Making your own bread is a fun exercise until you realise you need to try to keep it fresh for more than just a day. As impossible as it might seem, keeping homemade bread fresh and tasty requires a few handy dandy tricks.
Here are our top storage hacks to keep homemade bread fresh.
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Wrap it in aluminium foil
This works for a good 2/3 days. Using foil is a common way to preserve bread. Carefully wrap every part of the bread to protect it from direct air, which can cause staleness.
After wrapping it up place your bread in a paper bag or bread box for short-term storage. It will trap the bread’s natural moisture to keep it from drying out.
Wrap it in plastic wrap
Make sure to store your bread in plastic. Wrapping prevents the bread from breathing, and traps in moisture. If you need to protect a few pieces of bread in the short term, wrap them in a couple of sheets of plastic wrap to keep air out. If you will be freezing the bread, wrap it in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminium foil to prevent freezer burn.
Use a bread bag
A bread bag is a paper, or cloth bag used to display and maintain the freshness of your bread. Bread bags can keep loaves fresh for the first couple of days after baking.
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Freeze the bread
If you have more bread than you can consume within 2-3 days, the best way to store it is by freezing. Freezing your bread stops the starch in the bread from recrystallizing and getting stale.
Use freezer bags when freezing your bread as they provide more protection against the cold than a normal resealable plastic bag. These bags are thicker, preventing freezer burn and adequately protecting frozen food. You should slice the bread before you freeze it.
While there are many options for storing homemade beautiful loaves these options are more suitable.
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A version of this article was originally written by Chumasande Matiwane for Garden&Home.
