No need to put your bread in the freezer to keep it longer! There is a very simple, but little known, trick that allows you to keep both its taste and its crispness, without a household appliance.
Bread may be an essential part of our diet, but sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and we buy in excess. However, after a few days, it becomes dry and loses its softness, to the point of ending up as hard as a brick. One of the most obvious solutions to avoid this is to freeze it, but not everyone likes the idea of putting their bread in the freezer. Between the loss of flavor and an altered texture, freezing is not always the option that best suits our tastes. So, how can you preserve the freshness of your bread without using this method?
Given that it is in contact with air that the crust allows the humidity of the bread to evaporate, which causes it to harden, it is therefore necessary to adopt conservation techniques favoring a balance between protection and aeration to prolong the freshness of the food. One of the easiest tips to implement is to use a clean cotton or linen cloth. Unlike plastic bags which retain moisture and soften the crust, a cloth wraps the bread while allowing it to breathe. This way it retains its texture and taste a little longer.
It is also possible to store your bread in a wooden or metal bread box. This accessory, specially designed for this purpose, offers ideal protection against air and light while avoiding excess humidity. The important thing is to choose a ventilated box to avoid mold, while allowing the bread to keep its crispness.
But the ultimate tip for optimal preservation is to place your bread in a ventilated box and add an apple or potato cut in half. Yes! By slowly evaporating, the water contained in the fruit or tuber will help maintain a good humidity level in the container, preventing the bread from drying out. And if you don’t have a bread box, just use a canvas or paper bag.
Finally, it is advisable to cut the bread as you consume it. By leaving the loaf whole, therefore not previously cut, we limit the exposure of the crumb to the air, which extends the life of the food. In short, it is entirely possible to keep your bread fresh for several days without freezing. And if, indeed, freezing is inevitable, you should definitely not make the mistake of freezing bread as is. Better to wrap it in a plastic bag or a tightly closed freezer bag to keep it longer. And be careful never to freeze bread that has already been defrosted!