To the many, many people who responded to my "how to keep bread crust
crisp" query - Thank You! The subject obviously touched a nerve in many
kitchens across the land.
Here's a noteworthy followup on the subject. E-mail friend and
resident-expert baking guru John Wright (on the "other side of the pond,"
in Yorkshire, England) delivered perfectly-baked insight:
"If you want to preserve [overnight] the glory of a thin crust, putting it
in a Ziploc bag or any other hermetically sealed container is NOT the way
to go. The bread may seem "crisp and dry" but just-cooled bread still
contains a considerable amount of moisture, hence old-wifely injunctions
about not keeping bread and crackers in the same container. Compared to the
very low moisture content of a cracker, a just-cooled loaf is wet.
"The moisture is mainly [already] in the interior of the loaf and the crust
softens at least as much from interior water content migrating to the dryer
crust [surface]. What you need is to slow down the moisture loss to
maintain crumb freshness... while wicking and evaporating any water that
does make it to the crust. Best way I've found to do this for overnight
keeping is to wrap the loaf in 2 layers of kitchen paper or a clean, dry towel.
"It doesn't keep the full glory of a perfect crust, nothing can, bread at
its absolute peak of freshness being a pleasure only bakers and their guest
can know, but it's as good a method as I've found."
John's countertop insight is accurate. It was a case of "I had my nose too
close to the grindstone" to see the obvious. The prime culprit is the
moisture - already within - the seemingly well-baked loaf that causes the
next-day crust softness. A reheat in the oven... to dry the now-damp crust,
appears as the only solution to restore a crisp crust. The paper or towel
wrap idea (as several people suggested), may work in other climates but not
here in Florida where normal humidity levels are higher (even within
air-conditioned homes).
Given my Florida location, the best bread-storage solution I've found is
"the freezer" - a well-cooled loaf placed in a heavy Ziploc bag. The next
day (or weeks later), thaw the bread for a few hours and place it (the bare
loaf) in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. I use a cold-start oven set at a
token 180F degrees. (Along with the bread I typically insert dinner plates,
using the opportunity to pre-warm plates). This brief reheat restores about
80% of the fresh-bread experience... about the best we can apparently expect.
The underlying dilemma: Once we taste and experience fresh baked bread -
there is no alternative. And it is a perfectly good reason why we bakers
keep baking!