7 things you need to know on storing bread.
"The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf." A Dance with Dragons - George R R Martin
From the moment your loaf comes out of the oven the chemical process of staling begins. Starch granules, which in the oven swelled and absorbed water, now slowly retrograde: over hours and days they set into a tougher crystalline structure, expelling some of that water.
The moisture in the centre of the loaf redistributes across the bread, soaking that once crisp crust. Some of that free moisture evaporates into the air or condenses on the inside of any container you have placed it in.
We also don’t see it yet, but mould spores in the air are trying to find purchase on and attack your bread. They won’t find it easy with sourdough. Lactobacilli bacteria, which put the Sour in Sourdough have already converted Linoleic acid in your bread into antifungal Hydroxy Fatty Acids. An age-old natural shelf life extender that will protect your loaf from mould for days.
This ageing and staling is helpful at the start. The loaves become easier to cut in half a day. Moisture inside some loaves which felt a bit gummy will have gone now. Some loaves, especially our wholegrain sourdough will taste and smell less grainy; curing, developing a more complex flavour and aroma.
The great French baker Lionel Poilane believed his celebrated two-kilogram Miche loaves were at peak flavour on the third day after baking. I prefer our Wholegrain Round loaves after 48 hours too, gently toasted.
So here’s what you need to do to get the best out of your loaf:
Temperature matters. Loaves stale, dry and spoil faster in hot rooms. Find the coolest room in the house. This is the best place for your bread. In my case, it’s my bedroom. It’s almost not weird to see an airtight box in a corner of a shelf with paper wrapped bread in it, but it means I get to keep bread for 4-5 days usually.
Your loaf must breathe. Cling wrapping naked loaves forces the moisture it inevitable expels to soak the exterior of the loaf, mould will attack it faster.
Keep the bread in the paper bag it came in. It acts as a moisture buffer, retaining some humidity without soaking the crust.
Keep that in an Airtight box or Ziploc bag. It won’t dry and it will reduce the chance of mould. Remember your loaves are breathing out moisture over time. So open that box briefly after a day so it doesn’t trap in too much moisture.
Bread stales fastest at just above freezing and slowest below zero Celcius. Fridges will stale your bread, even if you kept it airtight. But Freezers, Freezers are your friend.
Once you figure out how long your loaf is safe outside, freeze what you know you can’t eat in that time. Slice, place in an airtight bag and freeze.
Don’t apply fat to your bread before you toast unless you want hard croutons. Toast first, add the butter or olive oil after.
You now can take a slice whenever you feel like, let it defrost on your kitchen counter for 5 minutes and toast it. Toasting reverses some of the chemical process of staling. Whether you do it in a pan, an electric toaster or an oven, the process is the same. Steam helps, so if it’s a pan and you can cover the loaf, throwing in a teaspoon of water into a corner away from the bread will help.
BREAD.lk is a specialist bakery focused on making the best handmade Sourdough and Brioche in Sri Lanka. We rely on a combination of wild yeast fermentation and traditional breadmaking techniques to get the best out of all-natural ingredients. We make wholegrain, sprouted wheat and healthy seed and grain sourdough bread, as well as sinful Brioches and Babkas. We use no artificial additives or preservatives. Order at www.bread.lk and have your bread delivered to your door in Colombo 2-7 or pick it up from one of our collection points across the city.
