We recently started getting fresh baguettes and other bread from a direct-to-consumer local baker. They don’t have the usual preservatives and milk of store-bought bread, so they get stale after just a couple of days.
The bakery is only open for a few hours on certain days of the week, so it’s not like we can just stop there whenever we want… we have to buy enough bread to last the week, but they’re stale by the third day or so.
What can I do to prolong their freshness? I’ve tried freezer ziplock bags, the actual freezer, and keeping them away from moving fresh air (by using the microwave as a storage cubby).
Would a breadbox help? Do they still make those? What about vacuum-sealing? What is it I’m actually trying to keep away from bread to keep it fresh… is it air/oxygen? Something else?
I totally endorse this. As someone who lives alone and would have to throw out a lot of bread it is essential. The other benefit is that it allows me to have several varieties of bread on hand rather than just the current loaf.
Yes freezer. Ziplock bags won’t do you any good. The moisture in the bread will cause molding, pretty quickly
I don’t like a bread box. Weevils can breed in wooden ones. All you need is two tiny ones and the next thing you know all your dry goods are inundated.
Never had a metal or plastic bread box.
If we buy baked goods not preservative laced we eat fast or store in a brown paper bag.
We have a bread box, but its purpose has nothing to do with preservation, well, not that sort of preservation, but rather to keep the cats from getting into it. We have one of those roll-top bamboo ones.
I’ve never tried vacuum sealing bread, but I would think that most types of bread would be horribly squished into cracker-like objects if you vacuum sealed them.
Great that you made the transition to buying fresh bread, When it starts getting stale, make croutons or bread crumbs for future use. If you can only get proper bread once a week, buy store bought bread like you used to to carry you over - you might find that you’ll soon be cutting back on bread.
Eeek, the sogginess should not be happening. Are you making sure to double-bag your freezable bread (I prefer a thin produce bag inside a ziplock freezer bag) AFTER it’s fully cooled and “offgassed”? Don’t be shoving that still-warm-from-the-oven yummy bakery bread into a bag in the freezer right away.
This. I have a friend who owns a bakery, he makes different breads in different days and when he makes something he knows I like he texts me and I buy a couple for freezing.
Maybe “soggy” wasn’t the best word… more “rubbery”, more like. Out of the bakery it’s soft and sumptuous, but after a freeze-thaw cycle, it becomes kinda spongy, noticeably chewier.
I mostly buy bread that comes “chewy”. I don’t really like soft bread. Even in pastries, i like a crispy croissant, not a soft … cheap grocery store croissant, i guess. So maybe I’ve never noticed this problem. My Jewish rye and sour dough both freeze and defuse well. Especially if i plan to toast them anyway.