The Best Way To Freeze Homemade Bread

Once you've embarked on making homemade bread, whether you're scoring sourdough or making a simple no-knead recipe, this breadmaking skill will come in handy for the rest of your life. But chances are good that, one day, you'll have so much bread you won't know what to do with it. Sure, you could share a loaf with a friend but what about saving it for the future? Don't wait until your fresh, homemade bread goes stale (though you still use it for a hearty Italian ribollita soup if that happens). Instead, pop it in the freezer so you can have fres-tasting bread for weeks to come.

Some say the best way to keep bread fresh is in the freezer. If you store it properly there, it can even last for up to three months. If you've just baked a loaf, ensure it's completely cool before storing it in the freezer. You can use a cooling rack to help the process and so the bread maintains its crispy crust, which lets you know when it's fully baked. Tightly wrap your cooled loaf in layers of plastic wrap so it's fully sealed off from the air (you could also add a layer of foil), then add it to an airtight container.

Once it's time to break into the freezer stash, you'll want to defrost the bread before eating, obviously. If you've frozen a whole loaf, remove it from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for about three hours before slicing. If you froze your bread in individual slices, it should take about 30 minutes to thaw.

If you're in a time crunch, there's a trick to defrosting those frozen slices (though this isn't recommended for a full loaf of bread): use your microwave. To thaw bread slices in the microwave, wrap each piece in a damp paper towel, and microwave it on its own for 30 seconds. It works well in a pinch but thawing at room temperature is preferred. So, the next time you crave that home-baked bread, think in advance if you have any in the freezer that needs some time for defrosting.