On Saturday you buy a lovely loaf at the bakery, and on Wednesday half of it is still left. Throwing it away feels like a waste, but waiting another day won’t make it any better. Freezing is the smartest choice. Provided you do it right, because bread from the freezer can taste just as good as fresh bread – but it can also come out dry, chewy or covered in white patches.
Here’s how to freeze bread so that it still tastes freshly baked after defrosting. And which packaging worked best by far in our tests.
Why freezing works so well
Bread goes stale because the starch slowly binds moisture and hardens. This is called retrogradation (you can read more about it in Keeping bread fresh for longer: 7 tips). At -18 °C that process virtually stops. So what you put into the freezer comes out roughly the way it went in.
That leads straight to the most important rule: freeze bread as fresh as possible. A loaf that has already been on the worktop for three days won’t suddenly become fresh again in the freezer.
How to freeze bread properly
- Let freshly baked bread cool first | Warm bread still gives off steam. In the freezer that turns into ice, which makes the bread soggy after defrosting.
- Slice it before freezing | Then you only take out the slices you need later. You can freeze a whole loaf too, but then you have to defrost it all at once.
- Wrap it as airtight as possible | Air is the biggest enemy in the freezer. Press the air out of the packaging and close it well.
- Freeze it quickly | Don’t put the bread on top of a pile, but where the cold can reach it quickly. The faster it freezes, the smaller the ice crystals and the better the texture is preserved.
What is freezer burn, and how do you prevent it?
You can recognise freezer burn by dry, white or grey patches on the bread. It happens when moisture evaporates from the bread and ends up as ice in the packaging. That happens mainly when there’s air in the packaging, or when the freezer is opened and closed often.
Freezer burn isn’t unhealthy, but it makes bread dry and tasteless. You prevent it with well-sealed packaging without air inside, and by not freezing bread for longer than necessary.
Which packaging works best?
- Single-use freezer bag | Seals well, but becomes waste after one use.
- Kitchen foil | Seals reasonably well, but tears easily and then lets air in.
- Paper or cotton bag | Not suitable for the freezer. They let air and moisture through, so your bread gets freezer burn sooner.
- Reusable rPET bread bag | Our winner. The Broodnodig bread bag can go straight into the freezer and closes tightly around the bread with a buckle, so as little air as possible gets in. After use, machine wash it at 30 °C.
How long can you freeze bread?
About three months without noticing any loss of quality. After that it’s still safe to eat, but it slowly dries out further. Write the date on it if you like, or keep a fixed spot in the freezer so the oldest bread gets used first.
Defrosting bread so it tastes fresh
- Slices | Toast them straight from the freezer, or leave them on the worktop for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Half or whole loaf | Let it defrost for a few hours at room temperature, in its packaging. That keeps the moisture in the bread rather than on the crust.
- Bring back a crisp crust | Put the defrosted bread in an oven at 180 °C for 5 to 10 minutes. The crust turns crisp again and the crumb soft.
- Preferably not in the microwave | Bread quickly turns chewy and unevenly warm in there.
Don’t refreeze defrosted bread. It loses too much moisture and flavour.
Tested: why the bread bag works best in the freezer
We tested our bread bag in the freezer alongside the ordinary plastic bread bags from the bakery and the supermarket. We left paper and cotton out of the test, because they aren’t suitable for the freezer anyway. The bread bag came out best:
- No slices frozen together | The slices don’t stick together. You can easily take one out without prising them apart.
- No broken slices | Because you don’t have to pull, the slices don’t break and the bread stays whole.
- No freezer burn | The bread bag closes tightly around the bread. After defrosting, we saw no dry, white patches.
- One bag for everything | You use the same bag on the worktop and in the freezer. When the bread is finished, wash the bag and use it again. No more separate freezer bags.
Want to try it yourself? Take a look at the Broodnodig reusable bread bag. Still choosing between a bread bin and a bread bag? Then read Bread bin or bread bag?.
Frequently asked questions
Can you freeze bread?
Yes, almost any bread can go in the freezer: white, wholemeal, sourdough, baguette and currant buns. Freeze it as fresh as possible and wrap it well.
How long does bread keep in the freezer?
About three months without any noticeable loss of quality. After that it’s still safe, but it slowly dries out.
Should you slice bread before freezing it?
It’s certainly handy. Then you only take out the slices you need, and the rest stays frozen.
What’s the best way to defrost bread?
Toast slices straight from the freezer. Let a whole loaf defrost for a few hours at room temperature in its packaging, then put it in the oven briefly for a crisp crust.
Can you refreeze defrosted bread?
Preferably not. Bread loses moisture and flavour every time it’s defrosted.
What’s the best thing to freeze bread in?
Packaging that closes tightly around the bread. In our tests, the reusable Broodnodig bread bag worked best: no slices frozen together or broken, and no freezer burn.