How to store bread in the refrigerator. Where and how should bread be stored? How to revive stale bread

How to keep bread fresh for a long time? This question worries me for a long time, since in our family flour products there is always. Once I firmly decided to figure out whether it is possible to store bread in the refrigerator and what to do so that it does not get moldy. I share my notes.

Proper storage of bread

7 ways to prolong freshness

What are the storage options for baked goods?

Image	Recommendations
	Method 1. Fabric or paper If you take a clean linen bag and wrap bread in it, the product will stay fresh for 7 days. You can use parchment paper instead of a towel.
	Method 2. Plastic bag Make a few holes in the shopping bag so that the bread does not stale. So it will be fresh for 3-5 days.
	Method 3. Special bag In large stores, you can buy a bag for storing flour products. The special three-layer structure keeps the bread fresh for up to 10 days. The price of such bags is quite high, so you can make it yourself: a perforated bag is inserted into an ordinary linen bag. plastic bag and closes with a cotton pad.
	Method 4. Correct cutting Cut the loaf not from the edge, but in the center. Cut off from the middle of each half required amount product and tightly fold the remaining parts of the roll with slices to each other. So you extend the softness of the loaf for 2-3 days.
	Method 5. In the freezer Can you store bread in the freezer? It is possible, but only at a temperature of about -18 ° C. The term will be up to 6 months (in the photo an example of a frozen product). After freezing-thawing, the product will quickly become stale, so take only the amount that you can use immediately.
	Method 6. Bread box There are plastic, wooden and metal breadbaskets. In which bread box is the product best preserved? In birch bark and juniper, as these types of wood have antiseptic properties.
	Method 7. Apple

I will give some tips so that the product does not lose its taste qualities maximum period:

• Don't put bananas in the fridge. At a temperature of +2 ° C, the bread begins to actively stale.
• The product that was taken out of the bread machine or oven must be cooled. hot loaf can not be packed and frozen.
• Do not put at home in one container products from different varieties flour. They must be placed in separate sealed packages.
• Wipe the bread box regularly with vinegar to disinfect the surface.

How to bring freshness back to bread?

Unfortunately, flour products may become stale and moldy. And if in the first case the bun can still be saved, then in the second there is no chance.

Why does bread get moldy? It's all about moisture and tight packaging. IN finished product there is a certain amount of moisture, so if the packaging does not allow it to "breathe", mold begins to actively multiply inside.

What can be done with a stale product, how to revive it?

Image	Instructions for action
	Method 1. Crackers Cut the loaf into slices of a suitable size, dry it in the oven or in a pan and serve as croutons. If dry bread is crushed, you get breadcrumbs.
	Method 2. Oven Spray the loaf with water. Put it in the oven for 3 minutes at 150°C. The taste will noticeably improve.
	Method 3. Thermos Put the sliced ​​loaf in a hot thermos. Its properties will be restored. This method can restore softness to cookies and other sweet pastries.
	Method 4. Steam Cut the stale roll into small cubes and place in a cheesecloth bag or sieve. Hold over a boiling pot for a couple of minutes.
	Method 5. Casserole Pour the sliced ​​loaf egg mixture and put in the oven for 30 minutes. You will get a very tasty and satisfying dish.

Results

Now I use only these methods of storing baked goods. Well, if it happens that the roll becomes stale, I have methods in service that give it a second life. Try and follow these tips to have fresh, fragrant and tasty bread on your table.

The video in this article will show visual instructions on how to keep the bread soft. Do you have your own way of storing bread? Share your secrets in the comments!

In the minds of the average person, a refrigerator is a place where all products are stored longer and better. But with regard to bread, this is not entirely true.

Why You Shouldn't Store Bread in the Refrigerator

There is no definite answer to this question. It is impossible to argue that it is categorically not recommended to store bread in the refrigerator or, on the contrary, it is necessary. It would be more correct to say - it is possible, but unreasonable. There are a few things to keep in mind when storing bread this way:

1. Baking quickly absorbs various foreign odors. Therefore, if you store bread in the refrigerator without packaging, it will most likely borrow flavors from neighbors on the shelf and will no longer be so attractive to eat.
2. Bakery products contain yeast, which, when interacting with other products, impairs the taste of the entire product. To stop such a "reaction", it is better to store bread in the freezer.
3. If stored incorrectly, even in the refrigerator, bread will quickly deteriorate. The reason for this is usually completely airtight packaging (for example, factory or bakery packages initially contain small holes for ventilation). Also, do not put freshly baked bread in the refrigerator. Firstly, it increases the consumption of electricity and loads the compressor of the refrigeration unit. Secondly, the steam that comes from fresh baked goods will form condensation inside the package, and this is fraught with mold and bread spoilage.

