Bread remains one of the UK’s favourite foods with 99 percent of households buying bread products every week. Facts About Bread revealed nearly 12 million loaves are sold each day, but 24 million slices of bread are thrown into the bin each day according to Too Good To Go. In a bid to help readers reduce food waste and save money, Express.co.uk tried storing a loaf of bread two different ways to see how long it would last, and one method saw the bread last five weeks and two days before mould started to appear.
On January 14, I purchased a loaf of wholemeal bread from Asda for 60p.
The label stated use by date of January 20, six days after buying it, but by storing it a certain way, I managed to elongate the bread’s shelf life by 30 days.
I placed half the loaf in an air-tight plastic bag which was then kept in the fridge on the middle shelf. The other half of the loaf stayed inside the bread’s original packaging and was kept in a cool, dark kitchen cupboard.
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Bread in an air-tight plastic bag in the fridge
Day 1 – Bought at the store, taken home and half the loaf was transferred into an air-tight plastic bag which was sealed and placed into the fridge on a middle shelf.
Day 4 – The bread from the fridge felt softer to touch, there were no signs of deterioration.
Day 6 – There were no signs of deterioration.
Day 9 – There was some moisture in the bag, but the slices had a fresh bread smell.
Day 13 – The slices were cold and firm to touch, with no signs of deterioration.
Day 17 – No signs of deterioration or mould.
Day 20 – No signs of deterioration or mould, bread was still fresh to touch and eat.
Day 22 – No signs of deterioration or mould, bread was still fresh to touch and eat.
Day 27 – No signs of deterioration or mould, bread is a little firmer, but still perfectly edible.
Day 31 – No signs of deterioration or mould, bread feels a little stale around the edges, but still perfectly edible.
Day 35 – Small white spots of mould appeared on the middle of the slices.
Day 37 – Patches of white spots of mould now on all slices, bread was binned.
Conclusion
Keeping bread stored in the fridge was the best storage hack as it lasted two weeks and three days longer from the date of purchase.
Bread in the original packaging in a cupboard lasted two weeks and six days.
Bread in an air-tight plastic bag in the fridge lasted five weeks and two days.
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