Myth Busting, Culinary Style

Okay, we can't stay silent anymore, we have to blow the lid open on the myth of...bread storage!

Now we know many of you may think that storing bread in the fridge helps it keep longer, but in fact, you're just short-changing your loaf and denying it a longer shelf life by doing so.

Going to go a bit scientific on you but its only because we care enough to want our readers to be in the loop when it comes to the bread skinny.

Staling happens because of two things -- (1) a loss of moisture or drying that starts happening as soon as bread comes out of the oven, and (2) because of a chemical change in the structure of the starch known as starch retrogradation which occurs even when little or no moisture is lost (which is why even well-wrapped bread will eventually go stale).

Chemical staling happens rapidly at refrigerator temperature while, on the other hand, freezing will nearly stop it altogether.  Because of this, the worse thing you can do is pop bread in the fridge because it speeds up the staling process.  The only exception to this is when you have a bread product that has a cream or soft cheese filling which can go bad unless refrigerated.

For short-term storage, you should keep bread at room temperature (this is why bread boxes -- which are smaller than an elephant -- were invented).  Hard crusted breads should be not be wrapped in plastic because the crust will become soft and leathery.  To keep it crusty, it should be kept in a paper bag.  For long-term storage, keep it in the freezer and reheat as needed.

If the staling process isn't too far along, reheating a bread product will refresh it though you don't want to do it more than once since any heat exposure leads to loss of more moisture which leads to staling.

We hope this information will be useful and help you in preventing any future early bread demise.

Long Live The Loaf.