Bakery crusty bread can turn stale within a day of purchase, but this simple storage hack kept a loaf fresh and soft for seven days – and it’s so cheap to do
Unlike pre-sliced bread, crusty bakery bread can become stale within a day of purchase, which can be incredibly frustrating if you’ve got a lot of the loaf left. The quick staling of bakery bread is due to a process known as starch recrystallisation, where the starch molecules in the bread lose moisture and harden the bread.
While moistening the slice of bread and popping it in the oven to regain moisture might help, it’s also crucial to consider how you’re storing the bread. Reporter Sophie Harris discovered a simple storage method that kept her loaf fresh for seven days, much to her surprise.
She said: “I’ve always stored my loaves in a cool, dry place inside a bread bag. Cloth bread bags are reportedly ideal because they allow the bread to breathe.
“However, the drawstring on my bread bag allowed tiny amounts of air to enter, making the loaf stale. After some online research, I found many people claiming that sealing bread in plastic accelerates staling.”
Despite this, she decided to try it out as her bags were letting in too much air. Sophie used a click and seal food bag from Sainsbury’s to test this hack, costing £1.65 for 25 bags, reports the Express.
Sophie put the loaf in the bag, sealed it completely, and left it on the side. The next morning, she said her bread was still incredibly soft in the middle, unlike usual when it would be hard and only suitable for toasting.
The bread remained fresh that evening and the following morning, with no signs of mould. In fact, Sophie’s loaf was still good to eat seven days after being placed in the reusable plastic bag, ensuring no wastage.
Each bag costs approximately 6p and can be reused multiple times for different food items. Sophie said she was taken aback by how effective this storage hack was and has been using it ever since for her loaves.
