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Dry bread by the next day: What to do?!
Bread, bread, bread. Delicious homemade yeast bread is something many of us are after! I know it seems like half my blog posts are about bread issues, but it's what so many of you write to ask me about! :) After years of experimentation, I don't mind sharing. :)
Susan writes:
I started baking bread 9 months ago, but it only is soft for 1 or 2 days. I cool it on a rack and immediately put it in a bag where it stays unless it's being used, but it seems to dry out quickly. By day 3 it's better suited to toast or french toast than for sandwiches. What can I do to help it retain the softness & moisture?
The dryness of homemade bread was what kept us from using homemade bread 100% of the time, including for sandwiches. Our day-old bread, which had been soft and delicious right out of the oven, was dry and crumbly. Double mayo, anyone? ;)
My science-loving husband decided to delve into bread research and do some experimentation. He did lots of reading and made lots of test loaves in order to develop a combination of natural dough enhancers which do everything from feeding the yeast to developing the gluten to retaining moisture! You can read his article here for all the science behind the extra ingredients.
In short, by adding a few extra ingredients (namely powdered ginger, citric or ascorbic acid, gluten, and lecithin) we make homemade 100% whole wheat bread that has a great texture, isn't crumbly (even after several days!) and will stay soft for a week or longer! We have seriously shocked people by the texture and softness of our homemade bread... it makes that much of a difference!
There are other "tricks", like greasing the bread loaves right when they come out of the oven, making sure to bag the bread as soon as it's cool enough, etc. but those tips don't really solve the fundamental issues of a dry crumbly texture the next day. At least, not in the satisfactory way that our natural dough conditioning ingredients solve the issue. :)
Susan also asks:
I want to purchase a grain mill to make my own flour, like you do, but I have noticed that when I bake bread with whole wheat flour the added fiber irritates my 2 youngest children. I currently use a 50/50 blend of whole wheat and unbleached fiber. I have gradually increased it to 100% whole wheat at times, but the kids have very irritated tummies from it. Is this something they might outgrow? I have also noticed that when I use white wheat as opposed to the regular (red) wheat flour they seem to be bothered less. Is this something you have had any experience or any of your readers might be able to help with?
I'm not experienced when it comes to digestive issues with whole wheat flour, but I do know that making a soaked wheat bread is supposed to be much easier to digest!
Making soaked wheat bread with a texture comparable to "regular" bread is somewhat of a feat (not sure if anyone has a recipe that compares well in regards to texture and crumb?) but I know Lindsay has done some experimenting with that, so you may want to try her recipe! :)
I use hard white wheat for most breads, including our 100% whole wheat bread. Joshua especially prefers the lighter flavor and texture and since it's worked well for us, I haven't changed it up much. :) I'm just happy to be making homemade bread that the whole family loves and will eat for anything at any time! :)
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Comments
oops
My tip is in your post, obviously I didn't read all of it!
Bread
Do you put your bread in the refrigerator after a couple of days? I thought I needed to refrigerate it because it doesn't have all the preservatives that store bought bread has.
Don't refrigerate
Bread actually goes stale quicker in the refrigerator than on the counter. Harold McGee, in his book On Food and Cooking (which is a great book if you are interested in the science that goes on in cooking - check your local library) did experiments and found that bread stored at 46F (7C) staled as much in one day as bread stored at 86F (30C) did in six days.
If you're worried about bread spoiling before you can finish it, its much better to freeze it (or part of it) instead. We don't have any trouble in the winter with bread spoiling, but in the muggy summer, I often freeze half the loaf, even if I think we'll eat it up within 3-4 days.
Jenny
I'm going to try this
I've been trying to figure out why my bread gets dried out so easily. (Ahem, aside from the fact that I live in a very dry location and have to use hand lotion 4-5 times a day.) I'm going to try adding your dough conditioning ingredients. Actually, I'll probably try your recipe too. Haven't done that yet. :)
Joelle
I freeze mine already
I freeze mine already sliced. I do use lots of zippy bags. I put two slices in each bag and my kids pull them out to make their lunches for school or to eat toast for breakfast. If they use them for lunch then they just use the zip bag again to put their sandwich in and it works like a charm. I never leave homemade bread out unless I know I'll use what's left for toast in the morning or something. Once it thaws it tastes like you just made it that day. It's wonderful.
I do freeze loaves also, ones that we'll use for a meal. When I make sandwich bread though I slice then freeze.
Freeze
I also freeze bread already sliced. Then, for a quick sandwhich I lightly toast it, which helps defrost and gives it a toasted texture - probably helping to hide and 'imperfections' in the texture and taste.
This doesn't specifically address the reader's question, but it's what works for us.
Saving Bread
I have been making homemade bread for a few years now. Refrigerating the bread will actually make it dry out faster. I always keep 1-2 loaves on the counter and freeze the extra loaves and they stay great for much longer. (I bake 6 loaves at a time using my Bosch.)
How fine do you grind the wheat?
I first tried grinding and using heard white wheat (as opposed to hard red) this year, and I love it. To me (its probably not scientifically true) it seems to be a more consistent texture of flour. I don't have one of the newer grinders, just a 30+ year old beast I got from my MIL. It will grind both into flour, but the hard red isn't as smooth of a flour because the wheat kernals are smaller. So its will have some bigger pieces that change the texture of the bread. Because of that, I Heart White Wheat!
I do think if I had a Nutrimill or another nicer grain mill I could grind the wheat more fine and end up with less of a difference. I know the larger wheat particles are harder for us to digest and can give us a little too much roughage if you know what I mean.
That's my 2 Cents,
Rebecca
Interesting facts about white wheat
I was reading a research paper from K-State's Agricultural Experiment and Co-op office about the differences between white and red wheat (because I got curious) and apparently white wheat has a higher milling rate (you get more flour per cup of hard white wheat berries than red making it a less dense loaf) and this higher rate usually increases the protein content of the flour which is awesome for bread. Also it requires less sugar to make a loaf of bread. The main downside is that hard white is more prone to crop failure due to moisture than red. Geeky things like that make my day.
Thanks Tammy & everyone
Thanks for your comments in response to my question. Now i just need to find out where i can get the natural dough conditioners. (in my regular grocery store/wal-mart or if i have to order them.) I don't refridgerate my bread. but i know our house is especially dry in the winter. DD and i have skin issues all winter. And i'm occasionally guilty of not getting the bread in a bad for a while. Any Ways, Thanks for all your help.
Susan
To the mom with kids having tummie problems
People with gluten problems or wheat allergies have a harder time with whole wheat. Using whole wheat is the best way to detect wheat issues. I have a few children with wheat allergies. In our home we avoid wheat until the age of 3yr. By avoiding wheat for the first few years this should help reduce problems.
irritated by the wheat flour
Our experience was that we could eat white wheat flour, but not whole wheat. WHY? We are allergic to it...as well as to other glutens. Very good thing to have those children checked for allergies!! Gluten allergy is not good to ignore!!
Elizabeth
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