Freezing Bread: Everything You Need to Know to Avoid Ruining It

Oh, bread, how we love you. Whether sliced, toasted, slathered in butter, paired with a meal or used as the vehicle for it, bread is always delicious. Think about it—there’s a reason it’s Oprah’s favorite food. But what are you supposed to do when more than half a loaf of your favorite multi-grain is inching toward its expiration date and you know you won’t be able to get through all of it before it starts to turn green? Stick it in the freezer—seriously!

There’s a tiny bit more to it than that, but the extra two minutes it takes to pull it off properly is worth it. Here’s what to do.

Think for a sec about the bread you’re about to freeze: Is it a crusty baguette? An oat-filled loaf for sandwiches? It’s important to decide what you’re going to use it for post-deep freeze so you can prep it properly now. Slice up sandwich bread (if it hasn’t been cut already) and keep all other loaves intact, unless you know you’ll want just a piece of the bread later on.

一旦你的面包,是时候把它紧ly in clear plastic wrap. Go ahead and use a bit more of the clingy stuff than you usually would; you want to make sure there are no gaps where the bread will be exposed to the inside of the freezer—a sure way to ruin the bread via freezer burn. Stick the wrapped bread in a freezer bag or use two plastic grocery bags for larger pieces. This double (or even triple) wrapping will help your bread hold up against the cold for about six months.

To bring your bread back to life, allow it to come to room temperature on the countertop. This might take a few hours—especially if the whole loaf is still intact—so keep this in mind perhaps the night before you plan to resurrect it. Set your oven to 350°F, place the bread on a baking sheet and heat it up for ten minutes to restore a little crispness to the crust and ensure there’s no chill left in the center. The only cold crunch we’re looking for here is from the lettuce in the middle of our grilled chicken club, TYVM!