Bread should always be at home. Guided by this rule, people sometimes buy more loaves and rolls than they need. What to do with the "main product", which turned out to be unclaimed? The hand does not rise to throw it away.

There are two ways to solve the problem. Learn how to store bread and bakery products so that they stay fresh for a long time. And if they still stale - also put into action.

So what is the right way to store bread? Much depends on which varieties you prefer:

1. Someone takes the loaves in the store - they are often already cut and packed in plastic.
2. Others buy pastries from kiosks - while they are hot.
3. Still others have purchased a bread machine and bake at home.

But there are general rules for storing bread at home, which should be followed.

For bakery products it is necessary to create special conditions. Many housewives purchased bread bins - made of plastic, metal, wood. If you do not know what to give your friends, such a thing will be a good gift.

• Plastic bread box is lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to clean. However, it is short lived.
• Metal will serve you for many years. She is also easy to care for.
• But the best option is wood. Where can you buy one? Most often at the market, at the masters.

There is only one "but". After washing the wooden bread box, dry it so that it does not become damp.

Note to the owner

Flaming (burning) can be used instead of washing a wooden bread box. Soak a cotton swab in ethyl (medical) alcohol and set fire to the cotton wool right in the bread box, covering the lid. Fire is the enemy of fungi and bacteria.

Especially long loaves will be stored in a bread box made of juniper

Why is bread moldy in the breadbasket?

Most likely, the raw materials for baking were of poor quality and already contained mold spores. Once in a favorable environment in your kitchen, where it is warm and humid, these spores have grown "violent color". Or the mold remained in the bread box after you threw out the previous spoiled loaf from it.

• If mold occurs regularly, ventilate the room where the bread box is located more often and wash it every time before putting in a fresh bun.
• If bread of the same variety of a certain manufacturer is moldy, simply refuse to buy it.

Secrets of long storage

• Before putting it away for storage, wrap the loaf in a clean cloth or in a plastic bag, after puncturing holes in it. Air must have free access to the loaf, otherwise mold will appear.
• If you store baked goods in large pots with lids, also wrap them in cotton cloth or put them in a bag.
• Wash the cotton napkin or towel in which you wrap flour products with laundry soap or other unscented detergent. You don't want your buns to smell like laundry detergent, do you?
• Hardware stores often sell special bags. They have three layers. The outer and inner are fabric, and in the middle is a layer of plastic. When stored in such a bag, the bread can remain soft for 4-5 days.
• The bag can be sewn on its own, and then soaked in a strong solution (2 tablespoons per liter) and dried without rinsing.

Special pouch - an alternative way to store

Little tricks

If you put a piece or a handful of salt wrapped in cheesecloth in a bread box or in a pan, the bread will stay fresh longer.

Storage location - refrigerator

How to store bread in the refrigerator, and is it possible to do this at all? You can, but again, you need to know the rules.

If you want to keep baked goods for a long time, cut them into slices, pack them in plastic and put them in the freezer. Then you can get a few pieces when you need them. At room temperature, they will quickly become soft.

The rules for storing bread in the refrigerator depend on where you put it:

• Bread can be stored in the freezer for several months.
• If you put it on the top shelf of the refrigerator, the period will be reduced to 2-3 days. And then, if the products of the bakery will be packed in plastic.

The temperature in the chamber fluctuates between 0-5 °С. It is under these conditions that the shelf life decreases and flour products stale the fastest. This is why it is believed that bread should not be stored in the refrigerator. Bread will not mold in the refrigerator, even if the raw material contains a fungus.

Tip of the day

When using the loaf, cut it in half. And then cut off the slices from the middle. When removing the remaining bread for storage, press the slices of the two halves to each other. Then the inside of the loaf will not stale longer.

Black and white - together or apart?

Now let's talk about varieties. Black and white bread should be stored separately from each other:

• First, they have different humidity.
• Secondly, "nigella" has a stronger smell, which will definitely pass to white rolls if they lie together.

