Storing your loaves

A piece of bread sitting on top of a wooden board.

Sourdough never lasts very long in my house, maximum 3 days, usually 2!

For the first 24-36 hours I leave my loaves out on rack to fully cool, then on a board, uncovered, or in a linen or cotton bag before slicing them.

After that, I wrap what’s left of my loaves in strong plastic bags, expelling as much air as possible and tying then tightly. (I reuse the same bags over and over..!) And I store it like that in my bread bin.

*Only ever store or freeze fresh loaves once they’ve fully cooled.

When I bake several loaves at once, I freeze the extras. Again I wrap them in plastic bags and put them in the freezer.

To defrost I remove the bread from the freezer last thing at night, take it out of the bag, sit in on a cooling rack, and let it defrost for several hours or overnight. It defrsots to a perfectly crusty loaf, as if freshly baked.

You can re crisp or refresh a loaf in a warm oven if necessary, personally I have never needed to, but if you would like to, place the loaf in a warm oven, around 180C/360F, for 5 minutes if you wish. Sometimes sprinkling the loaf with water aids the crispiness.