OT: Bread Bins....Opinions

Freezer.

Slice. Bag. Freeze. Help yourself to slices as and when needed. Very much more acceptable if toasted!

The idea of eating eight-day-old bread is horrible.

Just because it doesn't have a green coat doesn't mean it isn't infested with fungus. I don't believe that the fungus that makes the mould is bakers yeast in any form. I have always felt that it is dampness and warmth that encourage mould - though you can get handsome crops on bread kept in a plastic bag in a refrigerator. After all, the very dry breads (e.g. various crispbreads and rolls) keep fine for long periods while they stay dry.

For maximum life - like near any foodstuff - keep it in the fridge.

Apart from the obvious signs, there's rope which is almost always present, not visible in the early stages and not slowed by refrigeration, but is inhibited by acidity, so although your bread lasts for so long it could have rope in it. Harmless until the bread starts to go yellowish and sticky, SFAIK.

Yeasts don't photo synthesise so light is not relevant. Broadly they take sugars and convert them to alcohol and CO2.

They do better in the warm than the cold.

As with most food storeage wrapped in the cool and dark. Dark to inhibit moulds that do like/need light. Supermarket bread we keep in the fridge, bread maker bread doesn't last long enough to warrant anything but being wrapped to stop it drying out and kept on the work surface.

With your very low consumption the suggestion of individually bagging portions and freezing is a good one.

That's a bit short. Are you sure it's not being stored in a warm place? I found similarly short lived bread until I realised I was storing it in a cupboard over the fridge, which picked up convected warmth from the back of the fridge.

If I haven't used a bought loaf within 2-3 days, I store it in the fridge from that point on. The fresh texture is already gone, but it's still fine for many puposes, particularly toasting as you say. It will usually keep for a week more. I usually only buy bread in the first place if it's reduced on the sell-buy date. Mostly, I make all my own bread, and that does keep much longer.

I think you're correct. Yeast is killed by the baking.

Yes, but it takes much longer to go off in the fridge.

In my school biology lessons, we did the one where you leave a fresh slice of bread under a bell jar for weeks, watching all the various funguses taking over one after the other, until you eventually have a puddle of black slime. When the experiment was being dismantled at this stage, not having changed any further for some weeks, someone asked the teacher what would happen if you eat it at this point. He responded by saying it was harmless, and promptly scooped some up and ate it. Didn't seem to do him any harm, although I think half the class nearly threw up at the sight of him eating it.

ASDA Tiger Bread is fantastic. I have never had storage problems - perhaps you have been unlucky or have a particular situation.

Interestingly ASDA Tiger Bread claims to contain Sesame Oil - the Tiger Bread form Sainsbury's doesn't and whilst it looks the same, the taste is nothing unique.

We buy bread about once a week, eat the crispy stuff the same day and the loaves go into the freezer. 1 min full power in the microwave, plus

Moulds appear in any bread bin. Light not required. Best way to keep bread is in plastic bag to prevent drying, and as cold a possible, to reduce fungal growth.

Fungi that cause mould are not yeasts. More like penicillin probably. Yeasts are generally killed by the alcohol they make, or in the cooking.

I would have been in the nearly threw up group. :-)

Given the range of fungal infections and effects (aspergillosis, candidosis, tinea, fungal rhinosinusitis, ergotism, and many, many more) I would be very wary. There is so much that is unknown about fungal infections, etc., in my ignorance, I'd rather keep well away.

Do a Google search on "Chorleywood bread process" and all will be explained.

Is your bread bin clean - old crumbs can harbour mould spores

Thinking about it now, all the various fungi which grew would have come from spores in the environment, and if we were susceptable to them, we would have already turned into a puddle of black slime. What I would be rather more concerned about would be any possible toxins generated by the fungi which would remain behind.

The teacher had taught biology for almost 50 years, and it was probably impossible to ask him any question which he hadn't been asked before, and he certainly had an answer instantly ready for every question which anyone did ask. I suspect he'd been asked this question before and had eaten the slime before, likely many times. Indeed, he was probably standing there wondering which of the 20 or so likely questions that year's class was going to ask.

Lots of salt on the top to make the taste.

I use one of those Lock 'n' Lock boxes - stupid name, effective system. I've got no central heating so just leave it out, but for anyone who doesn't dream of living in a shoe box it could go in a fridge.

I bake my own break, have done for years. I leave out what I need for

What is left out is kept in Poly Bag in a Bread Bin. Change the bag every two or three weeks, but not every time (save planet).

As to longevity, some bread contains milk, and seeds, and malt, and oil etc.. these change the speed at which fungus grows. My malthouse bread ages noticeably faster than my wholemeal.

R.

I agree.

Slices can go a bit soggy if defrosted in the microwave, but it seems to work with buns and scones type things.

Owain

Yeast is about as closely related to mould as we are to fish.

The greeny stuff is usually penicillium; the black is often aspergillus, which has already been mentioned in connection with diseases. (says he referring back to memory of distant biology courses)

I freeze bread. One or two day old is fine, frozen & microwaved tastes like two day old so why not freeze it?

Andy

A loaf last me ages so always get frozen straight away.

If making sandwichs for consumption later, then I just use frozen bread as is, bag 'em and they're fine when lunch time arrives.

When I used to go out to work (sorry for the 4 letter word) I used to make a week, or 2 weeks supply of sandwiches, bag them and freeze them.

If the weather was cool to cold, I took a pack out the night before. If the weather was hot, I would take out a pack in the morning just before I left for work. It would be chilled at lunchtime and was very pleasant to eat.

Dave

While I might have been first to mention freezing in this thread, and regularly do so to bread, I am distinctly not impressed by thawed lettuce, cucumber, coleslaw and many other things. I'll keep freezing the bread not the sarnies. Thanks. :-)