Best Storage ideas for homemade bread

I’ve always been taught to keep homemade bread in tight tins. I recently read that clay containers are best because the clay wicks moisture away from the bread and the bread lasts longer.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I think this is kinda the $64K question of bread baking — how to store it so the crust stays crisp but the crumb doesn’t get stale and mold is warded off for as long as possible. How I store bread depends a lot on the type of bread. Whole grain sourdough leavened bread keeps a lot longer than a white flour commercial yeasted bread. My m.o. for the whole grain variety is to store it in a bamboo fabric bag and then put that in a bread bin. The bamboo fabric allegedly has natural antimicrobial properties to slow molding. The crumb stays moist yet the fabric breathes enough to keep the crust reasonably crisp. Works for me.

I’ve pretty much given up on trying to keep white bread (eg. baguette) of any kind in decent shape for long. I just figure on eating fast, freezing, tossing. Anything but storing. But if forced to store, a plastic bag is easy and keeps the crumb from drying. Can also put a piece of foil over the cut end and the loaf in fabric or paper bag in attempt to keep the crust crisp.

I’m sure there are many good ideas on this. Hopefully we’ll hear from others.

Thank you for your reply-I normally give my bread away as I have to watch calories to stay healthy-but I use whole grains, my favorite is rye-after three days I feed it to wildlife so I know it is not wasted. I just love baking bread so I know I’ll keep at it. My mother always made sourdough bread with refined white flour from “Sams Club”-and quick rise-this is so new to me but I’ve now baked 7 loaves without any failures. I just ordered two books recomended by Eric.

I think it depends a lot on your personal definitions of quality! If you expect as good as fresh baked, I don’t know of a way to keep it more than a day. I generally wrap somewhat loosely in plastic wrap. It still tastes good and is fine for sandwiches using condiments like mayo or mustard. I find that bread can be freshened a bit by microwaving for a short time.

I have had pretty good luck freezing sliced ciabatta. I wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then freeze in a zip-loc bag. Then take out a couple of frozen slices each day for a sandwich. I think it stays pretty good for a couple of weeks.

I recently purchased a Bees Wax sheet from Breadtopia and have kept my baguette wrapped in it. Sunday’s loaf was tasty on Tuesday afternoon for a late lunch, even if the crust has suffered a touch (lost crispness). In my climate in Washington State the bees wax paper outperforms the bamboo sachel for the baguette-on-the-counter-top storage test.

Thanks for your feedback on the Bee’s Baguette Wrap.

We freeze our bread as there are only two people in the household. I double wrap my bread with plastic wrap, then put the bread in a freezer bag the 2 gallon size and freeze and have had no problems doing it this way. Been doing this since I learned how to make bread!

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Thanks everyone for responding. I’m deep into reading my new books and practicing bread making.
I like you ideas and will try your suggestions!

I see this is an old thread, but just wanted to add a way that works well for. I wrap the bread in plastic and simply refrigerate. I will give it a quarter turn every time I open it to keep the condensation from making the top moist. I keep the fridge just above freezing and the bread will easily go 2 weeks and no freezer burn.

I’m single and just can’t finish off the bread before it goes bad otherwise. However, I’m not experienced enough to make sourdough bread, so can’t comment on how it would keep refrigerated.

I double wrap a half loaf in plastic grocery bags and pop it in the freezer. To thaw it I remove the outer bag and put the loaf on a rack for a few hours. The crust does loose some of the crisp but flavor remains. A few minutes in the toaster adds the crisp again.

Ditto. I just tried this and am finding that my dutch oven baked sourdough keeps for over a week. The crust isn’t quite as crunchy so I just toast the bread before using it. I wrap in the beeswax sheet then refrigerate. The cold wax doesn’t really seal to itself (I’m impatient so it might well stick if I worked it long enough) but there’s enough overlap that the bread is kept mostly sealed.

Our household is capable of eating an entire loaf over the course of a day. After the first cut, I like to store it cut face down on a dedicated small wooden board. It stays fresh this way as it seems most of the moisture wants to evaporate from the spongy moist interior crumb. The crust is not as perfect at 7pm as it was out of the oven at 9am, but a cut surface left to the open air seems to dry out within 30 minutes. So just do nice straight flat cuts so the whole crumb surface can lie flush with the board.

I also use the cut side to the board idea for the day of the bake, but my sense of The Life of a Loaf goes like this:

Day One - Great no matter what you do with it !
Day Two- OK - Good for a sandwich with mayo
Day Three - Gotta toast it or use lots of mayo
Day Four - Bread Crumbs

Been there yourself ?

Somewhat depends on the wheat variety. More rye in the bread and a loaf can last longer in my experience. But for other loaves, if it’s not all eaten by day 3/4, I usually slice and freeze it.

Great answer. Melissa you have the right balance. Check yourselves on what wheat you used-each has their own determination date-I also have rye grains which extend my bread life.

Hi Marcia, Several months ago, I purchased from Eric a large “Bread” box made of tin, painted black, with a lovely wooden lid. On the day after baking a sourdough or artisan bread, it is stored there in a loose plastic bag; a day or two later, the bread is sliced and frozen, to be toasted piece by piece as needed. Flavor and texture are still fine; more whole grain, as a percentage to bread flour, may be giving these breads longer lives.

I think everyone has a favorite method of storing their homemade breads. For me, I usually slice my bread about 4-5 hours after baking it so I can seal those slices into a large baggie, label and date the loaf and pop it into my freezer. Some baking days I’m just lazier (than usual) and don’t feel like slicing the bread. If that’s the case, I just pop the whole loaf, when cooled, into a plastic bag to soften the crust for easier slicing the next day. At that time I’ll label, date & freeze the bread. Living in the desert southwest with very low humidity most of the year, if I was to leave a loaf of bread out at room temperature, it would turn into a mummified brick within hours. So for me, slicing and freezing my bread is the best choice. Besides, my husband always loves his bread toasted so freezing bread is a win/win for me.

Leah