Try to store bread in a cool and dry area of your kitchen. If not out on the counter, then in a cabinet or a deep drawer."
To save bread so it stays fresh longer, you can store it in plastic wrap, a reusable zip-top plastic bag, or a bread box. Avoid storing bread in damp, airy locations, which can speed up molding. If you're not going to eat the loaf in two or three days, the best option is to freeze it for later.
*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.
Where Is the Best Place to Store Bread? It turns out breadboxes aren't such a bad idea. Baker says the best place to store bread is at room temperature. "Homemade bread stored at room temperature will have the best quality if used within three to five days," she says.
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.
The best way to store bread is at room temperature in a dark, dry, cool location such as a pantry, drawer, or bread box. We also recommend keeping our bread sealed in its original packaging, as this will help retain its moisture.
Yes, you can refrigerate bread to stop mold from forming. However, we don't recommend this option because it almost always guarantees stale bread, and reviving stale bread is never a good thing. On the other hand, putting bread inside the freezer is a better choice than refrigerated bread.
Bread should be stored in an air-tight container, but still have some room to breath. Any kind of tin or bread box will work, as long as the lid fits tightly enough to keep air out.
USE A BREAD BOX
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.
A bread box is an ideal solution for storing bread. It allows the optimal conditions for keeping your loaf fresh: a dark and dry environment, with little air penetration that keeps just the right amount of humidity inside it and prevents your bread from growing mold.
"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. Homemade bread does not contain the preservatives that help keep it from spoiling that most store-bought breads have.
According to “sell by” dates, bread is good for three to five days after opening, but it can actually be consumed much longer after that as long as there is no mold growth. You can usually see fuzzy, green spots on the surface of bread, so it's easy to tell when it's time to toss.
One of the best ways to store bread is to keep it in a bread bin. Those with a tight seal will help to keep your loaves fresher for longer. It should be kept in a cool place, but avoid keeping it in the fridge. Bread freezes well whole or in slices.
Both options keep the bread from going stale. Wrap homemade or fresh, store-bought bread in tin foil and leave it on the counter overnight. Alternatively, stick it in a breadbox for the night. A breadbox provides the perfect amount of ventilation so that your bread maintains its moisture as well as its crispy crust.
Keep store bought bread in its original packaging, tightly closed with a tie. If you've made a loaf of fresh bread, or picked up a loaf of artisanal bread, wrap it securely in plastic wrap, then wrap the loaf in a clean tea towel to keep it at its best.
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.
Best practice is to store eggs in the fridge; that way the temperature is always at a constant and your eggs will be fresher!
While toasting may kill some of the mold spores on the surface of the bread, it may not be enough to kill all of them, significantly, if the bread is heavily contaminated with mold.
Brown Paper Bag
A simple brown paper bag will keep bread from molding. Many bakeries sell their bread in brown paper for this very reason. This method works really well for hard-crusted, rustic breads and will keep bread fresh for up to two days. Just keep the bag tightly closed and store out of direct sunlight.
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.
Like a bread box, a bread drawer helps maintain a dark, dry environment for preserving baked goods. But unlike a bread box, which can add a dash of aesthetic pop to a counter, the design benefits of a bread drawer are more practical and subtle.
Paper bags, kitchen towels, and plastic bags
Plain paper bags and kitchen towels also work very well to keep the bread from drying excessively. And while many sources say never to use a plastic bag, sometimes it might be necessary, especially if your climate demands it.
Bread might go stale ASAP when it's refrigerated, but freezing it is actually one of the best ways to extend its shelf life. Freezing your bread will prevent mold growth and stop staleness in its tracks.