This is fantastic! I've been struggling with this same problem. ...and it's such a simple solution!

I use a metal bread box but I find that it keeps too much moisture in and I lose the crack of the crust, so I usually prop the door open a couple centimeters with the bread knife. I think just drilling a couple small holes would help. My MIL uses a bread bag she sewed herself, I think it is a thicker version of a tea-towel. (Your bread sounds delicious! I try out new breads at our bakery constantly!)

I just put the cut side down on the cutting board.

This doesn't work with white bread though. Not a problem for me since I don't eat white bread :)

We go through about a loaf and a half of bread a week- and it will be more once school starts and I am packing lunch for my son. We keep our bread in the freezer and it works great for us. We live in Utah and it is dry here, so maybe that is why we can get away with using the freezer.

I also live in the Bay Area, but my local subclimate is not at all humid :) I've had good luck with the Debbie Meyers bread bags both for store bought and homemade bread in or out of the fridge.

I, too, struggle with keeping bread fresh for a week. We usually keep things like bagels and rolls in the fridge, and bread in a plastic bag on top of the fridge, but by the end of the week, it's usually either croutons or moldy. Definitely going to have to try this method out!

Your towel solution sounds great. I keep mine in the microwave - obvi taking it out when I use the micro. I figure it must be like a bread box. I have mixed results. I have a yellow lab so leaving bread on the counter or cutting board is out of the question.

We have a useless china cheese board that is an oval just slightly larger and just the right shape for the Italian loaf my husband makes. We set the loaf, cut side down on that board which sits on the shelf in the cabinet.

This bread looks beautiful, Dana. Which farmer's market? I also live in SF but our local market (Noe) has two bakers and they're both pretty bad. :( I usually end up buying acme at the market down the street.

I do a similar thing but wrap my bread in wax paper and then in a cotton towel. Works great in Portland, OR climate!

I slice the bread and keep it in the freezer in a reusable cotton drawstring bag (those large bulk food bags). We microwave or toast the slices for immediate use, or if packing lunch for the next day, I just use the frozen slices. Works for rolls, too!

Rivercat0338:

The bread is from Starter Bakery. They sell mostly to East Bay cafes and are at the Temescal, Albany and Grand Lake Farmers' Markets over here. I've heard that farmtable in the TenderNob will start carrying their stuff but I don't know if they'll have the bread. But it it's well worth the trip over the bay to get some -- you can pick up a few of the soon to be famous kouign-amman pastries while you're at it.

I put my bread in a plastic airtight bag, then store it in the fridge. Keeps it fresh for over a week... I don't eat a lot of bread, so it sometimes takes me 2 weeks to finish a loaf, and it's still good!

My parents always store their breads in the microwave. They keep each in it's bag and all of that in a basket for convenient removal when they want to actually use the microwave as a microwave. It's always works great. Even though it sounds weird, I'd do it too if I actually had an accessible microwave (counterspace is precious in my kitchen and the espresso machine got that real estate).

Best Bread bags are great: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Manufacturers-Reusable-Bread-Storage/dp/B0000VLGIY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312608485&sr=8-1. I make all of my whole wheat sandwich bread and use these to store it in the freezer, fridge, or pantry. I try to keep my bread in the pantry most of the year, but in the hot & humid summer months I put it in the fridge or else it molds too quickly.

Fridge for me, too. My teeny kitchen doesn't have the counter space to allow me to store it on the counter - every square inch is precious space that I need for prep work!

I do something similar with my bread, but since I bake it at home, there's no "bag it came in." Instead, I wrap the loaf in wax paper, then wrap the whole thing in a cotton tea towel. Works pretty well.

My SF sub-climate is pretty dry, I usually put a loaf of bread in a plastic produce bag. The crust loses it's crunch, but it stays moist and edible for longer. I'll have to give the tea towel trick a shot next time I make bread.

I make about a loaf/week so I use an adjustable breadbox. Not the prettiest thing but I move a lot so its nice to have something that allows me to control the air flow depending on my new climates. http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-Adjustable-Bread-Keeper/dp/B001BB2LMM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312671128&sr=8-1

I live in Phoenix, and buy my sliced bread from TJ's, which goes in the freezer. Very easy to pull a piece or two off when needed and microwave for 30 secs. We do this with English muffins too. However, I have found that the homemade bread lasts beautifully just wrapped in a tea towel, cut into, or not cut into, traveling or not traveling. Of course, it never lasts more than a few days, but that is for other reasons! This has worked for me here and in No. CA.

In Italy I found a gorgeous, tactily lovely linen bread bag that the shop assistant assured me kept bread fresh. In my all-American bread box, it does...for a few days, though in Colorado the loaves dry out rather than mold over.

fridge. it stays fresh for as long as I need.

Love this idea. When we make our own bread, we find it keeps well in repurposed cereal bags for some reason...

I usually buy the largest loaf of bread from my favorite bakery(balthazar!), slice them myself and put them in the ziploc bag and freeze them as soon as i get home.
Whenever i need bread, i just take out numbers of slices i need and toast them in my toaster oven...then smear some fresh cold butter...yuumm....

What an interesting idea! I own a Polder Retro Bin in white. It's the first breadbox I've ever owned. It does have a few tiny holes in the back to allow moisture out, and it fits a ton of stuff in it. It's really attractive as well, and looks amazing in our kitchen. But I have to admit, the look of wrapping the bread in a dishtowel as lovely as this one is also quite beautiful. It has a nice romantic rustic look to it, and quite possibly works just as well. The next time I have a loaf that is large and round and doesn't fit well into my own bread box, I am absolutely stealing this idea. ;) Thanks!

Timely! I just started baking my own bread and was wondering how best to store it. Some good ideas here.

I have a big square Tupperware that fits a rectangular loaf of store-bought bread, or a round artisanal loaf, or banana bread - whatever I have going. I can even fit in some English muffins on the side. That works perfectly for me!

My parents have an old-school breadbox, which I like, but don't have room for.

I was always taught never to put bread in the fridge, as it actually stales faster that way. (It molds faster at room temp, but stales faster at fridge temp.) I suppose it doesn't matter so much for me, because I love bread so much that it doesn't have a chance to get stale. :)

I live in the bay area as well.As I love great bread, but don't go through it with great frequency, here's what I do:

Buy a half loaf. Slice. Freeze it in the bag it comes in. My toaster has a defrost function, and it works great. It freezes the moisture that's already present in the bread.

I have frozen in plastic, as well as wax paper bags. Both turn out fine - the latter definitely would be a little more dry if it weren't becoming toast anyhow.

@Qchan does what I do, but i take the paper bag the artisan bread comes in and fold it back on itself like a shirtsleeve then place it over the bread standing on the cut side. as the loaf gets shorter, so does the bag...stays super fresh for many days. rarely have to surrender bread to the toaster at the end of the loaf.

The reason you don't put bread or any baked goods in the fridge is because a fridge doesn't cool your food, it just removes warm air - and with it, moisture. So it dries out the bread.

If you've got bread that's gone stale, or just a bunch of crusty ends, freeze them until you have a big batch and then thaw them and grind up to make bread crumbs (I toast in the oven on low heat until completely dry) or use them to make a Panzanella (bread soup).

@MSTIGGY - the bread may be getting moldy on top of the fridge because of the combination of plastic bag + venting of warm air from the fridge? Try keeping it on a cool countertop - it may stale, but it shouldn't mold.