Effective and Budget-Friendly Trick to Maintain Freshness and Crispiness of Bread for a Week

Effective and Budget-Friendly Trick to Maintain Freshness and Crispiness of Bread for a Week

Bakery bread can become stale quickly, but proper storage can extend its freshness. A simple technique involves using a click-seal food bag to keep bread soft for up to seven days. Alternatives include wrapping bread in cloth and placing it in a bread box. Refrigeration is not recommended, while freezing in freezer bags can preserve bread for up to six months.

How to Keep Bakery Bread Fresh

Bakery bread, unlike pre-sliced loaves found in supermarkets, can quickly become stale within just a day of purchase. This can be quite disappointing, especially if you have leftovers. The science behind bread staling lies in the realignment of amylose and amylopectin molecules in the starch, leading to recrystallization. As a result, stale bread develops a hard and chewy texture. While you can revive it slightly by warming it in the oven, proper storage is equally important.

A Simple Storage Solution for Fresh Bread

Journalist Sophie Harris shared a straightforward yet effective storage technique with The Mirror that helps maintain the freshness and crunch of bread for up to seven days. She recommends keeping bread in a cool, dry area within a fabric bread bag, which allows for air circulation. However, she realized that the drawstring of her bag allowed too much air in, leading to quicker staling. After conducting some online research, she discovered that sealing bread in plastic can also speed up the staling process.

To put this tip into practice, Sophie purchased a click-seal food bag from Sainsbury, priced at £1.65 for 25 bags. She placed her bread inside, sealed it tight, and let it sit. The following morning, she was delighted to find her bread remained soft and fluffy, a stark contrast to the usual hard texture it would have after a night. Remarkably, the bread stayed fresh even the next evening, showing no signs of mold. By using a reusable plastic bag, Sophie managed to avoid waste, as each bag costs only about 6 pence and can be used multiple times for various foods.

In addition to this method, another effective way to store bread is by wrapping it in a cloth and placing it in a wooden or metal bread box. This technique helps maintain the bread’s softness for a few extra days. It’s worth noting that refrigerating bread isn’t advisable, as the low temperatures can lead to undesirable softness.

For those looking to preserve bread for longer periods, freezing is a viable option. Before freezing, ensure the bread is placed in freezer bags, whether whole or sliced. This simple action can keep your bread fresh for up to six months in the freezer.