The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

bread will become leathery and chewy by the next
morning no matter how tightly it was wrapped.
In order to prevent both staling and drying, it’s
best to store bread tightly wrapped on the
countertop or in a bread box if you’re going to eat it
within a day or two. For long-term storage, wrap
your loaves in foil and pop ’em into the freezer. This
will freeze the internal water molecules, preventing
them from migrating out of the bread and thus
stopping it from staling. Reheat frozen bread in a
300°F oven, wrapped in its foil, until warmed
through.