Welcome back to The Grown-Up Kitchen, a segment of Skillet devoted to answering basic kitchen questions.
Not every voting-age adult is comfortable slingin steaks or even heating their frozen pizza.
(My stepfather insists hes never been able to microwave popcorn without burning it.)
This installment covers the simple, but important, issue of storing bread.
I think everyone has a bread personality, and knowing yours can help you store bread more effectively.
You have to consider how frequently you carve a slice.
Are you a daily bread eater, weekender, or do you get the occasional hankering?
A temperature range of 60-80F doesnt inhibit fungal growth.
Households of two or more everyday bread eaters will likely have no problem with countertop storage.
If youre on the fence, read on.
The spores that love bread are not interested in growing under those 35-40F conditions, humid or not.
(This is not the case with whole frozen loaves.)
Long-term storage can lead to moisture loss, stale bread, and inferior flavor.
Store it in the freezer
Dont fancy yourself a carb-lover, but occasionally need a tortilla?
Keep your breads in the freezer.
Seriously, its like the bread was born again.
Its one of the reasons the frozen food aisle is filled with bread-based products, they reheat phenomenally.
In fact, yoursupermarket bakery is probably freezing bread too.
The only annoying thing is that when you want a slice, itll be frozen.
That makes cutting it an issue.
The best way to handle this problem is to put the work inbeforeyou freeze it.Slice the loaf first.
Split the English muffins, bagels, biscuits, and rolls.
When the carb craving hits, grab a couple pieces.
Toast them as usual with an added minute or two.
Enjoy your new, grown-up way of storing bread.
Youll waste fewer loaves, save some money, and always have fresh bread when you want it.
