Storing homemade bread...

[BeckyFL]

I saw the article below quoted from Cook's Illustrated. Has anyone tried the twill bags that they found most effective? They look interesting. I googled and found them several places.

 

I've been using ziplocs and putting most in the freezer. Anyone have a better way?

 

Cook’s Illustrated ran a test to see which bread loaves lasted the longest, testing temperatures & storage devices. I was very interested to see what the results would be, in particular, if a storage device really preserves the shelf life of the bread longer.

 

It became quickly evident in their research, that the refrigerator is actually the least effective way to store bread. Retrogradation occurred six times faster in the bread stored in the refrigerator versus the bread stored at room temperature. Although this was not included in their findings, I do believe that room temperature may be worse in some cases depending upon your climate conditions. Those who live in humid conditions may find that bread molds much quicker if left out on the counter, rather than their refrigerator storage methods.

 

For homemade bread, they did find the most successful way to store the bread was in a twill bag they found on Golda’s Kitchen. This twill bag is both machine & dishwasher safe. The bag is $20, but can be used over and over again. I am thinking that I might try the fabric totes that came with my reuseable grocery bags first, and see if these fabric bags might be the ticket for effective storage.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Interesting. I took a bread making class yesterday at a local kitchen store and the instructor suggested wrapping bread up in flour sack towels to store it. It would be almost the same type of fabric, but considerably cheaper than $20/bag. If you have even minor sewing skills you could make your own bag out of the flour sack towels.

[BeckyFL]

Interesting. I took a bread making class yesterday at a local kitchen store and the instructor suggested wrapping bread up in flour sack towels to store it. It would be almost the same type of fabric, but considerably cheaper than $20/bag. If you have even minor sewing skills you could make your own bag out of the flour sack towels.

 

Yes... a review on the Breadtopia site suggested wrapping in floursack towels before putting it in a larger version of the bag.