Most people don’t realize that the final stage of baking bread is to let your bread cool properly. Slicing into a hot loaf of bread can cause bread to tear instead of slicing cleanly through, or it can be gummy on the inside . To cool your loaves properly you need to transfer your loaves from the oven to a wire cooling rack, and let them rest until they have cooled to about body temperature. The air that circulates around the bread will keep the crust from becoming soggy and is a crucial step to having that perfect crust.
The science behind it…
As bread cools, the process of starch retro-gradation is completed and the water molecules move outward, evenly, toward the crust. If you were to cut into a hot loaf, the crumb is still too soft and wet. The bread won’t slice neatly, it will tend to be gummy and stick to your knife. The steam that is in the hot bread will be lost through the cut, versus making its way outward towards the crust.
How long should bread cool?
Since there are many factors that can influence how long a loaf of bread will need to rest before it is ready to slice or store, a general rule of thumb is to allow your loaves to firm up and cool to about body temperature, but preferably to room temperature before slicing. This will typically take 30 minutes for a small loaf to over a couple of hours for a larger loaf.
Breads that can be eaten while they are still warm are rolls and baguettes, because the crust-to-crumb ratio is so high, and there is not much further internal cooking that has to take place.
For breads such as a larger crusty sourdough loaf, or a pan loaf I would typically wait 1-2 hours before slicing. Whole Grain and rye breads should be all the way down to room temperature before slicing.
If you plan to freeze the bread, I have always waited until the loaves are completely cool before freezing.
What is the best way to store bread?
It depends. If you plan to eat the bread within the next few days, keeping it in a bread box or paper or linen bread bag works well. Kept at room temperature it should keep it fresh for a few days. I always just keep mine cut side down on a cutting board on my counter. The crust does not get soft this way and it is my preferred method.
Breads that are made with commercial yeast can be stored the same way as above, but they stale noticeably quicker than my sourdough loaves. I never put sourdough in plastic bag, but I will sometimes put the leftover enriched doughs in plastic to preserve their shelf life for a couple days.
Sourdough breads tend to keep longer than commercially yeasted loaves, up to several days.
Whatever you do, do not store your loaves in the refrigerator, as this accelerates the staling process and your bread will not last as long.
If you don’t plan on eating the bread for days after baking, I recommend freezing it. I’ve found this is the best way to store bread for more than a few days, and tossing them in the oven for a few minutes will quickly bring them back to life.
How to properly freeze bread?
This will first depend on the type of bread you are freezing.
For most crusty loaves of bread, simply wrap them in tin foil and place them in the freezer. When you are ready to use the bread, remove the loaf from the freeze and remove the foil. Allow to thaw completely or at least close to complete. Then place in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Five minutes may be enough for smaller loaves, like baguettes.
For most softer breads, such as rolls, white bread, bagels, etc… can be frozen in a plastic bag, wrapped in tin foil, or stored in a container. These breads tend to thaw pretty quickly, so simply pulling them out an hour or so before you are going to use them will allow them enough time to thaw to room temperature. If you need them to thaw more quickly, simply toss them in your oven, or microwave for 1-2 minutes at 30-40% power.
Tip: If you are freezing bread for sandwiches later, I recommend pre-slicing so you can pull out a couple slices at a time as you need them.
Bread should easily keep in the freezer for months, so just be sure to label it so you know how long it has been stored for. If your freezer starts to look anything like mine you’ll find yourself with a couple dozen different types of bread frozen at any given time.
I let my bread cool a few hours,then I slice it thinly and freeze in plastic bags, that I remove the air from.
I put the frozen slices straight in my toaster. Yum (of course anything toasted is yummy) Roger
(I bake two loaves, total recipe 6.5 cups of flour)
I can’t wait to have some usually ! I use an electric knife to slice so as not to squeeze or mash my bread. Ever that?
My son-in-law uses an electric knife, but i never saw him cut the bread in thin slices that way. We use a very sharp Cutco bread knife, and we get nice, consistently slim slices. I have an old Raavad for slicing rugbrød (a staple in our house) in the traditional very thin slices.
I have a bakery, I produce commercial bread, lately the big sized bread , doesn’t last for 2 day and it spoils , having something like mucus in it , my customers are returning the big sized bread, I’m wondering what is causing it, please advise
Google for “Rope bread spoilage”. Pretty much likely that it happens because you got contaminated flour. You might need to change your flour supplier and do very thorough cleaning in your facility
i use an electric knife and it works great, nice and thin
Hi Gwendoline,
There could be a number of things going on. First, I would make sure that the loaf is completely cool before slicing. The final stage of baking is the cooling part. It is where the water redistributes throughout the loaf and the starches in it gelantinize. A second issue could be if you dough is too dry, if you over bake or add too much flour to your recipe it will tend to crumble when sliced. Third, you may not be using a sharp enough knife. Look for one that has sharp teeth and a very thin blade. I like one with an off-set handle.
