5 Ways To Store Bread to Keep It Fresh For Longer

Written by Anjala Farahath  • 

Breads die young. The truth is that bread, like most baked goods, is in its prime when it’s just out of the oven. Bringing home bread from the bakery is akin to investing in a bouquet of flowers. It smells great, but it requires a whole lot of care, lest it perishes before you know. The short shelf-life of bread is dependent on its starch content. When this starch comes in contact with moisture or water, it leads to staling of bread.

If you are more into buying bread from the next-door grocery store, or you prefer the old-school fresh bakes, whatever your penchant—a little knowledge from our science books, and a couple of plan Bs should do the trick for you. Here’s how you can extend bread’s lifespan:

1. Make Use Of The Breadbox

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Until bread found its space on the shelves of Supermarkets, wrapped in plastic, and loaded with food preservatives, breadboxes were our dear friends. If you want your bread to stay fresh, it’s time to befriend the breadboxes again. The breadbox is no time turner, but it keeps a great check on humidity and moisture. Storing bread in a large box is better because it gives enough space for air circulation. Moisture is your foe here because it destroys the bread crust and makes it moldy. The idea is to eliminate any amount of moisture that could crop up due to overfilling the box or by leaving the bread on the counter.

2. Say No to Refrigeration

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The refrigerator, the magical twentieth-century closet that keeps a stockpile of food edible and fresh for future consumption, is NOT the place for bread. According to Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, cold storage isn’t the best way to keep bread and other lean baked goods garden-fresh (1). Refrigeration stales the bread faster than it would at room temperature. So, if you are a food hoarder and want to keep bread for longer than a couple of days, freeze your bread. However, if you are looking to store the commercial loaf of bread that is stacked with preservatives, the refrigerator works.

3. Frozen Bread Lasts Longer

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Place your bread in a zip-tight pouch, eliminating air and moisture, and pop it in the freezer. According to a study by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the freezing of bread preserves its freshness and crustiness and reduces the chances of mold development (2). Bread can last up to three months if stored in the freezer; what’s more, it re-gelatinizes the starch and makes the bread chewy and springy upon heating. A quick tip to save you some trouble of defreezing and reheating —slice the bread into smaller pieces before you freeze it, so you could devour it easily.

4. Do The Wrap

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If you wish to store bread on the countertop and make sure it doesn’t go bad, wrap it in a plastic bag or use some foil, and Bob’s your uncle! Even after all the packaging, the room temperature is bound to seep in a tad bit and make the crust of the bread slightly soft due to trapped moisture. If a crusty crust is what you crave for, toss the bread in a toaster and toast away.

5. Bring Bread Back From the Dead

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Bread is something that can go bad even before you are ready to say goodbye to it. Its shelf-life is dependent on a variety of factors like the best before date, the method adopted to prepare the bread, the flour used, and the storage of it. When the bread becomes lifeless and is soft, little water and heat are all you need to revive the bread. Coat the bread (works for baguettes) with a little water and then throw the stiffened loaf in an oven for 5-10 minutes. Although the results could vary depending on the staleness of the bread and the temperature used for heating, if done right, the bread will taste and smell like it’s just bought from the bakery.

Image: IStock

According to a report by the Food Studies at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, the microbes that can take food past its sell date thrive at room temperature. Bread molds can come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and it takes a couple of days to actually see it growing on the bread. It is important to note that bread loses its freshness in a couple of hours, and it is best to store it right if it isn’t for immediate consumption. Like one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel, if one slice of bread is moldy, it’s best to do away with the rest too.

While we run a quick errand to the nearest bakery, tell us what your bread storage hack is.

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