>From: SJS41742@aol.com
>Subject: Bread Storage
>Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 09:36:34 EDT
>I'm looking for the best method to keep an ABM bread fresh for about 4-5
days
>without the crust getting soft. The two part sliding plastic bread
keepers,
>with the two holes at each end, does not do it. The crust gets soft within
a
>day.
>Any suggests are welcome.
>Thank you,
>Sid
Sid,
My dad used to make his own Italian bread every week. He had a cutting
board that was used ONLY for his bread and nothing else. He would make two
loaves every week, and never put them in bags or containers. He would
leave the uncut loaf in a basket, covered with a cotton towel. Once he cut
the loaf, he would always leave the bread standing up, with the cut side
down on the cutting board. The crust was always hard, and the bread lasted
all week, even here in Virginia humid weather (with the A/C on).
He's gone now, but I use a combination of his recipe and one I found on
this list, and I do the same thing with my Italian bread (his crust was too
thick). Once I bake my Italian or french bread, it either goes to the
freezer or stays out on the rack. Once it is cut, it stays on the cutting
board, cut side down. But between me, my boyfriend and our 4 boys (8, 11,
16, and 17) we seldom have any bread left at the end of a meal :-)
Caron Rose