Bread is the staple of life.
There’s nothing like fresh bread. Crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. It’s heaven in a slice and most of us love it.
The hard part is keeping bread fresh so you can enjoy the whole loaf. Leave your lovely loaf out on the bench, unprotected and it will start to go dry and hard within hours. Put it in the fridge and it loses its softness, fluffiness and crustiness all at the same time.
Plastic bags have been hailed as the saviour of fresh bread for many years, keeping it fresher for longer. But in reality, they don’t breathe, meaning you lose your crusty crust in the best case scenario, and grow a large crop of mould in the worst case (and most frequent) scenario. The bad news is that when mould in residence, you can’t reuse the plastic bag either, which leads to plastics being thrown out and more damage to the environment.
What to do to keep your bread fresh?
Don’t despair. There are environmentally friendly and sustainable options out there that keep your bread fresher for longer - reusable bread bags! And they've become more and more popular in recent years.
However, there have been many (and sometimes heated) arguments around whether linen bread bags or cotton bread bags actually work. Do bread bags actually keep your bread fresher for longer?
The good news - bread bags do work!
Popular opinion says yes, cloth (whether it be cotton or linen) bread bags do keep your bread fresher for longer; and the research backs it up.
History also supports it; linen bread bags have been the most well-kept secret of the French for centuries, and we know how much the French love their bread!
Natural fibres such as linen or cotton are perfect for keeping bread fresh for longer, and Australian made Aussie Bread Bags are a perfect option.
How do linen bread bags or cotton bread bags work?
What is the magic that these natural fibres make? The trick is that they prevent too much moisture being present around the bread, at the same time as preventing too much moisture loss from destroying the texture of your loaf of fresh bread. Bread bags do this through:
- Being breathable, allowing air to circulate, but not so much that the bread dries out too quickly
- Attracting and trapping just the right amount of moisture to keep the bread soft and fluffy, without becoming soggy and mouldy
- Keeping the bread in the dark, as light can lead to staleness in a shorter time frame
Better still, cloth bread bags are reusable bread bags. Just give them a 'shake out' of crumbs or a wash when necessary and you can use them again and again.
A couple of extra tips for keeping bread fresh for longer:
1: Keep your loaf unsliced. Let the crust do its job and keep the insides of the bread soft and fluffy. Only slice your bread when you're ready to eat it.
2: Keep the sliced side face down. Once its sliced, the inside of the bread will start to stale if left exposed. The easiest way to avoid this is by standing it up on its end. Aussie Bread Bags were designed with this in mind and why they have a squared bottom at the base to make for easy standing.
Where to get your reusable bread bags?
Aussie Bread Bags offer a wide range of premium quality, Australian made natural linen reusable bread bags. With a variety of sizes and combinations available to you at affordable prices, delivered to your door, you're sure to find what you're looking for.
Shop the website and buy yours online today.
Watch our bread freshness demonstration on reusable bread bags vs single use plastic bread bags below.