How Do I Keep Homemade Bread From Going Stale?

Q: A friend keeps bringing us delicious fresh bread, but we can’t seem to keep it "good" more than a few days. What should we be storing it in, ideally? This seems so simple, but I just can’t figure out the best option. Plastic bags —> mold. Paper —> stale, even just in a few days. Do I need a bread box? Does it need to go in the fridge? Help!

A: Friends who give delicious bread are the best types of friends to have! Homemade bread, while flavorful, has a short shelf life because it lacks the preservatives found in commercially produced loaves. No matter what you do, bread will go stale if you keep it at room temperature. The best way to preserve freshness is by freezing. To get the most out of your bread, cut the loaf in half, wrap one half tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze it (that portion will be good for up to one month). To serve it, thaw it at room temperature and refresh the crust in a 350°F oven for five minutes.

Take the other half and put it in a fiber bread bag, cut side down. I use an old potato sack, but you can use a linen bread bag or a cotton pillowcase. The bread should be good for up to four days. After that, it will be noticeably stale but still perfect for toasting, croutons, or crumbs! Stale bread is also great for soups, stuffings, salads, and meatloaf.

Bread boxes serve primarily to keep vermin out, and they do about as much to preserve the freshness of bread as a bag. Refrigeration is one of the worst things you can do for bread, as it makes the bread go stale faster. Bread kept in plastic wrap on the counter gets moldy because the combination of moisture retention plus temperature makes the environment perfect for spores to grow.

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