The opinion that black bread is healthier than white bread is not true. It all depends on the individual reaction of the body to a particular variety.

Loaves and "slicing" bought in the store are bread with a long shelf life due to special additives. If you prefer hot pastries from a local factory or you bake yourself, do not put the loaf in a plastic bag until it has completely cooled down. The moisture that will be released during the cooling process will cause the carpet to become moldy.

Homemade bread, subject to the rules of storage, will be usable for 8-10 days.

Do you know that…

If some piece of bread began to deteriorate, moldy - you can’t let this matter go by itself. It should be thrown away immediately so that it does not “contaminate” other flour products.

The second life of the loaf

What to do if the bread is still stale:

1. “Second life” can be breathed into it by slightly moistening with water and holding for 1-2 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 40-50 ° C.
2. You can moisten a stale loaf with sweetened water with vanilla, after the microwave you will eat a pleasant, fresh muffin.
3. You can also use a water bath. Pour some water into a large saucepan and put on fire. Place the bread in a colander so that moist steam envelops it, cover with a lid. After a few minutes, the loaf will become soft. The taste of fresh baking will not return, but it will turn out quite edible.

Dried bread in a number of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract is preferable to fresh. It is also useful for those who are on a diet lush and tender.

In the culinary literature, you will find many descriptions of dishes using stale bread - from casseroles to desserts. There are also videos on this topic:

Now you know the secrets of saving bread and baked goods, how to store them in the refrigerator, and that bread can be frozen. However, this product is meant to be consumed quickly. Therefore, try to buy bread in moderation.

Store properly and be healthy!

Well, everyone is familiar with this feeling: you hold warm, crispy, fragrant freshly baked bread in your hands, thus enjoying not only the taste, but also the smell and sound! And then suddenly you look into the bread box, and a layer of mold has formed on the crispy pink salmon. But the bread box is clean, and the bread is fresh! ...

I am sure that I was not the only one who faced how the bread was covered with mold. This time I wanted to find out why. Googling on the internet and doing my own experiments, I think I got to the bottom of the truth.

It turned out that there can be several reasons for the appearance of mold on bread. The first of them is this: malicious producers (be it wrong!), not wanting to reduce their profits, put into circulation low-quality products that already contain mold in the manufacture of bread! By the way, those acquaintances who cut off the crust and eat the crumb are probably now coming to mind, being in full confidence that they have secured their health. Yeah of course!...

By the way, if suddenly someone did not know, mold spores fly everywhere and everywhere, and when they get on our crispy, hot bread, they begin to multiply. The toxins released at the same time are unrealistically harmful and dangerous, so you have to part with the whole loaf. By the way, at high temperatures, mold develops at an even greater rate! So your bread box should be removed away, say, from the stove.
But since mold will also find something to profit from in a humid environment, we are looking for a dry place for our breadbasket. I rashly hid the bread in a plastic bag, and, of course, I was disappointed again: due to poor ventilation, the mold was already waiting for me there.

After reading a few articles, I decided to trust the experts and put the bread in the refrigerator. As long as he lives. Although no! It would be more correct to say that nothing lives in it! And the appearance of the bread is pleasant, and the taste. And on the edge of the bread box, on the advice of my friend, I sprinkled a pinch of salt, it seems that the excess moisture “leaves”. Some housewives advise me to lubricate the surface of the breadbasket with ethyl alcohol or sorbic acid, but I just decided not to buy for the future, I won’t have to stand in line with shopping bags, I hope you can buy fresh pastries every day.

And finally, I will say that I switched to rye bread. Because of the increased acidity (don't worry, it's not more acidic), it's less prone to mold. Well, it’s better to cut the bread yourself, who knows them there, these manufacturers, maybe they still don’t disinfect the cutting surfaces when cutting!

What kind of bread do you eat? Or has it been completely abandoned?

