apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The cookware in that photo is to die for. I LOVE square covered pans like that.

please don't ease up on the no-knead bread and Dutch oven coverage -- I'm obsessed and I love it! One thing I haven't seen anyone talk about though is stylish bread storage. I leave mine end down on a cutting board on my kitchen table, which also happens to be my only counter space. It works well for 24hrs but after that I have to put it in a plastic bag. Has anyone come up with a better solution? I was thinking about using a glass cake dome on the board for a bit more longevity. Thoughts?

I wrap my bread in parchment paper (I suppose you could also use waxed paper) and it keeps fresh for days. If you put it in a plastic bag it goes soggy and gets moldy eventually.

campari99:

You should store the bread in paper bags, at room temperature. You don't want to seal it in plastic because the moisture in the bread will soften the crust and molds will thrive. You could also use a good old fashioned bread box that allows for some air circulation like the paper bag. These cotton bread bags are another potential option http://www.lekkerhome.com/collectiondetails.asp?collectionid=238. Still, freshly baked bread is only going to be good for a couple of days regardless of how you store it.

If you want to keep it around for longer, double wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it. You can let it thaw at room temperature for a few hours and put it in the oven to recrisp it.

I store my loaves wrapped in a kitchen towel. Works well so long as you eat it in a few days.

Guilty confession about storing: my dutch oven is large and heavy, so it ends up on the stove longer than it should before being put away. Once the bread is cooled, I look for the easiest way to store it and, voila, there's the dutch oven I just used to bake in: sealed, with enough air to circulate, pest-proof. The crust doesn't stay crispy as long as I would like, but the bread doesn't go stale, either. Lazy? Brilliant? You be the judge.

once in experimenting baking frenzy i left with too many loafs...wrapped the ones i could not eat in aluminum foil, stuck them in plastic bag and send them to freezer, until one day when i had cheese and wine but not the bread, ... it tasted delicious after 7-10 minutes in the oven, with all the crust and goodness...