Freshly baked bread left in the refrigerator can become moldy

If you really need to store bread for a long time (for example, you stock up or plan to leave for a while), then it is better to use a freezer. The low temperature stops the evaporation of moisture from the roll and prevents the yeast from interacting with other products. Thus, bread can be stored unchanged for three to five months.

Bread can stay fresh for up to five months in the freezer

In this case, you must adhere to certain storage rules:

1. Cut the loaf into portions that can be eaten at one time, as re-freezing the bread will not work.
2. Wrap the bread tightly in foil cling film, parchment or polypropylene packaging.
3. Freeze fresh bread, because after defrosting, you will receive a product similar in state to the original one (freeze stale - defrost the same).
4. It is better to defrost bread when room temperature, so take it out two hours before use.
5. Remove the packaging only after complete defrosting.

By following these tips, you can extend the life of your bread.

It is best not to buy bread for the future, but only eat fresh. It is better to store it in a bread box, linen or canvas. But if this is not possible and you are forced to store bread in the refrigerator, take care of the quality packaging of the product. For long-term storage use freezer.

Hungry times for our country are in the past, but people, for various reasons, still sometimes buy food for future use. Even bread is sometimes purchased by citizens in excessive amounts, and if so, then they will want to know how to store bread in the refrigerator and is it worth it at all?

How much and how to store bread in the refrigerator?

Why should you store bread in the refrigerator?

First of all, you need to understand that you need to store bread in the refrigerator only if you bought it in excess. In general, experts say that now it makes no sense to collect provisions for 10 years in advance, including bread. Compare your feelings: which bread is better - stale or fresh, and how quickly one and the other disappear from the kitchen? But let's leave the amount of food on the conscience of people. Let's talk about whether bread is stored in the refrigerator? Of course, yes. But they follow some rules.

1. Bread cannot be put in the refrigerator just like that. It must be put in plastic bag with holes, in a paper bag, wrapped in cloth (choose one of the methods). At the same time, the last two materials (paper and fabric) are preferable to polyethylene, because they protect the bread from the smells of other products.

2. Period and method of storage. Directly in the refrigerator, bread can lie for three weeks before it spoils. In the freezer - a month.

3. Do not put bread in the refrigerator that has already become moldy. The fungus will eat other foods as well.

Can you store bread in the refrigerator? Why is it better to store bread in a bread box?

With a refrigerator, it’s understandable, but it turns into a breadbasket only when necessary. How to choose the right storage for bread? Here are the simple rules:

1. The bread box must be made of steel. The metal keeps the bread warm and does not let in extraneous odors. Of course, there are both plastic and wooden bread bins, but they lose to their steel comrades: plastic wears out quickly, and wood quickly becomes damp.

2. A good bread box is always black and White bread separated. Joint storage of black and white shortens the life of white bread. Here is such wisdom. If a person has already made a mistake and bought an ordinary bread box, then a plastic bag with holes will help out, in which each loaf must be put.

3. How to properly care for the bread box. There is also nothing complicated here: remove crumbs from it every day. It is important to keep the breadbasket clean and wash it once a week.

In other words, store the bread where you want, but keep it clean and tidy.

Recently, many complain about the quality of bread: they say that it quickly deteriorates, becomes moldy. It is possible that the recipe is not always followed when baking bread. But are producers to blame for the fact that consumers give part of the bread to livestock or throw it away?

If you look back several decades ago, you can see the following pattern: the bread could dry out after a few days, but not “bloom”, becoming covered with mold. Because there were no… plastic bags!

Bread was stored in the old fashioned way - in cloth bags or wrapped in paper. And some housewives put it in an ordinary pan! After all, this is how our ancestors kept bread. And they knew a lot about it.

But then convenient plastic bags appeared, which forced out paper packaging, and the bread safely moved into them.

Meanwhile, bread is a living product. He continues to "breathe" even after baking, highlighting carbon dioxide, thanks to the yeast that is involved in its production.

Bread placed in polyethylene simply suffocates. A fungus develops in it, mold appears, and the housewives begin to blame manufacturers for dishonesty.

But how then to store bread so that it remains fresh for several days? You need to think about this even in the store. In some stores, sellers, having accepted bread from suppliers, immediately pack it in plastic bags, apparently in order not to return dried products, as well as to speed up the process of serving customers. Thus, they are doing a disservice, because bread most often comes to store shelves almost from the oven - crispy and hot, and if it has already cooled down on the outside, it is still warm inside. When such bread is placed in a film bag, condensate accumulates on its inner walls, which becomes the culprit of product spoilage.

But then what about the bread that is sold immediately in sealed packages?

