July 8, 2015 - 11:49am
Cold Bread
I am looking for a bread recipe that tastes good after refrigeration, without reheating.
(I know it seems like an impossibility!)
Should I be looking for an enriched bread? I have tried lean breads but they all come out of the refrigerator hard and stale. I am looking for something that would taste good even cold.
Any ideas?
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fridge - It just makes it stale faster. I cut mine in quarters and freeze 3 of them. That way my SD bread is always as fresh as it was made after 1 or two days in the counter, It is OK to store high % rye breads in the fridge but I freeze them too,
Happy baking
Dabrownman is right about lean breads, however I have no problem with enriched breads, i.e. made with milk instead of water and butter (about 3%). I'll send you my recipe, if you wish, sourdough or yeast.
Ford
Hi Ford,
I would love to get your recipe!
We make a lot of sandwiches with goat cheese, fresh herbs, and vegetables for lunch but because the time between making and eating them is so long, we put them in the refrigerator and by the time we eat them, the bread is hard and stale. (The goat cheese helps the vegetables not to get the bread soggy, so that's not a problem.) I've been trying to correct for refrigeration but not sure what would help.
Thanks,
-Genesis
I'm sending it to your email.
Ford
Emily Buehler's book bread science speaks about bread storage. Among other things she confirms what dabrownman says above, that bread stales more quickly in the refridgerator than on the counter and that at least one process, starch retrogradation, which is an aspect of staling, is slowed by freezing bread. Water loss is also an aspect of staling. This loss, which occurs during freezing, can be slowed by wrapping a bread to be frozen in an airtight manner.
I, too, recommend slicing bread, then storing the slices in a freezer bag to be thawed and/or toasted before eating. In my experience, a thawed loaf or slice can be refrozen if/when one changes one's mind about eating it. The sooner the better on that.
So don't store your bread in the fridge.