Quality bread that stays fresh for a number of days is tricky, because freshly baked bread from home does not have preservatives to prolong the shelf life. You can try ingredients like potato flour which help soften and extend shelf life. The best thing that I do is use a natural starter or sourdough in my bread baking instead of commercial yeast. This has a natural preservation quality to it.
And for the very best bread knife, I love the Mountain Woods Fiddle Bow.
Just made bread and am cooling. Have read everything and still on the fence about how to store? Anyone?
I’m new at breadmaking, but for storage I’ve found two solutions that I like.
1. I prefer keeping breads at room temperature for the first couple of days, wrapped loosely in foil rather than plastic wrap or a sealed container. That way they are kept fresh but they don’t sweat badly and the crust stays relatively hard.
2. After that I like to wrap individual slices (thick ones for a thick meaty whole grain bread) and freeze them. Then I can take out a slice and warm or toast it.
The yeast breads I’ve been making generally stay fresh without going bad for at least two days, maybe three. One moist whole grain bread that I kept out in plastic wrap got moldy on the fourth day.
Same! I read everything and I’m just like.. okay but if I just want to store it on the counter while it cools (very large loaf) or for a few days at room temp, what do I do?
Tu nice answer
I have that one, but I love my Dexter 9″ offset serrated knife.
Anytime I make bread out of my bread machine I don’t know how long to wait before I should slice it. Nor if I should cover it with a cloth while cooling or not to. I’m genuinely new to baking and still have all these questions since every time I slice it I ruin it.
Hi Christiana,
You should wait until the bread is completely cool before slicing. It probably will be in the 1-2 hour range. Make sure you remove the loaf from the pan and place it on a cooling rack. There is no need to cover it in anyway while cooling. I actually don’t like to cover my bread at all since it makes the crust not as nice. I just leave the bread cut side down on a cutting board on my counter. I hope that helps! Thanks!
When you cut it you leave it cut side down instead of putting it in a bag? I have a tin bread box that has holes in it. I thought you were supposed to put it in there.
You can put it in a bread box if you have one. I had one for awhile and would still place my loaf cut side down in it so that the cut part was not exposed to air. That way that part of it wouldn’t dry out. The problem was that until we ate enough of the loaf, it did not sit in the box so that you could close the lid. I went back to just leaving it out on a cutting board on my counter. You can do whatever you are comfortable with, I just personally don’t recommend covering with plastic. Thanks!
You still leave it on your counter even after it is cut? I thought you had to put it in aplastic bag. I would put it in a paper bag but I don’t think they sell them.
Yes, I leave it on the counter after it is cut and I never wrap it in plastic, ever. I have brown paper bags that I use if I am giving bread away, but at home I just leave the bread cut side down on a cutting board. Your crust will remain crunchy this way. It will actually stale faster in plastic. Thanks!
you can certainly purchase brown paper ‘lunch bags’ at drug stores of grocery stores. I use them for so any things, including putting greasy items into my green bin,
I always leave the end pieces and take slices from the middle until the very last. I feel like it keeps it from drying out. I just press the cut sides together so only the crust is exposed to air.
I like that idea, Cheri! Thanks!
Thanks for the advice, about cooling I didn’t understand some of what was happening after I removed the loaf from the oven, so brilliant. Out of interest I am baking a spelt loaf, it’s an old roman style recipe – 500g spelt, 400g of warm water, 1 tablespoon of honey, and a 1 teaspoon of quick yeast. I want to replace the quick yeast with something organic, so I can make the loaf entirely organic. I have heard of sourdough starters and even baked a couple of things on a course.– But spelt is a different older wheat so I wondering if you had any ideas what could work. I slow prove the loaf overnight, so I don’t need the quickness of those manufacture yeasts.
Hi James,
I bake primarily using a sourdough starter, I love the way the flavor of the flours really shine when using one. If you have one already going, I would feed it the day before you want to bake and then again about 4-6 hours before you plan on making your dough. I would add 100 grams of starter to that amount of dough and go with that long slow overnight fermentation for your bulk rise. The dough you are working with is quite a high hydration so it should benefit from the longer fermentation. I find that using spelt and whole wheat are very similar, but I love the flavor that you get with spelt. I don’t think you will have any problem swapping out the commercial yeast for the sourdough starter. Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!
