Does bread belong in the fridge?
July 22nd, 2014
Debates over the “right” way to use the refrigerator have raged for generations, across kitchens, dinner party tables, backyard barbies and in recent years, the internet.
We’ve debated whether or not chocolate, eggs, bananas and tomato sauce belong in the fridge… and today we’ll do it again.
Should you store bread in the fridge?
Whether it’s the store-bought, mass-produced loaves from the supermarket, artisanal loaves from your local bakery, or even your own home-made loaves straight out of the oven or bread maker, there are cases for and against storing your bread in your refrigerator.
Here are three arguments:
1. No, bread does NOT belong in the fridge!
The reason we put things in the fridge is to preserve them and keep them fresh. By cooling down our food, we deactivate the bacteria that cause spoilage, allowing our food to stay palatable for longer.
528L Samsung 3 Door Fridge SRF527DSLS
Unfortunately, bread doesn’t only spoil and go mouldy like other foods – it also goes stale.
Without getting too deeply into the science of it all (The Kitchn has a nice summary if you’re interested), staling is caused by a chemical process called “retrogradation”, resulting in dry, chewy bread that’s really not nice to eat (unless you’re making croutons).
In the cool, low-humidity conditions of a fridge, the staling process actually ACCELERATES, meaning your loaf’s life expectancy may actually be shorter inside the fridge than outside.
If stale bread is not your thing, you may be better off storing your loaves out on the kitchen counter, in a cupboard, or in a special breadbox or breadbin.
2. Yes, bread DOES belong in the fridge!
Many internet articles will tell you that bread is best stored at “room temperature”.
Unfortunately, here in Australia, “room temperature” can be anything but stable, depending on the season. And don’t get me started on the humidity levels…
In an anecdotal and entirely unscientific example, I’ve bought bread in the morning, left it out on a shady corner of the kitchen bench, and by the end of the day it was already growing spots of mould.
In the midst of summer and/or when you’re living in the tropics, and you don’t have an air conditioner or dehumidifier handy, the fridge may be a safer spot for your bread, at least when it comes to avoiding mould and mildew.
Oh, and it should be obvious, but if your bread came in a plastic bag or similar wrapping, keep it in there! This helps to limit the loaf’s contact with bacteria, so it can stay that little bit fresher.
3. Bread belongs in the freezer – an acceptable compromise?
Whether you’re storing bread in the fridge or in the cupboard, it won’t last for long. This is especially true for preservative-free home-made breads – if you’re not eating these straight away, you’ll need to sort out an effective storage solution.
While the cool and dry conditions of a fridge delay food spoilage, and in doing so encourage staling in breads, the icy conditions of a freezer completely halts biological processes altogether, resulting in food that’s just as fresh coming out as it was going in.
This makes the freezer an excellent place to store your bread for longer-term storage. If you’ve got a large 3 or 4 door fridge, its freezer should have enough space to keep a loaf or two in reserve for when you really need it, in addition to your other frozen goods.
If you’ve got a chest freezer or an upright freezer, you can buy bread in bulk and keep plenty of slices standing by.
The tricky thing about using this technique is that you need to defrost the bread before you can eat it, which can be a real problem when you’ve got a bunch of sandwiches to make in a short amount of time and you’ve just used up your last fresh slice.
The simplest way to defrost a loaf is to unwrap it and place it in the oven on a low setting (a special defrost setting, if your oven has one) for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the loaf to make sure that it thaws rather than burns.
Morphy Richards Toaster 220002
The other is to use a toaster with a frozen bread setting. Depending on your model, this may either defrost your slices for use in sandwiches, or toast them right up to their proper breakfast consistency, without burning the bread or leaving icy chunks in place.
In conclusion
To summarise, here are the facts:
- Storing bread INSIDE a fridge will keep it from going mouldy, but may make it go stale faster.
- Storing bread OUTSIDE the fridge may keep it from going stale for longer, but the loaf remains at risk of growing mould and mildew.
- Storing bread in the FREEZER prevents spoilage altogether, but the bread requires careful defrosting before eating.
So what do YOU prefer?
Share your opinion, and if you have any fridge-related questions, contact the Appliances Online team!
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