Storing bread and rolls

[Hostess]

Where do you store your loaves of bread and hamburger buns? I have a bread keeper that stays in the pantry, but we rarely use an entire loaf of bread before it goes stale or moldy. I have heard conflicting advice about storing bread in a refrigerator. Curious to know what others do.

[mrswaz]

I store mine in a cupboard because we go through them fast enough. But my brother and his wife store their bread in the freezer. When they need bread for sandwiches, they pull the slices out that they need frozen, and let sit on a plate for maybe five minutes. The bread thaws, tastes as good as fresh, and they never have waste.

[HealthyinMN]

But my brother and his wife store their bread in the freezer. When they need bread for sandwiches, they pull the slices out that they need frozen, and let sit on a plate for maybe five minutes. The bread thaws, tastes as good as fresh, and they never have waste.

This is what we do. Works well for most types - homemade, store bought, loaves, rolls or whatever.

[psims2000]

Always store bread in Refrigerator here. Otherwise, it is moldy in no time.

[Anne]

I usually freeze what I won't use in the couple days. If we don't use it in a couple days I either cube or grate it, dry, and use later for stuffing, soup thickner, etc.

[ctr264]

But my brother and his wife store their bread in the freezer. When they need bread for sandwiches, they pull the slices out that they need frozen, and let sit on a plate for maybe five minutes. The bread thaws, tastes as good as fresh, and they never have waste.

That's what we do, otherwise our bread would go stale before we could finish it. For homemade bread, I slice it first before freezing, unless I'm planing to use a whole loaf at a meal. If I'm making toast, a grilled cheese, or a panini, I don't bother thawing out the bread first.

[peachesncream]

As soon as I get home from the grocery, I split up any loaves of bread, and freeze half.

The part that doesn't go into the freezer goes into the bread box (a stainless steel one, I think from Container Store).

I've tried keeping bread in the refrigerator, but it seems to go stale faster (I don't know why).

[scout1222]

I grew up having refrigerated bread, and never even knew people would do otherwise for the longest time. I'm not sure what I thought the phrase "bigger than a breadbox" meant! :p

Anyway, old habits die hard, especially if I'm making bread myself that doesn't have preservatives. I don't have a lot of bread on hand, and what I do keep we usually use up before it would get stale. However, as a kid we'd buy extra loaves from time to time and freeze them. When one loaf was running low, we'd pull it out and put it in the fridge to start thawing. Seemed to work fine for us.

[LakeMartinGal]

I keep store-bought bread in a cupboard, and it seems to last a while (I had some of those bagel thins in there for 6 months, and they never molded.:eek:

When I make bread, I freeze part, and thaw it as needed, like most of you.:)

[Meganator]

We can't leave bread out or it will get moldy in no time. We buy the two-loaf pack at Costco and store it in the refrigerator - most of the time we toast it, even for sandwiches, anyway. But I think I am going to try the freezer method.

We also sometimes buy the pack of 6 or 8 "mini-baguettes" from Costco (they aren't narrow like baguettes, but I think that's what they call them). I wrap those up in plastic wrap and foil and freeze them; when we want one I let it sit for about 15 min then warm it in the toaster oven. They are a good size for 2 people.

[ccooney]

Ours gets stored in the fridge.
It doesn't stay as soft as storing it in a cabinet or bread-box, but it doesn't mold as quickly.
My Mom's trick for getting the right texture back, especially for rolls:
Put them in a covered, oven-safe container (or wrap them with aluminum foil) and heat in a 200F oven for 10-15 minutes. Toss an ice cube in the bottom of the oven and uncover the rolls for the last minute or so, to make them a bit crusty.

[TieKitty]

I freeze our bread, rolls, tortillas. It's easy to thaw it out as needed. With just the 2 of us we would have a lot of waste otherwise.

[Luckyfeather]

I store bread, buns, etc., in my microwave. It's out of the way and doesn't take up room in a pantry or cabinet. When I need the microwave, it's no big deal to move the bread to the countertop for that brief amount of time.

[LakeMartinGal]

My friend keeps hers in the oven! She's only had one disaster when she preheated the oven without taking the bread/rolls out.;)

[Cafe Latte]

I haven't seen mold on bread in years. I store mine in the cupboard, but I do put some in the freezer if it gets close to the expiry date. I only use the freezer bread for toast, never sandwiches. I just have a thing about using only fresh bread for sandwiches.