The fact is that factory packaging is not made of polyethylene, but of cellophane. And they are not completely sealed. If you look closely at them, you can see a lot of small holes, thanks to which the “breathing” of the bread occurs, it does not deteriorate or become stale.

There is only one conclusion: bread should not be stored in polyethylene packaging.

How to store bread in a bread box

Many housewives resort to this method of storing bread. Fortunately, in stores now you can buy a bread box from any material, given its color, shape, as well as your financial capabilities.

• The best bread bins are those made of wood.
• Before putting the bread in the bread box, it must be cooled down.
• To prevent the bread from drying out due to the air entering it, it is advisable to wrap the loaf in paper or cotton cloth.
• It is impossible to store white bread and rye (bran) bread in the bread box, as the smells will mix and this will affect the quality of the bread.
• It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness in the breadbasket: remove the crumbs in time, ventilate it. If an unpleasant smell appears, the bread box is wiped with a cloth dipped in vinegar, and then dried well. Helps to fight bad smell lemon.

Instead of a bread box, you can use a stainless steel pan. But in this case, the container should not be used for cooking or storing other products.

How else can you store bread?

• Bread is stored in paper bags. The cooled bread is placed in a bag and cleaned in cool place where there is no light, but you need to have enough fresh air there.

  In such a package, the bread does not go stale for several days and does not suffocate. Instead of a paper bag, you can wrap the loaf in clean paper.

• Linen or canvas fabric – good packing for bread.

  The loaf is wrapped in several layers of fabric and stored in a cool, dry place, such as a pantry. But in this case, there should not be any smelling substances, because bread easily absorbs all smells.

How to store bread in the refrigerator

Many housewives, having suffered from the constant spoilage of bread, store it in the refrigerator, packing it in a paper or plastic bag. This way of storage is quite justified. It is especially relevant in areas with a hot climate, where the only cool place is the refrigerator.

Bread doesn't really spoil. But you need to keep in mind that, placed in the refrigerator, it begins to actively evaporate moisture and after 2-3 days it becomes dense and tight. But it doesn't sting.

Another place where housewives keep bread is freezer. Its convenience was appreciated by those who eat little bread, for example, they save their figure. Then proceed as follows:

• The bun is cut into thin slices.
• Then they are individually packaged in plastic bags and hermetically sealed.
• Removed to the freezer.
• Remove the bread from the freezer as needed and defrost at room temperature. To return the bread fresh look, it is placed in an oven heated to 150 °, and kept for no more than five minutes. IN microwave oven it is better not to heat such bread, as it becomes wet and tasteless.

Note to the owner

• To keep the bread soft longer, they put a sliced ​​\u200b\u200bin bread with it raw potato or an apple.
• Bread begins to be cut not from the edge, but from the middle. That is, cut the loaf in half, cut off a slice, and then tightly connect the remaining halves.
• Bread baked at home is not packaged until it has cooled completely.
• Stale bread can be refreshed by sprinkling it with water and placing it in a preheated oven for 1-3 minutes. But after cooling, such bread will become completely stale.
• Helps restore softness to bread steam bath. Dried bread is placed in a colander, which is placed on a pot of boiling water. From above it is covered with a lid. After a few minutes, the bread will become soft.

But in order not to suffer with the search for a place where bread is best stored, it must be bought in moderation. Fortunately, not a hungry year!

Today, one can often hear complaints that fresh bread bought and put in the refrigerator a few days ago not only managed to dry out, but also became moldy. It will not be an exaggeration to say that every person at least once in his life wondered whether it is possible to store bread in the refrigerator.

And in a broader sense - how to properly store bread at home so that it does not get stale or moldy. But, if you think about it, how much do we know about why bread gets stale and spoils?

Why spoils quickly

Many people are accustomed to storing bread in a bread box at room temperature. T temperature, wrapping it in a plastic bag for better preservation. And, having discovered mold on it a few days later, they throw it away, scolding the manufacturers with might and main for a low-quality product.

And you have to blame yourself first of all. Modern people have forgotten that bread is alive! Due to the yeast involved in its production, it “breathes” on the first day after baking, releasing carbon dioxide. Wrapped up like in a spacesuit, in an impenetrable plastic bag, he simply suffocates from an excess of this gas.

Many people have not come up with anything better than storing bread in the refrigerator. A person buys fresh bread, still warm, brings it home and sends it to the refrigerator for storage, sincerely hoping that this way it will keep fresh longer.

In fact, this is a real murder. The moisture content of freshly baked bread is about 50%. Over time, moisture evaporates from it, the humidity decreases, and it begins to dry, i.e. stale.