I love baking bread but have never done sour dough starter
How do you make fo you have a good recipe and do not understand the feeding process and how do you store it and for how long
Hi Dorothy
You mix 120 grams (one cup) whole wheat flour with 120 grams (1/2 cup) bottled water in a glass jar (32 oz at least) with a plastic or wooden spoon (don’t use anything metal) cover loosely and leave on countertop DAY 2 discard all but a half cup Of the starter then add 1 cup white flour and 1/2 cup bottled water (This is what is refered to as feeding). Cover lightly, leave on counter. DAY 3 repeat step 2 DAY 4 through DAY 10 repeat step 2 twice a day (every 12 hours) By day 11 your starter should be “ripe”. There is a lot of recipes and information about starter on the internet that can be helpful. Fun Fact the oldest living sourdough starter on record is 122 years old.
Hope this helped,
Happy Baking
Hi
I am using a table slicer and it’s doing amazing work,but I just am concerned about the too much crunchy loaf after leaving it to cool down
Hey isn’t Cutco a pyramid scheme? Or do i misrrmember?
Hi Spaghetti–I know this is an aside from bread cooling but wanted to reply that Cutco isn’t a pyramid scheme. It’s a American company (NY state) that makes knives with a lifetime warranty. I’ve bought several over the years from my kids’ friends. The company seems to hire college students for a summer job. The kids hit up friends and family to allow them an hour to come over and demo the products; that might annoy some people but I’ve liked the kids so was happy to help. cutco.com/
How much sour dough starter do you use to replace each package of yeast called for in recipe
Where do you store the starter and for how long
I just baked a loaf of white bread using self-raising flour instead of strong bread flour coz I didn’t have that flour indoors. Well, it’s a lockdown period, I’ve so much self-raising flour at home so I thought I’d try see how it comes out. Fingers crossed and hope it wasn’t a waste of my time, effort and ingredients. Cooling off at the moment so I’d let U know the result tomorrow. Goodnight folks! X
Wow. Anger issues much? Seriously? Absolutely uncalled for, unnecessarily nasty response to a totally innocuous question. Take a pill.
Chill out girl! Absolutely no need for rudeness.
Maybe you need some carbs – a slice of warm buttered bread maybe?
Nobody has mentioned this yet. I always use a meat thermometer to see if it done; at 200 degrees, you get the perfect loaf. To prevent the loaf from getting to moist, get them out of the baking pan after 5 minutes. You said you let them cool for an hour. I don’t think that is long enough. I would definitely let them cool several hours, the longer the better. I also use an electric knife. I cut the loaves in half and freeze them that way. I take out a half loaf every other day or sometimes sooner. I find I get a more accurate, thinner slice using the electric knife.
So glad I came across all these tips as I wait for my very first baked banana yeast bread in the oven. The recipe didn’t indicate how long to cool or how to tell if it’s done. These suggestions were very helpful, thanks!
I use a electric meat slicer after the bread has cooled completely. Very easy and slice size perfect every time.
Crazyness! The reason for making bread is to eat it….geez….I reluctantly wait thirty minutes or so then cut a slice add butter and eat!…My issue is not eating a whole loaf with melted butter while the bread is still warm it is so so good. i always use one or two cups of the rotten dough water that sits on my counter per two loafs. As for counter life i have part of a loaf on my counter in a plastic zip lock i made over two weeks ago and it is still fine. I think sourdough has a long shelf life i always use certified organic ingredients and water filtered with six stages including reverse osmosis and UV sterilyzation. I’m impatiently waiting while writing this the alloted !/2 hour to cut into a loaf fresh outa the over
I have a bakery, I produce commercial bread, lately the big sized bread , doesn’t last for 2 day and it spoils , having something like mucus in it , my customers are returning the big sized bread, I’m wondering what is causing it, please advise
Nice, I’ve been thinking bread should last more that a few days, Guess not with no preservatives. Thanks for the freezing suggestions,
My best knive is a large old serrated blade that I can cut a large artisan size loaf withh
I’ve been making my own white and raisin bread for almost thirty years. After the first day I put it in s plastic bag. If I still have some left after a few days I put the bag in the the fridge. I cut slices and pan toast it with butter, make grilled cheese sandwiches, French toast, bread pudding, etc. till it’s gone. No problems whatsoever.
I have 2 1/2recipes. My clover leaf rolls make a great bread but not for sandwiches. My 2nd is Eggleston. I think too much salt. Cut it but still too much. I generally serves or sell my cinamon rolls immediately they come from from bread 1. The 2nd held up to sandwiches but after cutting salt again too salty. 1 tbls down to 14tsp kosher. Any suggesstion m also I wrap my bread in plastic wrap before foil never a problem