The bread itself should never be stored directly in a plastic bag. If stored properly bread should stay fresh for about 3 days ( if it is a highly hydrated sourdough bread you could keep it fresh for about 4-5 days ).
Resealable plastic bag: A resealable plastic bag seals in moisture and locks out air, keeping your bread soft. If you're using this method, store the bread at room temperature, but monitor the bag for excess moisture that can lead to mold.
While Ziploc bags can keep foods fresher longer, they cannot stop mold from forming because mold spores are present on food before it is placed inside the bag.
Storing your bread in plastic means that the crust gets spongy and the bread goes mouldy quickly. Storing it in paper, means it turns into one big crouton! Stored in a linen bread bag, the bread stays fresh for up to 5 days!
It starts to go mouldy after just three-to-seven days at room temperature, though, meaning it has a short shelf-life. To increase that life, sealing stored bread and using a fridge when needed can help prevent mould from taking over the loaf so quickly.
Storing your bread on the countertop in a plastic bag (or well-sealed plastic wrap) will help keep it from going stale, but be warned: the crust will suffer and grow mold due to trapped moisture. Toasting the bread (if it's too soft but not yet moldy, of course) will bring some of the crust's crunchy texture back.
Sourdough bread has a longer shelf life than brewer's yeast bread. It delays starch retrogradation and the staling of bread. This is because sourdough is more acidic and less prone to develop degenerative bacteria and moulds.
Bread. Bread will generally become stale past its expiration date, but it's still safe to eat. If it's moldy, toss it out.
According to Migoya, sourdough bread remains perfectly fine even six days after coming out of the oven. Fat also keeps bread from staling too quickly—the fattier the bread, the slower its decay. Breads like focaccia, brioche, or panettone, made with large amounts of oil and butter, tend to have a longer shelf life.
Store in paper, never plastic
If you plan on devouring it right away, then keeping it in a paper bag on the counter is the move. While storing in plastic seems like the right idea, this actually encourages mold growth, resulting in the bread going bad much faster.
"But if you take a long time to consume your bread, [if your kitchen] is warm and humid, and especially if the bread is homemade, it is worth refrigerating to prevent mold growth," she adds.
You should keep your bread far away from the stove, the top of the fridge, or any area that's near sources of heat. Instead, your best bet it to keep it in a dark, cool section of your kitchen counter or your pantry.
Experts say that the best method is to store fresh-baked bread in something breathable—a paper sack, a ceramic bread box, or cotton or linen bags—so that the crust remains hard and the inside soft.
*Never keep your bread in the fridge. The starch molecules in bread recrystallize very quickly at cool temperatures, and cause the bread to stale much faster when refrigerated. *Shop-bought loaves should be kept in an air-tight plastic bag at room temperature rather than in the fridge.
Most likely, you'll be okay.” However, in certain cases, the mold found on spoiled food could be dangerous, so if you suddenly develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, an elevated temperature or diarrhea, you should immediately seek medical help.
Shelf life extenders using natural occurring enzymes reduce the starch in bread from crystallizing.
Commercially baked breads and rolls can be stored at room temperature for 2 to 4 days or 7 to 14 days in the refrigerator. Bread products retain their quality when stored in the freezer for 3 months. Any breads containing meat or hard cooked eggs must be refrigerated within 2 hours.
Wrapping bread and storing it at room temperature will help it retain moisture for a few days. But what if you can't finish the whole loaf in that amount of time? Freezing is the answer. The takeaway: If you're storing bread longer than a few days, it's best to keep it in the freezer.
You can keep your fresh loaf in a bread box for a few days. With its dark and dry interior, a bread box helps maintain a decent balance of moisture to keep the inside of the bread soft and its exterior crusty. Make sure there is plenty of room inside for good air circulation.
Wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap it again in foil or freezer paper. Label with the date and freeze for up to six months. Tip: Slice your bread before you freeze it. That way, you won't have to thaw and refreeze the entire loaf every time you want a slice or two.
According to Baker, it isn't advisable to store bread in the refrigerator. Although it would still be perfectly healthy to eat, she cautions that it will become a lot less palatable because the cold temperatures of the fridge will cause the starch in your bread to recrystallize and lose moisture.