“Bread is the head of everything” is an old folk saying. Each of us knows how pleasant the aroma of freshly baked bread is, but the trouble is that this product very often starts to mold quickly. What's going on and why is bread moldy, especially store?

Why is bread moldy

How does bread molding happen?

First of all, you need to figure out what happens to the bread during the molding process. And this is what happens to him. Being in a warm and humid environment, bread is most susceptible to infection by moldy fungi that are in the air.

Once on the surface of the bread, they begin to actively multiply and secrete mycotoxins. First, the moldy fungus affects the surface of the roll, especially accumulating in places of cracks, and then through these same cracks it begins to penetrate deeper and deeper into the bread. That is why such bread should not be eaten, even if outwardly the fungal lesions are visible only on the crust. The fact is that moldy fungus has type of mycelium, that is, long threads that are practically invisible to the human eye, penetrating to a great depth inside the bread.

Why does bread get moldy?

The reasons for moldy bread are different - this is mainly due to improper storage, but recently, poor-quality raw materials for baking have become increasingly to blame.

Incorrect storage.

It is not recommended to store bread in a warm room where the air temperature reaches +25 - (+30) C, and besides, it is also high, about 70-80% humidity. Such conditions are the most favorable for the reproduction of moldy fungus. It is also not necessary to store bread in a tightly wrapped plastic bag, as it can “sweat” and as a result of this, high humidity will be established in the bag, which again will lead to infection of the bread with mold.

The best way to store bread tightly closed in ordinary wooden bread bins, which should always be in a perfectly clean condition. Sometimes, if you want to leave the bread for a long time, then to protect it from mold, its surface is smeared with ethyl alcohol or sorbic acid. However, do not do this too often, just as you do not need to buy bread for future use - it is best to buy fresh pastries every day.

Poor quality raw materials.

Very often, bread producers, in order to increase the profitability of production, begin to save on raw materials. So, for example, bread baked from low-quality, low-grade flour more prone to mold than the one that was baked according to all the rules and standards. Sometimes in the composition of bread you can find various chemical additives and even mashed potatoes (naturally not real, but powdered) - all this leads to the fact that the quality of the product is noticeably reduced, and therefore, such bread crumbles a lot and becomes moldy much faster. Unfortunately, this is practically impossible to avoid and very difficult to control, so the only way out of the situation is to completely abandon the purchased bread and cook fresh pastries at home on your own. If you are not satisfied with this option and there is a catastrophic lack of time or patience to bake homemade bread, then at least do not buy store-bought pastries for the future for a long time, but rather buy it as it ends. By the way, it should be noted that rye bread keeps much longer than white wheat. The reason for this is its high acidity.

Now you know why bread is moldy, and you will probably try to avoid situations that provoke this unpleasant process. After all, moldy bread not only acquires an unpleasant taste and smell, but also becomes a source of toxic substances. Scientists have long established that mold is one of the provocateurs for the development of cancer cells, so do not risk your health and do not eat a spoiled product.

The choice of bakery products increases from year to year - from simple "Ukrainian" and "Borodinsky" to ciabatta from grain varieties of the highest category. But all this diversity today has one thing in common - bread often becomes moldy on the third day. While some claim that the presence of mold on the edge speaks of its "naturalness", others twist their fingers to their temples and complain about the poor quality of the product. "KP" in Ukraine" decided to find out what has changed in the technology of making bread since the time of "our grandmothers".

Best before date

Is bread an important source of vegetable protein and beneficial amino acids? Forget! So it was at a time when white bread was made from fine white flour. Today, the production itself, the quality of the product, and its usefulness have become "cheaper".

Bread should not get moldy and spoil at all, especially after two or three days have passed from the moment of purchase, - says Olga Potanina, food industry technologist-engineer. - Although GOST allows storage of bakery products only up to 72 hours in packaging and 36 hours without it. This is a kind of "insurance" for the manufacturer - if moldy on the third day, then the expiration date has come to an end. But that's not the norm, and it shouldn't be.

