Whether you’ve put the time and care into baking your own bread from scratch or spent your hard-earned cash on a loaf at the store there’s nothing worse than pulling out a few slices and seeing mold. It happens all too often and all too quickly and while there are steps you can take to extend the life of your bread like storing it properly you can also keep your eyes peeled for some telltale warning signs. Think of these as warnings telling you to use it up freeze it or plan on making a batch of French toast—fast—before the carbs run out.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 ChainBaker | 2022-10-02 15:00:19 |  65,070 Views |
Is my bread done? How do you know when bread is completely baked?
Nathan Myhrvold founder of Modernist Cuisine and lead author of the Modernist Cuisine cookbook series is an expert on all of these topics. He literally wrote the book (and several others) on bread—including his recent cookbook Modernist Bread at Home . Myhrvold explains that even properly stored bread will go bad within a few days. But before it’s too late and you have to toss it you can keep an eye out for signs of moisture redistribution he says—a fancy way of saying that bread gets dry or soggy in spots as it nears the end of its life. Bread that ages also gets stale which is different from simply drying out and is a precursor to further aging.
Nathan Myhrvold knows how to make a good loaf and he’s also an expert at spotting a loaf that’s starting to lose its shine. He points to moisture redistribution as a telltale sign explaining that this means the once-crisp crust is becoming tough as moisture moves around the bread or the whole thing dries out. Dry bread can still taste good—and sometimes even better (think croutons or bread pudding) but it’s a sure sign that decay has set in and mold is lurking.
Stale bread is another sign of spoilage when it is dry and dehydrated losing its springy squishy feel and becoming brittle and crumbly in texture. Not to mention losing its fresh taste. This involves a whole other process where chemical changes occur in the starches at the molecular level.
