Acquiring a fresh loaf of bread is delightful, but it comes with a catch: You’ll need to figure out how to properly store and use up that bread — and fast! — because as soon as it’s out of the oven, its freshness begins to decline. 

If the bread is homemade bread and, therefore, minimally processed, you’ll have a shorter window —  probably only a few days to spare — before it goes stale or begins to mold. If your bread is store-bought and endowed with a bit more chemical stabilization, you’ll have a little more time. 

The funny thing about a fresh loaf is that, as it deteriorates, the crust goes soft, but the inside gets hard — the opposite of what you want in a delicious slice. Sure, nothing good lasts forever, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your spongy, crusty fresh bread last a little bit longer. There are some surefire ways to give your loaf a fighting chance. Here’s what you need to know about the best ways to store bread.

Stored in a bread box 

The ideal storage environment for a loaf of bread considers moisture, air circulation, and light. A bread box does a good job of managing all three of these components and might just be the best option around. 

Bread needs to retain some moisture to keep it from going stale; a bread box traps some moisture, but not so much that it causes the crust to go unpleasantly soft. The air circulation within a bread box also helps with this endeavor, while also ensuring that excess moisture has a place to go. This keeps the bread from becoming overly moist, which can accelerate mold growth.

Finally, a bread box keeps bread out of direct light. Whether natural or artificial, too much light exposure can facilitate both the retrogradation process (when starch molecules that were hydrated during baking start to recrystallize) and mold growth, depending on how much moisture is trapped near the bread. A bread box mitigates both of those factors. 

Stored in bags at room temperature

Bread bags are another option for storing fresh loaves of bread. However, not all bags are created equally: Some do better than others when it comes to keeping bread fresh and mold-free. No matter which you choose, you’ll want to put the cut side in the bag first to prevent oxygen from hitting the more fragile inside of the loaf. 

Plastic bag: A tightly sealed plastic bag with the air pushed out will go a long way in keeping a fresh loaf of bread soft while stored at room temperature. Because of the limited airflow, the bag is likely to trap a lot of moisture, which means the crust won’t stay crusty for too long. A few minutes in the toaster should fix that right up. 

When storing bread in a plastic bag, it’s best to keep it off the counter and instead store it in a pantry away from light. Light will generate heat in the bag, which will cause the bread to release moisture, which can speed up the molding process. 

Paper bag: Because they don’t fully seal and because they’re not transparent, paper bags actually do a fairly good job mimicking the work of a bread box. Without being entirely sealed, a paper bag allows more airflow than a plastic one, meaning it won’t trap as much moisture. So, while bread stored in a paper bag may go hard faster than bread in a plastic bag, it won’t mold nearly as quickly. (And it’s much easier to revive a hard piece of bread than a moldy one). 

Specialty bread bag: If you’re a real breadhead but aren’t ready to commit to a bread box just yet, a reusable bread bag is your next best bet. Sturdier than a paper bag, with all the same benefits, a specialty bread bag will help keep bread moist —but not too moist — and dry — but not too dry. When taken care of properly, it will last you loaf after loaf after loaf. This means wiping it out every week or so with a warm cloth and making sure no crumbs are hanging out in the bottom of the box.

Wrapped at room temperature

Although not the ideal way to store fresh bread, wrapping the bread and storing it at room temperature will go a longer way than doing nothing at all. When considering wrapping options, from worst to best, you have: wrapped in plastic wrap, wrapped in aluminum foil, and wrapped in beeswax wrap. 

Like sealing in a plastic bag, wrapping in plastic wrap will lock in moisture — perhaps too much moisture, which might cause the bread to stay overly moist and speed up the molding process. Aluminum foil allows for a bit more air circulation but isn’t ultimately much better than plastic wrap because of how tightly it will cling to the bread. If you insist on wrapping your bread, beeswax wrap is your best bet. It allows for air circulation, blocks out some excess light, and locks in an adequate amount of moisture. 

Stored in the refrigerator

If wrapping bread in plastic wrap is considered a suboptimal option, refrigerating bread should be a last resort. It may seem counterintuitive because refrigerators literally exist to help preserve food, but putting fresh bread in the fridge is a surefire way to degrade its quality pretty immediately. 

The low temperature and low humidity environment of refrigerators speed up the retrogradation process exponentially. So, while keeping your bread in the fridge will ward off mold, it’ll also harden the bread in a matter of hours. While the bread will be “good” for longer, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be good to eat. 

Of course, hard bread can be slightly revived, if not entirely brought back to life. Wrapping a hardened loaf of bread in aluminum foil and then tossing it in the oven at 300° F for ten to fifteen minutes will give some of its goodness back. Alternatively, you can slice it and put slices in the toaster for the same effect.

Stored in the freezer

The freezer is the coldest of all storage options and, in many ways, the best. Unlike storing bread in the refrigerator, which accelerates the retrogradation process, storing it in the freezer stops the process altogether. 

Freezing bread halts retrogradation by locking in moisture and preventing water from being drawn out of the bread. Thus, keeping it soft and preventing the bread from drying out. 

For optimal convenience, slice your bread before freezing it. Place the slices of bread in a freezer bag, then, when you plan to eat it, take out your desired amount of bread. Thaw it either on the counter at room temperature or in the oven or toaster. Whole loaves of bread can also be frozen this way, but they will take a few hours to thaw at room temperature. 

What to do with unused bread

If you do find yourself with moldy or overly stale bread — it happens — instead of sending those scraps to the landfill, where they will emit methane, you can toss them directly into a Mill food recycler. Mill will recycle your food scraps and turn them into dry grounds that can be used in your garden.