According to our interlocutor, if you bought a loaf and it became covered with mold spots after some time, you brought home an already "infected" product. There is a possibility that it "bloomed" from improper storage conditions in your closet, but this takes more time than a couple of days, so everything points to a poor-quality product, or rather, a violation of the cooking technology.

mold infestation

Infection of bread with mold often occurs after it leaves the oven, and the source of infection is people and objects that come into contact with the product. In addition, the air of the premises of bakeries can also be the cause, which can contain up to 50-100 thousand mold spores per 1 m3. This is especially true for premises that receive spoiled bread for recycling.

The worse the sanitary condition of the bakery, the greater the risk that the bread will become infected with mold spores, says Olga Potanina. - And even if the enterprise meets all sanitary standards, the infection of bread with mold occurs through flour dust, which cannot be eliminated in the bakery.

What is wrong with the bun?

Bread has its so-called diseases, and they are not always visible to the naked eye.

"Work injury"

Most bread mills use equipment made of "soft" metal, which wears out when working with durum wheat and rye. This is how the metal is erased and mixed with flour. And it is impossible to detect this pollen without special equipment. It saves only that a special magnetic cleaning of flour is used before kneading the dough and the risk of metal entering the human body is reduced.

• Danger: alkali corrodes the walls of the intestine, gastritis, an ulcer begins.

Plant AIDS

This is what fungal diseases of plants are called today. Both seeds and soil can be infected - in such cases, it is possible to detect the disease only after microbiological studies, but pink grains appear in wheat germ. If bread was nevertheless made from such grain, pink spots of mold will begin to appear on it. But outwardly, such bread is no different from any other in the store.

• Danger: when it enters the blood through the digestive system, it acts like a poison, paralyzing the body's immune system. Symptoms after eating a spoiled product are similar to intoxication, which is why such bread is sometimes called "drunk".

Cretaceous disease

The disease manifests itself first on the crust, and then on the crumb of bread in the form of dry white powdery inclusions - like crushed chalk. Such infection of bread comes from ascomycetes and imperfect yeasts, which have retained their dangerous properties after baking - they are very resistant to high temperatures. Such a disease of bread is rare and not dangerous for human health, but the bread loses its taste and presentation.

• Danger: is absent, and the product can be eaten, but only pre-baked or dried.

colored spots

Such a disease is mainly affected by wheat bread, affected by pigment-forming microorganisms - the same bacteria and yeast. This is expressed in the form of spots of different colors on the crumb of bread - yellow, pink, bright red and other colors. But often red spots appear on the bread, very reminiscent of drops of blood. These are bacteria that contain a red pigment in their cells; they develop at high humidity and a temperature of about 25 ° C. If the bread already contains the “color spots” disease, then with proper storage of the bread, its development can be avoided.

• Danger: this kind of bread is not suitable for consumption. There is no information about the effect on the human body.

potato disease

Perhaps the most dangerous of all possible bread diseases. It manifests itself the very next day after baking, more often in the summer with wheat bread. It manifests itself in the form of dirty spots, an unpleasant taste and smell, the crumb becomes viscous and sticky. The causative agents of the disease are spore-forming bacteria - potato and hay bacilli. Such spores are very resistant to temperature and can withstand heating up to 130 ° C and do not die when baking bread. Rye bread, due to its high acidity, does not fall into the risk of infection - potato bacillus spores do not develop in an acidic environment.

• Danger: disorder of the digestive organs. Such bread, when a disease is detected, is immediately destroyed.

Mold

The most common type of bread disease. Mold growth occurs with improper storage conditions: elevated air temperature - 25-30 ° C, humidity above 70% in storage, as well as with an increased moisture content in the bread itself and its dense packing during transportation. Fungal spores are spread through dirty air, vehicles, dirty hands and staff clothing. In this case, the surface of the bread is first affected, then the spores penetrate through the cracks into the crumb. If the mold sprouts from the inside, the flour itself and the raw materials were still infected with the fungus at the production stage.

