I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Baker and Doughpuncher David Norman. David is a true artisan when it comes to baking breads, working each batch of dough carefully to achieve the consistency and quality he desires. I asked him about common misconceptions the public may have when it comes to baking and storing bread, and it turns out we may have been doing a few things wrong.
David's number one tip is to not buy pre-sliced breads, since the shelf life of bread dramatically decreases as soon as you slice it and put in a plastic bag. Instead, he recommends slicing off just the portion of bread you plan to eat from the loaf, and then inverting the exposed end on the table or cutting board. This method allows the crust to breath and evolve as it sits. He points out that the loaf really shouldn't even be put into a paper bag, although that's the next best alternative.
The exception to this rule is the baguette, which is essentially a daily bread and should ideally be consumed the day of use. (Who can wait anyway?) If you need to store bread for longer periods of time, you should freeze it.
When storing breads in freezer, make sure the bread is well wrapped so it retains moisture. When you are ready to eat the frozen bread, it's important to take the bread out and allow it to thaw completely before unwrapping. This will allow the loaf to reabsorb any of the moisture that's migrated out to the wrapping. Let the bread come to room temperature, then pop in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees for a warm revitalized loaf.
Avoid storing bread in the refrigerator, David cautions. Changes in the alignment of the starch molecules are what cause bread to go stale. These molecules change most rapidly at the temperature range of the refrigerator (just above freezing). When you reheat bread, it actually changes the starch molecules back, but this also means they can go stale more quickly afterward. So try to eat your reheated breads within an hour or two.
One other common misconception: bread hot out of the oven is actually not ready to be eaten. Just like a grilled steak or fish, bread needs time to rest. Allowing the bread to cool gives moisture a chance to move from the interior out to the crust. He recommends letting bread cool for at least ten to fifteen minutes before enjoying.
Have you been doing it all wrong too?
Related:
• How Do You Store Your Bread?
• Good Question: How Do I Store Bread?
(Images: 1. Chris Perez 2. Dana Velden)
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We store our bread in the fridge, in a plastic bag. I know it probably sounds like blasphemy, but it seems to be the only solution that works for our lifestyle. If we keep it in the fridge then it will last at least a week, but if we keep it on the counter then it will be moldy in a few days. Yes, we could freeze it, as he recommends, but then we wouldn't be able to cut off slices as needed.
Unless I anticipate using a lot of bread in a short period of time I buy it pre-sliced and store it in the freezer. I think you'd have to be gobbling it up pretty quickly for the method David's advocating to be viable.
Ideal bread storage really depends on the climate of your house and what result you want:
- Never ever put warm bread in a plastic bag. The steam will collect and make the surface of the bread wet and encourage prompt mold growth. Leave it out of anything until it's entirely cool.
- Try to avoid slicing warm bread unless you plan on consuming the entire loaf immediately. That steam that comes out is moisture leaving the bread, and it will then get dry faster.
- Putting bread in a plastic bag will result in a soft crust. If you want to keep a crisp crust, leave it on the counter or loosely wrap it in paper or cloth once cool.
- Leaving bread on the counter is good in more humid weather, but the crust will go soft.
- If it's really dry, storing in plastic can actually be the better option. In my house, leaving the bread of the counter in winter will turn the the hardiest loaf into a brick overnight. Storing it in plastic is fine for use as toast and sandwich bread and extends its life.
- Buy the type of bread that best suits yours needs: airy french and italian white loaves will go stale quickly as they are not meant to last. Try a german rye or whole grain loaf if you want something to use all week.
- Pre-sliced bread will go stale faster not only because of the exposed interior surface area, but also because it's already been sitting around a lot longer. Instead of putting hot, fresh loaves right on the shelves to sell, pre-sliced loaves were allowed to cool completely and firm up a bit for hours before they were sliced and packaged.
- Have realistic expectations. Bread will never taste as good as the first day it was baked.
I bake our white bread and store it by the half loaf in the freezer. It's the only way I can seem to keep it from going stale or moldy by the time we get around to it. Even with weekly bread baking there's no way we could possibly refrain from cutting into the first hot steamy loaf, however, when we do, I do invert the loaf onto the cutting board. So, sins absolved, yes?
Please share information about bread box (i.e., best way to use it, best material (wood vs. metal), etc.).
"When storing breads in freezer, make sure the bread is well wrapped so it retains moisture." Well-wrapped in what? Above that line is a pic of a loaf of bread wrapped in cloth, and I can't imagine it would keep that way. I assume you mean plastic wrap or a plastic bag?
and p.s.: hellno let it breath when it comes out of the oven! ain't nothing in the world like a slice of freshly baked & still warm homemade bread with butter!
I recently have discovered the fact of leaving the bread to rest after being baked. Before I would eat it without waiting and ALWAYS the bread was wet and seemed uncooked inside, I couldn't figure it out why... These days I wait at least 10 minutes before slicing... and it is ALWAYS perfect!
