Bread Storage Guide

Nothing is better than a freshly baked loaf of bread. Bread is best the day it is baked. However, there are ways to keep your bread fresh and tasty.
• The moister the bread is the longer it will keep.
• Keep soft-crusted breads in a plastic bag or airtight container.
• Store crispy-crusted bread in paper.
• Keep the bread in a cool dry place, such as a bread box.
• Keep freshly baked bread at room temperature in the open until it has cooled. Otherwise the mold development will be accelerated.
• Do not store bread in the refrigerator. This will dry it out and it will become stale faster.
• Freeze your bread to keep it for several months. Keep the bread wrapped tightly in plastic and place in the freezer.
• Any bread can be freshened by quickly dipping it in cold water, draining, and heating it in the oven.
There is no clear rule as to where you must store bread and buns, but in order to keep it fresh, it should be kept in a somewhat air-tight and dry container or area.

Hot bread should not be put in a sealed container until it cools, because the steam will cause dampness, which in turn can cause mold to grow more rapidly. A little air is not a concern, but too much air can cause bread to dry out. There are several options to storing breads and what you choose will probably depend more on freshness and storing convenience than style.
 Storing Bread on the Counter - Keeping bagged bread right on the counter or table can be very convenient at times, but it can look messy and can also cause counter congestion.
 Storing Bread in a Cabinet - For years I stored bread/buns on the lower shelf of an upper kitchen cabinet, close to where breakfast or lunch foods are prepared.
 Storing Bread in a Drawer - Many kitchen cupboard designs allow for a deep bread drawer with an easy-to-clean inner liner. This type of drawer, when closed, has a 'lid' that seals the unit.
 Storing Bread in a Bread Box - Bread boxes are still as popular as they were decades ago, in fact vintage kitchenware like bread boxes are often still quite usable and collectible.
 Storing Bread in an Appliance Garage - While this may be a departure from what this cabinet accessory is designed for, I think it's a great place to store bread. There are straight designs or corner models.
 Expandable Bread Boxes - Clear acrylic expandable bread boxes provide great storage especially for home-baked bread.
Once bread has gone stale there are still options for use. The uses for stale bread are so many and varied that it is obviously unwise to waste a particle. Follow some of these examples and recipes to make use of your left over bread.
• Croutons- Cut stale slices of bread half an inch thick. Trim off crusts (which may be set aside and used for puddings), butter the slices, and cut into half-inch cubes. Place on shallow pan and brown in a hot oven, turning them so that they may not burn. Serve with soup.
• Steamed Bread- Brown the stale bread in a buttered griddle.
• Soft Buttered Toast- Toast six or eight slices of stale bread. Melt one-fourth cup butter in half a cup of boiling water in a bowl. Quickly dip each slice of toast in it. place in hot dish, and pour remainder of "dip" over all.
• Bread Cereal- Dry bread in oven until crisp and brown. Roll on board, or put through meat grinder, having crumbs coarse. Serve warm as a breakfast food with cream.
• Bread Pudding
Competitive Bread Storage Basket products from various China Bread Storage Basket manufacturers and Bread Storage Basket suppliers are listed below, please view them and select the most helpful info for you. Besides, we also provide you with Bread Storage Basket related products such as Carved Basket, Plastic Basket, Dish Washing Basket, Antique Basket for your choice.
Laryssa asked a great question on Tuesday's post regarding the use of plastics in food storage because of the concern of BPA:
"We switched to glass a few years ago and never looked back. The only thing that's still plastic are the zip top bags. I use them to keep my freshly baked bread in. Do you have any suggestions for something I could use instead?"


Photo Credit: Emiline220

If you're using Ziploc brand bags, according to their website, none of their products contain BPA. Here's the quote from their website:

"SC Johnson does not use BPA in its plastic products, Ziploc® Brand Bags and Containers. SC Johnson is a leader in providing high-quality products. All of its products are extensively evaluated for toxicity and safety and comply with—and often even exceed—applicable quality and safety regulations. "

This is really good news because most of the plastic that the majority of us use is probably from SC Johnson. If you are using another brand, you will want to go to their website and verify that they are BPA-free as well.

That said, I'm still on a mission in our home to reduce the use of plastics because I like knowing that I'm not constantly adding more to our landfills than necessary. And believe me, I could go through a lot of plastic bags if I wanted! I try to wash and reuse as many as I can, but to throw them away after a few uses is not being a good steward in my own mind. This is personal, friends. I can't tell you that everyone must do this. It has to be your own conviction or you won't stick with it, so it wouldn't matter anyway. And honesty, this didn't bother me so much a year ago. I don't really know why, but now it does.

So, if anyone out there is interested in some alternatives for your bread, I have found a couple of ideas for short term storage, but none that I've actually tested. However, I plan on trying something, immediately! Hopefully I'll be posting followups to this with some real results.

Sandwich Bread
• While the sandwich may have been around since the late 1700's, commercially sliced bread was not in vogue until the late 1920's when a machine to slice bread was patented. It was sold in a wax paper wrapper that was not easily resealed. In the mid 50's, bread was sold for the first time in plastic bags. So sliced bread has mainly been a novelty supported by plastic in terms of commercial production.

• Prior to plastic, this kind of bread must have been consumed at one sitting by an entire family.
• If you have some fat in your bread (butter, oil, or other source), then it will help keep the bread a bit more soft and moist. Still, without preservatives, it will go rancid after a couple of days.

• Any remains could be used for breadcrumbs in other recipes, toasted or for french toast the next day, or in recipes such as bread puddings.

• Air is the enemy! It will quickly go stale when left where air can dry it out.

• Don't slice it all at once; only slice what you need at the moment.

Artisan Bread

• Artisan breads should be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
• Unlike sandwich bread, artisan breads need a little air circulation.
• Always store in paper or in a cloth bag.

Storage Options

• If you wish to try and save the loaf for a second or third meal, try wrapping it well in a linen tea towel or cloth bag and storing it in a stainless steel box (a tighter seal would be good for sandwich bread, but perhaps not for artisan breads). Here are a couple of examples by Polder :

• Some stainless steel bread boxes offer a bit of protection but also have some ventilation in the bottom as well (good for artisan breads, not so much for sandwich breads). Brabantia is an example of just such a box:







Some think that stainless steel doesn't allow it to get enough air circulation, but ceramic should allow the bread to breathe without drying it out (might work for both sandwich and artisan breads?). And I love this ceramic version from Andrea by Sadek at Madison Avenue Gifts! However I think it will only hold one loaf at a time.









Nigella Lawson has a ceramic bread box with a wood lid that doubles as a cutting board. Ingenious! But pricy and hard to find. It seems that the British have embraced this and it is more widely available across the ocean, but a few stores may still carry it stateside.


Be sure to check out Soule Mama's blog post on how she stores her bread in a tea towel converted to a bread bag. Darling! Can I say that again? Really darling! I'm definitely making some of these soon - hopefully this weekend!

If you are milling your own flour and it is truly the whole grain, your bread needs to be consumed within two or three days unless you freeze it. So these options are only temporary measures to keep your bread reasonably fresh during that short duration. I'd love to hear how some of you are storing your breads without plastic. Please chime in!

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