*Never keep your bread in the fridge. The starch molecules in bread recrystallize very quickly at cool temperatures, and causes the bread to staleStaling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and similar foods that reduces their palatability - stale bread is dry and hard.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Staling
According to Baker, it isn't advisable to store bread in the refrigerator. Although it would still be perfectly healthy to eat, she cautions that it will become a lot less palatable because the cold temperatures of the fridge will cause the starch in your bread to recrystallize and lose moisture.
Wrapping bread and storing it at room temperature will help it retain moisture for a few days. But what if you can't finish the whole loaf in that amount of time? Freezing is the answer. The takeaway: If you're storing bread longer than a few days, it's best to keep it in the freezer.
Commercially baked breads and rolls can be stored at room temperature for 2 to 4 days or 7 to 14 days in the refrigerator. Bread products retain their quality when stored in the freezer for 3 months.
Keeping bread on the fridge will cause paper-bagged bread to dry out, and plastic-bagged bread to mold faster. This comes from all the heat your fridge is putting out. Same for storing near a dishwasher; the excess heat and moisture these appliances give off is not bread-friendly.
If you tightly wrap your bread in plastic and put it in the refrigerator, you can help slow the staling process. Freezing bread is an option to help prevent it from going stale and developing spoilage microbes.
Bread should be stored in a dry, cool and dark place. The bread itself should never be stored directly in a plastic bag. If stored properly bread should stay fresh for about 3 days ( if it is a highly hydrated sourdough bread you could keep it fresh for about 4-5 days ).
Use a bread box.
By placing loaves in a bread box, you can stop them from getting too dry too fast. Bread boxes are a halfway point between tightly wrapping bread and leaving them out in the open at room temperature. They're a semi-sealed-off, dry place to keep bread fresh, but they do allow in some air.
Wrap the loaf tightly with aluminum foil, place it on the middle rack of a cold oven, and set the temperature to 300 degrees. After about 30 minutes (15 to 20 minutes for small or narrow loaves like baguettes), remove the foil and return the loaf to the oven for about 5 more minutes to crisp up the crust.
The reason a refrigerator is bad for bread: When bread is stored in a cold (but above freezing) environment, this recrystallization, and therefore staling, happens much faster than at warmer temperatures. Freezing, however, dramatically slows the process down. So that's the science in a nutshell.
And as this happens, your bread also hardens (and slowly goes stale). When you refrigerate bread, the cold and not-quite-freezing temperature speeds this whole process up. Your fridge's cool environment causes crystallization to happen rapidly, which leaves you with a dried-out, hard loaf in no time at all.
Newsflash! It's Totally Fine To Store Your Bread In The Fridge (And The Freezer Is Even Better) Modernist Bread's Nathan Myhrvold shares his tips for storing bread and keeping it fresh. Fresh, out-of-the-oven bread doesn't stay soft, warm and delicious for long; it inevitably turns mouldy or stale.
Resealable plastic bag: A resealable plastic bag seals in moisture and locks out air, keeping your bread soft. If you're using this method, store the bread at room temperature, but monitor the bag for excess moisture that can lead to mold.
The best way to store bread is at room temperature in a dark, dry, cool location such as a pantry, drawer, or bread box. We also recommend keeping our bread sealed in its original packaging, as this will help retain its moisture.
Bread boxes aren't just for looks (although some can definitely improve the look and feel of your kitchen). They're also ideal for storing bread to keep it from molding. Just place the loaf directly into the box without putting into a paper or plastic bag first.
In general, most loaves will last up to a week at room temperature, and three to five days longer in the fridge—though keep in mind that refrigeration can make bread go stale. Bread that goes stale is still useful for breadcrumbs, croutons, and bread pudding.
Freeze it. If you live in a warm, humid area where mould thrives, the best place for your bread is in the freezer. This is also the solution for anyone unlikely to finish a whole loaf before the dreaded mould creeps in.
Yes, the freezer is most often used for long-term food storage, but if you want to keep your freshly-baked bread in its most perfect state, even just for a few days, the freezer is the way to go. Freezing bread greatly slows down the staling, or retrogradation, process and eliminates the risk of mold growth.
Bread should be stored in an air-tight container, but still have some room to breath. Any kind of tin or bread box will work, as long as the lid fits tightly enough to keep air out.
Because paper lets air into the bag, keeping the bread dry and the crust crisp and delicious. If you store bread in a plastic bag, the moisture from the bread gets trapped in the bag making the crust soft. Storing in plastic will keep the bread fresh longer, but you'll lose the crust.
To save bread so it stays fresh longer, you can store it in plastic wrap, a reusable zip-top plastic bag, or a bread box. Avoid storing bread in damp, airy locations, which can speed up molding. If you're not going to eat the loaf in two or three days, the best option is to freeze it for later.
So while refrigerating bread will help delay mold, it won't delay staleness—a freezer delays both. Unless you're planning to eat an entire loaf of fresh bread in one sitting (which I wouldn't judge you for at all), the best place to store it, as soon as possible, is in the freezer.
Storage method
To prevent mold, it should be kept sealed at room temperature or colder. Room-temperature bread typically lasts 3–4 days if it's homemade or up to 7 days if it's store-bought. Refrigeration can increase the shelf life of both commercial and homemade bread by 3–5 days.
Stainless steel: Often modern in design, stainless steel bread boxes are durable and easy to keep clean. Ceramic: Ceramic bread boxes are excellent at keeping your bread moist. They are aesthetically pleasing but also heavy and easier to break.
To avoid this from happening, "there are only two things to do" - cut holes in the bag and keep the bread in the fridge. This hack can also work for bread from bakeries - fresh bread doesn't have as many preservatives as store-bought bread.