• Danger: moldy bread is not suitable for consumption, and in large quantities causes poisoning of the body. It does not manifest itself instantly, but tends to accumulate in the body - it manifests itself in the form of various fungal infections.

Once moldy, it will always be moldy

Olga Potanina says mold spores are very resistant and able to remain viable for up to 15 years.

If your bread is moldy at home and has lain in this form for at least a day, mold spores spread through the air and will live with you for a very long time and at the same time infect other products, says the technologist-engineer. - Moreover, they have the ability to spread over large areas, that is, through ventilation, for example. For example, if your neighbor has mold spores in the air, they can easily go through the ventilation to your house and start “devouring” your products. In addition, mold fungi can mutate and jump from bread to cheese, transforming into a different type of product disease.

In this case, it will be correct to maintain normal temperature and relative humidity in your home. But what to do with the bread itself - not to buy at all?

Useful and harmless will be the product that you bake yourself, - advises Olga Potanina. - And preferably from the highest grades of flour and without yeast. The latter just create an excellent environment for the development of the fungus. Ideally, of course, completely exclude this product from the diet, because there is no panacea in this matter.

Grandma's Secrets

But grandmothers' bread did not grow moldy and remained usable for a long time, although it was stale. What has changed in recent decades?

Nothing has changed, our grandmothers just dried the bread a little, - Olga Potanina comments. - Remember - grandmother brought home bread, it is a little wet, and she puts it in the oven for a couple of minutes. In dried bread, the development of mold stops, just as with light freezing - many people store bread in the refrigerator.

According to the expert, storage is not affected by the presence of a package of bread, and even vice versa - very often it is the bread in the bag that begins to become moldy, as moisture begins to evaporate from the bread and high humidity is created. And if the packaging has special holes so that the bread "breathes", then there is already a risk of infection from external factors.

I repeat - there is no panacea, - Olga Potanina insists. - You can protect yourself by observing the basic rules for storing the product at home, but no one can guarantee that you have bought a really high-quality product. Bread is not an industry that can be influenced by state supervision or inspections - the product is cheap and no one is particularly worried about the proper rules in its production. And even if you buy a more expensive roll, this does not mean quality, it just means that the flour is a little more expensive and the packaging is a little more beautiful - that's all.

By the way

We sold our grain, we eat imported

The grain from which bread is made in Ukraine is imported. Everything that is grown on Ukrainian soil of high quality is exported, in return, cheap grain is bought from the "neighbors".

There is another production secret: almost 20% of moldy bread that is returned to production is processed and re-added to the raw materials for baking a new batch - a vicious circle covered with mold.

If the bread does not mold for a long time even with improper storage, do not rush to rejoice - it means that the product contains a sufficient amount of antifungal drugs, which is also not the norm.

Important!

Storage rules

Black and white bread cannot be stored together. Otherwise, the rapid growth of potato sticks is guaranteed. It is better to separate two types of bread, either in different sections in the bread box, or in different paper bags. The use of polymeric materials is doubtful.

Breadbaskets, cutting boards and knives should be washed more often with a 3% solution of vinegar, not forgetting to subsequently wash the surface with soapy water and dry thoroughly.

You can extend the freshness of bread with an apple, or a peeled potato slice, or, at worst, with a handful of salt. At the same time, they must be changed periodically, and even salt, which tends to become damp. If there is no bread box at home, store bread in a clean wooden or enamel bowl, and in the summer in the refrigerator.

Remember: if there is mold on the bun, you can’t cut it off the crust and still can’t use it. After all, microorganisms have already managed to penetrate inside the bread. Frying the bun on fire will not help either - only the outer part of the mold will burn.

