You've Been Storing Your Bread Wrong And It's Going Stale Faster

The fridge feels safe. It's actually your loaf's worst enemy.

Here's the twist that ruins loaves everywhere: the fridge speeds up staling, it doesn't slow it down.

Cold temperatures push the starch in bread to recrystallise faster, a process called retrogradation. That's why fridge bread turns dry and cardboardy in a day.

Keep bread at room temperature in a bread bin or paper bag for a few days, and it stays soft far longer than the chilled version ever will.

Want it to last weeks instead? Freeze it. Slice first, then toast straight from frozen. That's the storage hack bakers actually use.