Storing bread properly: 7 common mistakes to avoid

You have baked a lovely loaf with a crisp crust and a soft crumb. Two days later it is dry, chewy or mouldy. Usually it is not the recipe that is to blame, but the way you choose to store your bread. Here are the seven most common mistakes, and what to do instead.

Mistake 1: Leaving bread uncovered in the fridge

Uncovered bread can lose moisture quickly in the fridge. A suitable bag helps reduce this drying, but the starch also changes structure as the loaf ages. This process is called retrogradation and generally proceeds faster around refrigerator temperatures than at room temperature. Wrapping helps, but does not stop all firming.

Do this instead: Store the bread at room temperature, in something that breathes. If it needs to keep for longer than a week or so, use the freezer while the bread is still fresh. You will find the full explanation in the guide to bread in the fridge.

Mistake 2: A plastic bag on the worktop

A plastic bag keeps the moisture inside, and that is exactly the problem. The bread gives off moisture that cannot escape: the condensation makes the crust soft and chewy, and the damp environment is perfect for mould. In a plastic bag, a home-baked loaf usually keeps for just 2 to 3 days.

Do this instead: Choose storage that breathes, for example a beeswax-lined bread bag in cotton and linen. Read more about why home-baked bread goes mouldy.

Mistake 3: Wrapping the bread while it is warm

A warm loaf is full of steam that needs to escape. If you wrap it too early, the steam is trapped, the crust softens within minutes, and the moisture gives mould a head start.

Do this instead: Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack for 1 to 2 hours before you wrap it. The rack lets air circulate under the loaf, so the base does not turn damp.

Mistake 4: Cutting the bread from the end

If you cut from the end, one large cut face is left open and dries out in the air. Each slice ends up drier than the last.

Do this instead: Cut the bread from the middle. Take out the slices you need, then press the two halves back together. That way the cut faces protect each other, and the crumb stays soft for much longer.

Mistake 5: Freezing whole loaves

The freezer is right for long-term storage, but a whole frozen loaf has to thaw for several hours, and once it has thawed it soon turns dry.

Do this instead: Slice the bread before you freeze it. Then you take out exactly what you need, and a frozen slice is ready in the toaster in a couple of minutes.

Mistake 6: Leaving the bread in sunlight or next to the cooker

Direct sunlight and the heat from a cooker or oven dry the bread out faster, and swings in temperature can cause condensation inside the bag or box.

Do this instead: Give the bread a fixed spot in a dry, shaded place at steady room temperature, away from the windowsill, the cooker and the dishwasher.

Mistake 7: Never washing or airing the storage

A bread bin that is never washed collects old crumbs in the corners, and with the crumbs come mould spores that spread to the next loaf.

Do this instead: Empty and wipe out the bread bin regularly. If you use a bread bag, turn it inside out and air it between loaves. A beeswax bag can take gentle cleaning in cold water. See our guide to how to wash a beeswax bread bag.

The easiest way to store bread properly

All seven mistakes come down to the same balance:

That is exactly how a beeswax-lined bread bag works. The Vokshus Bivoks™ bread bag is made of cotton and linen with natural beeswax on the inside. The bread stays fresh for 7 to 10 days, compared with 2 to 3 days in a plastic bag. The bag measures 30.5 × 43 cm, closes easily with a clip and can be reused for 12 months or more. See the product page for your local price.

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