April 29, 2010 - 8:50am
Keeping sourdough bread from drying out.
Lately I've been going on a baking spree and making sourdough bread. However, the problem arises that one can only eat so much in a day. So with that, what/how do you guys prevent the bread from drying out when transitioning from one day to the next?
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I slice my bread first and place parchment or freezer paper between the slices, then I put the slices in a freezer bag and place in my freezer. When I want to eat bread, I take a slice, put in toaster. You can regulate how dark (or not). Works for me! Bread lasts for weeks this way.
Using bakers percentages in the formulation of the bread makes it easy for me to adjust the amount of bread I bake at any given time so I'm not making more than my wife and I can consume in about two days. From the first day to the next I simply wrap my cooled loaf in heavy paper bag and leave it at room temperature. If I'm going to keep it longer I'll wrap it in a heavy plastic bag and keep it at room temperature. After the third day, it's toast, strata, dried bread crumbs.
Looks like you think that two days is the max where your soudough bread is at it's best taste. Am I right?
Pretty close. Taste doesn't deteriorate as quickly as texture so the two day "limit" in my kitchen focuses more on the textural aspect.
It's definitely the texture that I notice go down south after about 2, MAAAYYYBBBEEE 3 days that drives me a little nuts. The flavour is always incredible no matter how old the bread is. But it's just a major bummer when I have to throw out the last half of the second loaf that would have other wise been fine to eat.
Anywho, thanks a lot for the help. If you guys have more ideas or want to keep discussing, feel free. :D
One of the added benefits of sourdough is its keeping properties for bread. I have no freshness problems with a 1.5 lb loaf of pain au levain for up to 4 days after baking. (And if you are making larger loaves - 3 - 4 lb, they should last even longer).
I do not wrap sourdough in plastic (with the exception of ryes), but simply put the bread, cut side down, on my counter. (If you're worried about dust, then just slip a paper bag over it.
But unless you are making crust-intensive sourdough breads (baguettes, ciabatta, etc), then a normal boule or batard should easily last the better part of a week with no pampering.
Larry
If a loaf is for home consumption as soon as it is cool I cut it in half and put one piece in a plastic bag with a twist tie. Press out the air and put that bag into a freezer ziploc bag and into the freezer. I add a piece of masking tape with the date and the flour type to the inner bag so that I use them in order. The other half is placed cut side down on the cutting board and covered with a teatowel. If the loaf was frozen I lay it on the inner bag and as the loaf is sliced I cover the cut end with the plastic and then the towel. This keeps the bread soft for several days and when it gets too dry I toast it. A.