You can prevent mold with iodine. To do this, apply 5-10 drops of iodine to a cotton swab and put it in a small pharmacy bottle, covering it with a clean piece of cotton wool on top. Put the bubble together with bread in a bag and tie tightly. Iodine creates unfavorable conditions for mold, while the taste of bread does not deteriorate at all.

Mold stains, if such have already appeared on the bread box or in the refrigerator, are removed with a damp cloth and then wiped with table vinegar.

Mold can appear on bread for several reasons:

1) The development of mold on bread is promoted by high temperature and humidity in the room. At a temperature of 25-30 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 65-80%, mold on bread develops at a high rate. Fungi flying in the air, falling on the surface of the bread, in such favorable conditions begin to multiply, while releasing mycotoxins.

Mycotoxins are an extremely dangerous type of toxins that, when they enter the human body, can cause gene mutation of cells, and also cause intoxication. The mold that appears on the crust of bread has time to hit the whole crumb. Therefore, bread on which traces of mold have appeared should be thrown away; it is not suitable for eating.

2) Storing bread in a plastic bag. There is no ventilation in deaf bags, so mold infects bread very quickly.

3) The third reason for the appearance of mold on bread does not depend on the buyer, but is a consequence of violations of production technology. The fact is that unscrupulous producers use low-quality raw materials, violate the rules for storing raw materials, as well as the bread production technology.

Note that white bread molds faster than black bread. The reason is less acidity, therefore, all other things being equal, mold infects white bread faster.

To avoid the appearance of mold on bread, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

1) Keep the bread box or cupboard where bread is stored clean. Wipe with ethyl alcohol at least once a week.

2) Make sure that the kitchen is not too hot or humid. Ventilate the room more often.

3) Sprinkle a little salt in the corner or put a slice of peeled potato in the corner to prevent dampness in the bread box.

4) Store the bread in small-hole bags or in a linen towel.

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Comments

From personal experience. I found an easy way to rid bread from mold. Wrap the purchased loaf in foil and heat it at 200 degrees in an air grill or oven. Let it cool in foil. This kills mold and fungal spores. Expand. Keep in a bag. The bread will never get moldy.

Why does store-bought bread get moldy quickly?

Take a closer look at the slice of bread: if it is heterogeneous in color and structure, it is likely that unsold bread is mixed into the dough in time (it is crumbled into fresh dough and baked). There are a couple more options: a broken release date and a violation of storage conditions in the store (many times I saw packaged bread lying in the sun, already all sweaty).

Be careful when choosing bread, and, best of all, buy fresh small format every day. Then the mold simply does not have time to hit him.

The reasons for the appearance of mold are quite clear.

My experience of living in southern countries by the sea taught me to store bread only in the refrigerator. When serving, I lightly toast the bread in a toaster or (if it is a whole French loaf) I cut it into large pieces and slightly heat it in the microwave.

In France, the average family buys fresh loaves from a bakery on their day off, cuts them into halves (which is about how much a family eats at dinner) and freezes them. All week, these halves are taken out and heated in the oven. Then warm bread is not cut, but broken.

In Malta, they also often freeze bread in the freezer by buying several packages. There are simply no other options for preserving bread in 40-degree heat and high humidity. But in Malta, they usually heat up in the microwave - so the consumption of electricity is less.

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Mold on bread, in addition to the reasons mentioned above, is also formed due to the technical backwardness of bakeries.

In particular, from the number of touches of bread with the hands of workers from the exit from the oven to packaging or, if there is no packaging, before entering the store. If the bakery is sufficiently automated, then the bread after baking goes immediately to the cooler, and then to the machine for packaging in polypropylene film or in a plastic bag. The latter is preferable, because if the bread is not cooled enough (which, by the way, is another reason for mold), then the remaining moisture will come out through the clip that holds the bag. Each touch of bread with hands, even if wearing mittens and gloves, is the transfer of pathogenic microflora to the product.

I myself have worked at a bakery for almost 10 years and therefore prefer factory machine-packed bread, even if bread from bakeries looks more attractive.