Bread Boxes? Do they work? Storage tips for the home breadmaker
Hi Eaters,
So--I've been embarking on a home breadmaking adventure. We're a small household--only two. My problem is storage. I haven't got a store of store got bread bags, and we can take 5 or more days to go through a loaf. I have been defaulting to large Ziplocs, which works--ok. Those bags seem expensive for the task at hand, and if, as sometimes happens, the bread gets mouldy in the ziploc, I am not comfortable reusing the bag. I wonder if a bread box would do better for me? Would the bread still have to be wrapped in plastic if I store it in there?
I'd be grateful for any suggestions or advice.
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10 Comments:
I don't have any experience with bread boxes, but we're a 2-person household as well, so I feel your pain. The solution we've devised is to wrap the (cooled) loaves individually in plastic grocery bags; twist the top then wrap under the loaf so the weight holds it fairly secure. Then stick the loaf in the freezer. Sometimes we pre-slice but we've found the bread stays fresher if we don't (duh, right?) and the bread knife seems to do just fine with the frozen bread.
littlestcapy at 7:42PM on 08/10/09
i've had bread boxes and you still need to wrap it. the air dry it out unless you like hard bread. it's no different than throwing the bread in a cupboard.
dearrie at 8:32PM on 08/10/09
Hi, I make bread too and although we're a family of four it still lasts a few days. I find what works best is to wrap each loaf in a tea towel (if you set the bread diagonally on the towel you can wrap up all the corners nicely). It will dry out slowly but I find the taste improves as it does so. After a day or two (if there's any left!) I put the wrapped loaf in a plastic bag so it doesn't dry out any more. Hope that helps!
cathmtl at 9:49PM on 08/10/09
Okay, even though I don't bake, my mom did, and I think I can help.
My mom had a special bread drawer built into the cabinetry of our house( look, i know this makes me sound like a snob. Oh contrar. My mom saved and saved. Mom's motto was that bread will ALWAYS feed us.
Let's focus on the drawer. It was deep, about 1 foot deep. Solid birch with aluminum sides and bottom. Don't know anything about construction, but this baby kept bread, rolls, donuts, muffins SOOO fresh for the better part of a week.
Now we all know this is an impossibility, my mom told me to wrap all homemade baked goods this way:
Saran wrap
foil(heavy duty)
saran wrap
foil(heavy duty)
place in a ziploc freezer bag for no longer than a month.
Defrost on the counter; freeze as you will eat.
Place on a baking sheet @ 450 for 5-10 min prior to serving after fully defrosted.
donnie at 10:58PM on 08/10/09
@donnie, having a bread drawer sounds great... but did your family ever worry about pests? Even at its best, my kitchen still might get ants. Did you wrap/cover it before putting it in the drawer? I think my mom would consider it like an open invitation to have more bugs in the house.
As for the original question, I baked bread many weekend on my own in college. My roommate and I rarely shared food, so I ended up needing to freeze a lot of it. Whatever I did leave fresh, I'd tie it up in a plastic bag and stick in a tupperware container on the counter.
If you are making w/o a breadmaker, consider making smaller loaves? Having an intact crust helps to prevent drying out.
engmcmuffin at 9:09AM on 08/11/09
Growing up, we had a bread drawer in our kitchen cabinetry, too. Maybe it was a '50's/'60's thing.
It had a metal lining with a sliding aluminum inside lid, with just a few vent holes punched in it.
Keeping the bread, rolls, bagels, pound cakes, etc. in the waxed paper bags from the bakery was sufficient to keep them fresh for several days.
salpico at 10:23AM on 08/11/09
@engmcmuffin---I don't recall there ever having been a problem with pests.
Maybe because whatever she baked didn't last for very long. She was an amazing baker. We did empty the crumbs when it was completely empty and wipe it down with soap and water, leave the drawer open to dry.
donnie at 2:34PM on 08/11/09
Real bread goes stale quickly. "Day Old Bread" really means something with real bread.
Use your freezer, the bread will be as fresh as they day you baked it.
Otherwise you are eating stale bread, or parbaked bread, or bread loaded with preservatives.
peekpoke at 4:28PM on 08/11/09
I bake bread most every weekend, just for my two person household - and I barely eat any of it (if I can help it) After my loaves cool, I cut them in half and put them all in a bread bag and into the freezier. We then can take out just half a loaf at a time - we usually can get that much eaten before it's too stale. I do have a freezer full of bread products because I can't seem to stop baking.
maryannm at 9:18AM on 08/12/09
Thanks all for the advice. Consensus seems to say freeze some or all. I've just put a loaf to rise, and will try it when it's cool and done.
BananaMonkey at 10:16AM on 08/12/09