Bread Tips

I love homemade bread! If I never had to buy store-bought bread again I'd be happy. Here are some tips I've found:

-Spray the bread with cooking spray to keep the crust moist (other recipe books have suggested brushing with milk or butter, but I've never tried this).

-Slice your bread with an electric knife (turkey carver). It helps to not crush the bread and is so much less work (but does have a tendency to spray the crumbs further).

-Especially for bread machine bread, I've found it best to allow the bread to cool and then bag it up for a few hours before slicing. This softens the crust, keeps the bread more moist and also seems to help the flavor.

-Again, for bread machine bread, I often (thinly) slice off the bottom of the loaf because it is pretty tough. If you use an electric knife this is pretty easy to do without wasting a slice of bread. For breads with thick crusts I often trim the sides as well (the top is always fine).

-Store homemade bread in the freezer unless you plan to eat it in a day or two. It will taste fresh whenever you pull it out to eat it and easily defrosts in a fridge in a few hours. We make our sandwiches all at the same time and freeze them so it makes it much easier to prepare lunches for the work day.