I like to bake free form loaves; I hardly ever use a loaf pan. But I have a terrible time finding bags to put long loaves of french bread in or wide round loaves. Even a loaf pan loaf doesn't fit in the gallon food storage bags I buy. Is there a bakers' supply store online or otherwise that carries bread bags at a reasonable price? Does anyone here store bread in anything other than plastic sacks? Thanks in advance for any ideas

-- Elizabeth in e tx (kimprice@peoplescom.net), October 07, 2001

Answers

I wrap my breads in cling wrap--Saran wrap. I find they stay fresher than in bags. Deborah

-- Deborah (jlawton@kaltelnet.net), October 07, 2001.

I use the plastic bags the local newspaper comes in for bread I intend to use on a daily basis. If the bread develops mold, I toss the bag away. For freezing bread, I wrap a loaf in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then freezer paper. Works for me.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), October 07, 2001.

I,myself, would not store bread in any kind of plastic bags which were not food grade bags. Other plastic bags contain chemicals which could be harmful.

-- Anita Nielsen (atnielsen@egl.net), October 07, 2001.

I like to keep bread unwrapped in a glass covered cake dish. Looks nice on the counter and if it gets too moist, I prop the cover open for awhile with a piece of silverware. You'd have to break your longer loaves in half to keep them in this.

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), October 07, 2001.

I just bought a bread keeper at raleys [ plastic box]which keeps the bread fresh much fresher then before. French bread stays fresh a week [ as opposed to 1 day]. It was 9.00 $ but it works great.I will see if I still have the box if you like, for the address.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), October 07, 2001.

Ziploc makes 2 gallon size freezer bags. My bread fits into the 1 gal size but I can't zip it. 2 gal works better. If your grocer doesn't carry it, maybe they'd get it for you. Worth a try.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), October 07, 2001.

Perhaps it might be easier to make less bread at a time. So that whatever you store would be sliced and stored in the standard sized bags available.Personally, we believe in eating the bread so that there is nothing left ;).

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), October 07, 2001.

Thanks for all the answers. Deborah, I'll have to try the Saran wrap; Diane, we don't get a newspaper; Anita, I agree with you:o), Rose Marie, I really like the cake dish idea; kathy, I've seen those plastic bread keepers and didn't want to spend the money, but in the long run it'd be cheaper than buying bags, as I never seem to be able to get my bags dry when I wash them (maybe it's this TX humidity; Charleen, I have seen the 2 gallon ziploc bags but I'm too frugal to buy zipper bags as I can't reuse them well (don't dry well in my climate); Anne, I always bake as much bread as my oven will hold, because it's cheaper and because we eat so much bread. I can bake about five loaves at a time so I freeze some of it. Thanks again; I'm definitely trying Saran wrap for freezing the bread, and might pick up one of those plastic Tupperware-type bread boxes.

-- Elizabeth in e tx (kimprice@peoplescom.net), October 07, 2001.

Hmmmmm. Rubbermaid has square food keepers. What if you put bread dough in a square pan to bake, then put it in a square food keeper. The ones I have in mind are not terribly "tall", but there might be some others out there that would be deeper. I have a number of different size Rubbermaid food keepers for various things that I store regularly, and they are very handy and last almost forever. Unless you drop one just out of the freezer or melt one by leaving it too near a burner . . . . . both of which, obviously, I have done. >:-( Learn from my mistakes!

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), October 07, 2001.

I store my bread in cloth bags (like a pillowcase) - I hang this in the pantry so the mice can't get it. The bread keeps up to 2 weeks like this - in the winter, in the summer it keeps about a week.

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), October 08, 2001.

My family thinks the only proper place to store homemade bread is their stomachs.

-- (countrymous@webtv.net), October 08, 2001.

Not everybody eats the way we do, but when we buy produce, I get the long plastic bags that will hold celery. If you have a really long loaf, you can put a bag on each end and overlap and secure in the middle. Also, large bags that used to be full of dry cereal work nicely. And cereal box liner bags are nice and sturdy. Although they tend to be shorter, they can also handle a more round loaf. I have found a number of bread keepers at thrift stores. They have little holes in them, and I found that my bread dried out way too fast in them as opposed to completely sealing the bread in plastic.

-- Laura Rae Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), October 08, 2001.

Countrymouse, I'm with you. Homemade bread never lasts long enough in this house to be put in anything other than the occupants!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), October 09, 2001.

I copied my Mom's habit of saving the bread wrapper from commercial loaves on those days I couldn't/didn't get around to baking bread. Shake out the crumbs, stuff them in the drawer underneath the dishtowels, and they're ready when you need them. I've never had a problem with mold, mice or ants, and they're already sized/shaped for a loaf.

Guests come over, you can pull out the loaf, shake your head, and say, "Dang! Butternut forgot to slice it AGAIN!" :)

Mark

-- Mark Sykes (mark@marksykes.net), October 11, 2001.