Should i put bread in the fridge

It sounds counter-intuitive no pun intended , seeing as how refrigerators were invented to help us preserve the freshness of food. Thus, your bread becomes hard, or stale. Say you bought your bread in bulk? The best way to halt that recrystallization process is to keep it in the freezer: Wrap it in an airtight container or bag to store it; then let it completely thaw before taking it back out of the container. To see how long your loaf might last, check out this handy chart by Eat By Date.

News U. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism. Special Projects Highline. Not because the statements they are making are wrong, but because they fall prey to a common critical thinking mistake: failing to define our terms.

Did you notice that I did not use the word fresh in the title? I asked whether storing your bread in the fridge will make it last longer. Trick question. Semantic distinctions are very important when we are talking about defining our terms. Most people are saying that storing your bread in the refrigerator does not keep it fresh longer, but instead makes it go stale faster.

I think that we can agree that state bread is not fresh bread. However, stale bread is also not bread that has gone bad. Although stale bread seems like bread that has dried out and gone stiff and crumbly, the moisture level remains constant.

It is the recrystallization of starch, irregularly bound to water, which causes bread to change texture and become what we call stale. Breads made with no fat or oil are more prone to becoming stale.

So, French bread will become stale faster than a loaf of store-bought white bread, sliced or not. Stale bread, however, is still perfectly edible bread. It is not fresh simply because it is not fresh out of the oven. Though this is a highly contested topic, Booker says that refrigerating bread can actually give it more longevity.

Since the refrigerator provides a constant temperature, "you don't have to worry about fluctuations if it's hotter or cooler in the day," she says. But it's best to use this method as a short-term solution since the cooler temperature can sometimes cause starches to crystallize, therefore making the bread less soft and more course. Ultimately, freezing bread is the best way to stop it from molding or getting stale too early.

While not required, it helps to freeze bread in slices so you don't have to defrost a whole loaf. Depending on the fat content and the amount of protein in that type of bread — be it store-bought or homemade — frozen loaves can last from three to six months.

The longevity of bread depends on the type of loaf, its ingredients, and preservatives. While a more starchy bread full of protein will last longer, a lighter bread can also last a while if you freeze it. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Antonia DeBianchi.