TT: Freeze bread for longer shelf life

extend the shelf life

extend the shelf life

I grew up in a household where bread was stored in the freezer to keep it fresh.  Bread was put out for every meal along with some butter.  Sometimes it was just a few slices of white sandwich bread, but it was out there because you had to have bread with every meal.  That was how my parents rolled.  And because of that we had a lot of bread, so to keep it from going bad it was stored in the freezer.

It never occurred to me that other people didn’t do this as well until I went to college and then the looks of “that’s so weird” were thrown my way.  I kept the fact that we also stored potato chips in the freezer as well to myself.  Because if bread in the freezer is weird then potato chips in the freezer must be some sort of catastrophe.  However, I will tell you that a cold sour cream and onion chip is divine, especially in the summer.  But we’re talking about bread here so I’ll stick with that.

When Scott and I moved in together, I kept the bread-in-the-freezer tradition going.  I like having bread in the house for whenever, but we don’t eat enough bread to justify leaving it out on the counter.  I knew it would spoil quickly and I’m not trying to toss out some perfectly good food.  Interestingly enough, Scott never gave me the stink eye for bread in the freezer but then he doesn’t give the stink eye about much really.

And bread stored in the freezer is what I’ve done the entire time we’ve lived together.  It’s the perfect solution for having bread on hand and keeping it fresh.  I can just pull out what I need from the freezer, maybe just a slice or four.  I don’t have to pull out the whole loaf and allow it to thaw, only what I need.  Sometimes I have to give it a quick nuke (10-15 seconds) before using it, but that’s seriously not a big deal at all.  Using this method allows me to purchase bread in bulk when it’s on sale or if we have a coupon.  On the occasion that I buy an unsliced loaf of bread, I’ll slice it up first and then stick it in a freezer bag and in the freezer it goes.

I do this with pizza dough as well.  When I’m at Whole Foods, I sometimes will buy several of their ready made doughs and just stick them in the freezer when I get home.  Then I have dough whenever I need it. :D

If this isn’t something you currently do, give it a try and see if it helps extend the shelf life of your bread.

11 thoughts on “TT: Freeze bread for longer shelf life

  1. My mom always had bread in the freezer and I do it too. We had bread at every meal growing up but I am not a big bread eater -wasn’t then still not. It does keep it fresh!

  2. I always put bread in the freezer. Same with you – it takes me too long to eat it and then it goes yucky. Also I find even if it’s not moldy it loses it’s freshness after a couple of days on the counter. It takes no time at all to thaw. The only problem is sometimes it doesn’t separate to well. LOL

  3. I think I wrote a piece about this on Cheap Eats early on. In grade school, as a sort of demonstrative exercise, we were required to write down the exact step by step instructions for making a sandwich. Then they would read everyone’s instructions out loud in front of the class – often with much hilarity. Mine contained the first step – “Take bread out of freezer”. I could never understand why that step was derided with so many laughs. At that time, I thought everyone kept bread in the freezer. I tried to explain (as a 6th grader) how keeping bread in the freezer retards spoilage, especially in warm SoCal, but the teacher actually laughed and said I was crazy. Maybe she was a baker…

  4. I have done bread in the freezer when I have to, but I honestly don’t think it tastes nearly the same. It used to mold like crazy in Hawaii but it’s much better in Seattle, esp. during the colder months.

  5. When I was growing up, my parent had a bread box that we kept bread in. I always thought that was normal, then when I moved in with my husband, he stored it in the frige, which I thought was weird. I was like, don’t you have a bread box? And he did not! So now, 15 years later, I don’t do the bread box, but we still keep it in the fridge, never on the counter! I will freeze English Muffins, because I am the only one who eats those.

    Thanks for sharing that story!

  6. I too keep my bread in the freezer. Living on my own I wouldn’t eat a whole loaf in a week. I also buy a pack of pittas, wraps and baps and freeze them all and just get one when I want one. I couldn’t live without my freezer.

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