Help if possible please, home made bread preservation

Bill Masen - January 11, 2022

Advice

Do any of you good people know of ways of extending the shelf life of home made bread made in a free standing bread maker??   We have one and we like the bread it makes but it goes off or stale within 24 hours.    Any suggestions on extending its shelf life.

5  

The only thing I can think of is to store it in the fridge or freeze it. Edited to add that I also heard about storing bread in paper bags, or using a proper bread box. I’m not a big bread eater and I store mine in the fridge.

 

I think the it is the  flower you use , I use organic wholemeal and it last for days

John

 

I tend to slice my homemade bread and freeze it while it’s still fresh – ideally just cool enough to freeze, but sometimes I wait longer. If I freeze it when it’s fresh enough, it still tastes like fresh bread when it comes out of the freezer. (I usually toast it to thaw it.)

 

I totally get where you’re coming from, there’s a big difference between fresh bread and day old bread. I make my own bread too, but not in a breadmaker. I had one a while ago, but I worked it to death and after many years sterling use the motor burned out. I use my stand mixer or if I have the time, I make by hand for no other reason than I enjoy the process. I tend to make rolls or small loaves that I can freeze and take out as I need them. When I had the bread maker, I used to cut the loaf in half and freeze one half for the next day. Or you could use a flour improver. Bako are a very reliable manufacturer. Bako Flour Improver

This improves the structure of the bread and will help the bread stay softer longer.

 

I make my bread with a bread maker and have never had it go bad that fast. Once it has finished cooking I take it out of the machine and usually steal a slice or two with some jam. I let it cool down and then put it in a plastic airtight bag. 

Putting the bread in the fridge seems to help improve it’s life to a week for me. If left in the cupboard it lasts 4-5 days.

Only cut off what you need. Once you slice the entire loaf it exposes the rest of the bread to air and speeds up the staling.

 

Almost by definition, if it’s left long enough home made bread goes stale..allowing the fresh loaf to cool properly before cutting it means it will be good for a day or two at most before becoming too dry and only suitable for toasting. Refrigerating bread retards mould growth but further dries the bread out. White flour products last longer than whole meal. My best advice is to only make as much as you can eat and try to combine the use of the oven to keep costs down. Some things like pastries can be batch baked at the same time as a loaf.