post continues after gallery).

Delicious toast ideas

This all sounds like witchcraft, right? As Bon Appetit explains: "The water turns to steam, which rehydrates the bread’s crumb, or interior, while the heat of the oven firms up the crust."

RELATED: The 5 bad breakfast habits you need to break, stat.

Take note: although it's clearly not worth crying over stale bread, this trick doesn't work for mouldy loaves. Not much will, so you probably shouldn't be eating those.

Maybe stick your bread in the freezer next time, yeah?

What do you usually do with stale bread?

Also, if you need even more incentive to eat bread, it's better for you than you realise...

10 foods you never knew were healthy

Bread

KATIE THOMSITT, Dieticians Australia spokesperson says: "Lots of people shy away from bread to achieve weight loss. But bread is such an important source of fibre, and plays such a helpful role in weight loss and preventing bowel cancer. A couple of slices of a dark, seedy bread per day is absolutely fine."

Cheese

KATIE SAYS: "Cheese is definitely a higher fat source of dairy, but still a good dairy fat. Choose low-fat options if you have it regularly, otherwise consume it in moderation. One serve of dairy is 30g, so a couple of slices is absolutely fine."

Chocolate

KARA LANDAU, The Travelling Dietician says: "Studies have been able to show that dark chocolate can improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood pressure in healthy individuals, protect against heart disease, and improve HDL good cholesterol (not a bad start for such a tasty food!). Dark chocolate also contains polyphenols, whilst white chocolate does not. These polyphenolic compounds are able to relax blood vessels allowing for better blood circulation, and thereby assisting with the maintenance of healthy blood pressure levels."

Coffee

KATIE SAYS: "Coffee is a really good snack, in particular if its milk-based to get the dairy in - for example, a skim latte. As long as its in moderation - daily guidelines say a maximum of three per day! And you want lots of water on top of that."

Eggs

KARA SAYS: "Yes, even the yolks are good for you! Healthy fat soluble vitamins, as well as half the protein found in an egg, are all found in the yolk!"

Avocado

KATIE SAYS: "Avocado is a healthy fat. Lots of people think its high-fat and not good for you, but its rich in mono unsaturated fats, which give you protection against heart disease. It also helps with controlling lower cholesterol levels."

nuts

KATIE SAYS: "Nuts fall into the same category as avocado - they have lots of healthy oils and fibre."

dairy

KARA SAYS: "Often milk and yoghurts are fortified with Vitamin D (a fat soluble vitamin) which requires a small amount of fat to be present in order for the body to absorb it, therefore having the full fat variety can be of value to enhance the nutritional benefits from the products' consumption. The fat in the dairy also aids with satiety, which could prevent unhealthy snacking at a later point in the day."

Potato

KATIE SAYS: "Potato always gets a bad rap as a starchy vegetable, but it's an excellent source of fibre. Sweet potato in particular is great for weight management and sugar level control. Potatoes are also really rich in potassium."

Red meat

KARA SAYS: People tend to restrict red meat unnecessarily, thinking that its high in saturated fat. "But lean red meat is high in protein, CLA (which has been found to be associated with lower body fat percentages), B12, iron and zinc. These are all nutrients we want to get into our body!"