I love playing with my breadmaker. These things are great. But sadly, the fresh, piping-hot bread it makes is only good for about 30 minutes. There is no way to make it stay “fresh” for over a few hours. The bread i buy in the store, however, lasts up to a week (or more, sometimes). I know part of the appeal of breadmakers is to make “fresh bread with no added chemicals, preservatives, nuclear waste, etc.” … but i would love to put some preservatives into my bread to make it last at least a few days. Are the preservatives that the store-bought bread makers use available for me to buy? What are they, exactly? I know this is probably bread-maker blasphemy… but darn it, i want preservatives! Anyone know where I can get some?
>>There is no way to make it stay “fresh” for over a few hours
What exactly do you mean by “fresh”?? I think if you mean it feels hard or dry that has nothing to do with preservatives.
I’ve wondered the same thing. Haven’t yet found any sources for the petrochemical-sounding stuff, but there are a couple of things that seem to help. First, soy lecithin, which is available in granular form from health-food stores and The Baker’s Catalogue. Add one or two tablespoons to the bread - it helps keep it moist. Also, I’ve found that eggs, butter (or other oils) and sugar all help bread last, but you may not want the extra calories. You might also look for a “heavier” recipe that rises a bit less - at least for me, the denser the bread the longer it lasts.
If it’s drying out really quickly, you might also try baking it just a couple of minutes less, or at a lower temp.
Yours in yeastdom…Oxy
[sub]f/k/a xtnjohnson[/sub]
fresh = soft, but not chewy or hard. The store-bought hamburger buns i got last week are still in my kitchen closet, and they are still “fresh” (i.e. taste like the day you got them).
I would really like some of the “petrochemical” type stuff to pour in there to make it last for 10-14 days like the store bread. I’m not afraid of chemicals. In fact, i sorta like them.
It sure is fun to make my own bread in the breadmaker though. I can put what i want in it… it is piping hot when it comes out… delicious. Unfortunately it has such a small half-life 
I think you are confusing things although I am open to be corrected. I believe preservatives are chemicals which are there to avoid the product going bad chemically, not to keep it soft. I think the type of product you are looking for wiould not be called a preservative. You may find out it is a matter of adding more shortening or some emulsifier or something. I do not think you are looking for “preservatives”
Here…
http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/rec/breadtip.html
These ingredients which help improve texture, rising and character of bread:
LIQUID LECITHIN improves the textures of the breads, making it stay fresh longer. found in health food stores.
VITAMIN C (ascorbic acid): Crush a vitamin C tablet or use it in powder form to give a better texture.
FRESH LEMON JUICE: Add a few teaspoons to help the texture.
VINEGAR: One teaspoon of vinegar can be added to most recipes and acts as a preservative.
Potato Water: Peel and slice 1 medium potato. Boil in 1-1/2 cups of water until tender. Drain and reserve 1 cup of water. Cool to 115 deg. Use in place of an equal amount of water in any recipe to give a greater potato taste.
Sure-Jell is a dry powder (apple pectin) produced by Kraft Foods. When 1 teaspoon is added to the dry ingredients, a wonderful, flexible bread is produced.
Gelatin is added to several of these recipes to produce a moist bread without the addition of cottage cheese. One teaspoon is dissolved in the liquid. Usually the liquid is reduced by 25 percent. Many of these recipes were tested with one package of gelatin, recent information shows 1 teaspoon produces the best results.
also from that site:
FATS (oil, butter, margarine, mayo, crisco etc.) are all dough enhancers. Fats condition the dough and keep breads fresher longer
Well, by going bad chemically do you mean getting green mold on it? I’ve always heard preservatives were chemicals they put in there to keep it … non-stale and mold-free. Looking on the back of my 5 day old bag of Roman Meal hamburger buns (which are still every bit as soft and fresh as the day i bought them), i see all sorts of interesting stuff like:
Azodiacarbonamide (wuzdat?)
Calcium sulfate
Calcium peroxide
Ethoxylated mono- and diglicerides
Calcium and/or sodium stearoyl lactylate (whichever is cheaper that day )
and… woah, look at this one - Calcium Propionate (A PRESERVATIVE) (it says that right there on the label)
ok, what is calcium propionate and where can i buy a gallon of it? If anyone knows what those other “chemicals” are in there for… please let me know.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/W6355E/w6355e08.htm
“C6 H10 Ca O4
Preservative, antimould and antirope agent.”
http://www.atulorganics.com/calcium.htm
"Propionic acid calcium salt; mycoban C6 H10 Cao4 mol. wt. 186.22 Ca(CH3 CH2 C00)2
Spray dryed pwder. Soluble in water; Slightly Soluble in methanol, ethanol; practically in Soluble in acetone, benzene.
USE: As an inhibitor of molds and other microorganisms in foods,animal feed, tobacco, pharmaceuticals in butyl rubber to improve processability and Scorching resistance.
The following Photographs clearly show the effectiveness of C.P. on your baked products. The loaf at the left contains 200 gms. of C.P.per 90 kg. of flour. the loaf at the right contains not a gram of C.P. and both are stored at avg. 30 degree centigrad & avg. 77% humidity for actual five days. Though both are made of the same dough, you can clearly note the lack of mold growth in the loaf containing C.P."
As you can see by the web photo’s the CP renders the bread immune to anything short of a direct nuclear attack. All you need is a few liters of benzene to dissolve it in.
Mmmmm…benzene.
kickass. where can i buy it and how much?
exactly. preservatives prevent the food from going bad by growing mold or decomposing or whatever but stuff added to prevent bread from just drying up wold not be called a preservative in this context. I think fat is the main thing that keeps bread soft as water will evaporate but fat will not.
Perhaps… but since we’re WAGing and SWAGing here with abandon I don’t think so. I don’t recall that standard supermaket type breads like Wonder etc use more fats or oils (relative to machine bread) to to keep the bread moist. I think it’s moisture binding agents like glycerine and products with similar effects etc that keep the water in the bread and keep it moist and in that context preservatives are especially necessary to keep the relatively “moist” bread from quickly going moldy.