The slower the evaporation of moisture, the longer our bread stays fresh.

The temperature inside a working refrigerator is from 0 to 5 degrees, depending on the department. At this temperature, freshly placed in the refrigerator bakery products quickly cool, rapidly lose moisture and become stale. And if the loaves placed in the refrigerator for “better preservation” are also wrapped in polyethylene, then the moisture evaporating from them settles on the walls inside the package, provoking the appearance and rapid development of mold. That's why you shouldn't store bread in the refrigerator.

It's a paradox, but another reason why bread spoils quickly is its current rich assortment. More precisely, not the assortment itself, but our habit of buying several types of bread and keeping them in one place. But each of these species has its own, special, microflora. And if loaves of different varieties are stored together, then often when such microflora come into contact, the microorganisms contained in them begin to wage real hostilities among themselves, as a result of which an unpleasant odor appears and the loaves quickly deteriorate. Particularly picky in this regard Rye bread- it must be stored separately.

"Grandma's" secrets of storage

So where to store bread so that it stays soft and tasty longer? Since ancient times, in Rus', in peasant families, housewives baked pastries so that the family would have enough for a whole week, and without any problems they kept it until the next baking. And it's not just about the quality of home baking, but also about the secrets of caring for freshly baked bread. The first thing the hostess did when she took out a freshly baked homebaked bread from the oven - she covered it with a piece of homespun cloth and kept it there until it cooled completely.

Then the cooled loaves were transferred to a canvas or linen bag for permanent storage. These simple manipulations allowed home baking stay fresh for a long time: she could “breathe” freely, but at the same time she lost moisture minimally.

And today this method of storing bread is considered one of the best. Instead of relatively expensive linen, the loaves can be wrapped in clean cotton towels. The only thing to remember is that you cannot use powders with flavors to wash such towels, otherwise the smell emanating from them will be transferred to the bread.

Another old but effective method storage - an ordinary clean pan with tight lid. The loaf placed in it remains soft and fresh for 3-4 days, but subject to the obligatory condition: it is strictly forbidden to cook food in this pan or use it for other household needs.

But if you put a ripe apple (preferably "Antonovka") in such a pan, the loaf placed in it will become even more fragrant and fragrant.

The best way to slow down the staleness of bread is to correct cutting. The loaf cannot be cut on the side - so it quickly loses moisture and becomes stale. It is better to cut it in the middle and cut off right amount pieces, trying to maintain the symmetry of the remaining parts as much as possible, and after cutting, tightly press the remaining pieces to each other.

Modern storage methods

The age-old question: how to properly store bread at home so that it does not spoil and remains fresh - in modern life it has been enriched with new answers. In many modern houses and apartments, special bread bins are an invariable attribute of the kitchen interior. Without any complicated tricks, they help housewives store bread in the kitchen at room temperature.

But even with such storage there are some nuances, and the first one is in which bread box it is better to store bread. Today on sale you can see plastic, stainless steel and wood bread bins, but doctors and nutritionists are unanimous in their opinion that it is better to choose wooden bread bins for storing bread loaves.

The second nuance is to properly organize the storage itself. First of all, the breadbasket should be clean - crumbs and stale pieces of bread should not be in it. To ensure a constant level of humidity in the bread box and pleasant aroma, you can put a slice of apple or lemon in it.

For better preservation, it is better to pack the rolls placed in the bread box in paper bags. You can safely put bread in it in its original packaging - bakeries pack rolls not in polyethylene, but in cellophane film, additionally providing it with many small holes so that the rolls do not suffocate in it. But please note that this package is for disposable, and it is not recommended to reuse it for storage.

Another place where you can often see stored loaves is freezers refrigerators. People's ingenuity quickly realized that if the refrigerator itself is not suitable for storage, then you can store bread in it in the freezer.

This is done as follows: first, the loaf is cut into thin pieces, then these pieces are packed in several small bags, sealed tightly and sent to the freezer. Polyethylene can also be used for packaging, pieces of a loaf will still freeze faster than mold will appear on them. Then, as needed, they are taken out of the freezer and left to freeze at room temperature.

To speed up the defrosting process and return freshness and softness to the loaf, you can place the removed pieces for several (3-5) minutes in an electric oven preheated to 150º. But the microwave is completely unsuitable for these purposes: the loaf heated in it quickly gets wet and becomes completely tasteless.

In this way, bread can be stored for several months. The only thing to mention: thawed after freezing, further storage he is no longer eligible.

Which of the following ways is better to keep bread: in the refrigerator, bread box, pan or in a canvas bag? All of them are good in their own way, if done correctly. But the best way eat delicious and soft bread - buy or bake it as needed, and not stock up for the future for a week.