Hacker News Reader

Comment by jnellis | Hacker News Reader

I've been making two loaves a week, sourdough and rye, for over a year now. After they cool overnight they go in the fridge for a couple hours just to make slicing them easier, then they get bagged and go in the freezer. This seems like it maintains 'freshness' the best. The toaster is more or less set to defrost a frozen slice on the first run and toast it on the second. Ironically, the starter mix does live in the fridge on a daily basis, never goes stale and never goes bad.

View on HN

I have three kids and have been baking bread for over a decade— I do 4-5 loaves at once, and it's a mix of white, wheat, sourdough, and regular yeast. Between toast for breakfast and maybe grilled cheese the next day for lunch, we can wipe out a loaf in 24 hours, so I don't bother with the individual-slice freezing thing and just freeze/defrost whole loaves at once. Once defrosted, it lives in a grocery bag in the fridge so that we get more than a day or two on the off-chance that it is forgotten about.

For any other home bakers out there, definitely grab a set of the Nordic Ware pans— they're worth every penny and so much more a joy to use than other thin-walled ones which rust, peel, and warp.

Nothing beats grilled cheese on sourdough (assuming that is the same as “cheese on toast”). Your kids are lucky.

I’m very similar, even my toaster method! I bake bread for the household once a week. 1 kilo of flour, 2 loaves. Sliced up and frozen within an hour or so of coming out of the oven.

I don’t understand how a sourdoughs starter could go stale though, as it’s a liquid, not bread?

My starter recently got the orange streak of doom, and I’m back to an overnight biga artisan bread.

I avoid the fridge as it definitely stales homemade bread, and leaving it out too long ends up chasing mould. Freezer is the best option for sure.

It’s interesting how different breads made at home go stale. Sourdough does lasts a few days. Focaccia ages terribly and is stale after a day. Ciabatta ages really well and is still good days later. The ciabatta is made with tipo 00 flour.

So you slice the whole loaf after the hours in the fridge and before going in the freezer?

Or you use a power saw to slice it after taking out of the freezer?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com