I always buy a loaf fresh and slice it up immediately. Then I put wax paper between the slices and reassemble the loaf into smaller sections (usually packs of four slices). At which point, I wrap each section in plastic wrap and dump all the packages into a plastic bag. I take them out as I need them and I've never had issue with bad bread.
A bread box would help too: wrap the portion of the bread that hasn't been sliced in a linen cloth and put it in a breadbox. And if you're wondering where to buy a bread box, the best place it ETSY. They have an endless supply, which would flatter any kitchen design.
I agree that the fridge is the worst place to store bread it will stale faster there than it will on the counter. If you are findnig your bread is molding too quickly, try using a preferment or sourdough method when bread baking. this will improve both shelf life as well as flavor. Breads mixed, needed and baked withing a few hours will go bad much faster than a bread that had a portion of the dough started the night before as it is with a preferment or sourdough.
My partner makes fabulous bread using the Lahey method. I've found that wrapping bread in parchment paper (not tightly) and keeping it in a paper bag works fairly well. Leftovers last several days, and once we even kept a whole loaf like this for a week before it started getting stale. This method has worked well with purchased bread, too (the best we can get around here comes from Wegmans)--although wrapping the La Brea boules and baguettes we can more easily get at the local corporatemonstermart doesn't always work as well, especially because the store wraps the loaves in plastic (even though the La Brea package says not to).
@ONBLANK
I do the same thing when I bake bread. I can't eat the whole loaf before it goes stale. I put it in the freezer and when I'm down to the last couple slices on the last half I pull it out and let it defrost overnight. Sometimes I find letting it warm up by going into the fridge for a few hours and then room temperature help with delicate loafs.
All of which applies to home baked or equivalent breads. I'm bourgeoisie enough to buy Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat for toast and sandwiches. Home baked is not likely to happen in my house while I still work for a living and eat most meals out. Bakery bread is for parties.
I think a breadbox was more about keeping critters out of the bread than about keeping it fresh. I do the slice/wrap/freeze for my toast bread and pop it straight into the toaster as needed. I've never had problems with it being too dry. Living alone, a whole loaf is too much to leave out so I usually indulge in the fresh stuff then keep a few days' worth out and freeze the rest.
I always make a "sacrificial slice" that I expect to get stale, and press against the end of the loaf... over the following day to two as I slice off fresh pieces I just put that (now very stale) piece back against the fresh cut and put the whole thing back in its paper bag. That one piece will get rock-hard by the end of the loaf, but behold! Within the rest of the loaf remains all squishy and fresh!
I bake our white and whole wheat breads at home and anyone who can resist cutting into one of the fresh out of the oven loaves and snarfle it down while making growly noises, is a far stronger person than me.
This may be pure bread evil but I always slice sandwich bread before putting the cut loaf into the freezer. That way I can grab sliced bread for sandwiches or toast and it'll be plenty fresh.
Yeah, honestly, for me it is more about adjusting my expectations for bread as it ages. I don't really feel my bread needs to stay at ABSOLUTE PEAK QUALITY for days and days. Eat what I can on the first day, wrap it back up carefully on the counter so that it is still okay the next day, then put it in the fridge for picking at over the next week, especially to go with soup or pasta as a medium to soak up other, more delicious things, or to toast it.
I store bread in my microwave. I read this tip somewhere and it's worked out pretty well. Just make sure the microwave has cooled down after use before returning the bread. It's basically like a breadbox, frees up counter space, deters pests (less crumbs on counter) and makes the micro more useful.
sure, the tips are ideal for someone, but not for all.
what assumptions are being made by the author? do you know what type of bread i eat and how we eat it? nope.
Not sure why that picture of the bread covered in a tea towel / dish towel was included (except that it's pretty).
I've tried the wrapping it up with a tea towel method after reading about it on TheKitchn and sadly, it did not work out and left the whole loaf super stale and dry.
Definitely best to experiment a bit. I put my bread in one of those huge Ziplocs and either leave it out on the counter (if consumed within a couple of days) or into the fridge it goes where it usually stays pretty happy! When I've got too much bread happening, it goes in the freezer in a big Ziploc and a day before eating, I let it out to thaw and if you give it a quick warm up in an oven, it's as good as new.
We buy premade, presliced loaves at the grocery. Between two of us, we'd never finish a loaf if we left it in the breadbox- it has to stay in the fridge or it molds. The breadbox is really cute, but we use it to store bags of chips and crackers.
I feel like this is a politically correct way to bread. Its more convenient to buy pre-sliced because I can't eat that much bread within a couple days and I store bread in fridge because I can't wait for bread to thaw everyday when I make my sandwiches for work. Great post in theory, but not convenient for the on-the-go person.