Food expert shares why you shouldn’t keep bread in the fridge

Loaves of bread are notorious for running out of steam before you’ve got round to eating the whole thing, sometimes growing mouldy before their expiration date.

With that in mind, it’s common and sensible to stick it in the freezer. There’s a bit of minor inconvenience if you need to defrost it, but it isn’t something that a couple of minutes in a toaster won’t fix.

But if you go for the halfway-house between the cupboard and freezer by sticking your bread in the fridge, you might want to stop doing that.

Emmy-winning journalist and Instagram life hacks expert Lora (@lorafied) has explained that it’s actually counter-productive.

A one-way ticket to dry bread

Lora regularly shares money-saving lifestyle tips with her 1.2 million followers on Instagram, and she’s warned that keeping bread in the fridge is a shortcut to staleness.

“Are you still putting your bread in the refrigerator?” she asks in one of her videos before revealing that “it can stale twice as fast in here”.

Lisa Young, a nutritionist and adjunct professor at New York University, told marthastewart.com that cold temperatures make the bread’s starch re-crystallise and dry out.

The result is stale bread, but it can be slowed down if it’s wrapped tightly in plastic.

Freezing it, however, is a great option. Not only does it prevent the bread from spoiling, but it doesn’t go stale either. Be careful of leaving it in there for two long, though, as it may get some freezer burn that will make it much less palatable.

As her 1.2 million subscribers will attest, Lora is full of tips for making things go further in the kitchen.

“Tomatoes do best between [18 and 29 degrees Celsius],” she says. “So the last place you want to leave these guys is the fridge.

“Grab a paper towel and store these guys stem side down."

Stick it in the freezer instead

Spuds aren’t fridge-friendly either: “The potatoes can end up a little gritty and even a little sweet, which is kind of strange.

“Toss those guys in a bag and wrap it up.”

She also advises against keeping honey, garlic, onions and olive oil in the fridge.

If you’re keen to keep your food fresh for longer, it’s a great idea to do a bit of research into where each thing is best-kept. Who knows? Maybe you’ll save a load of money by sparing yourself some prematurely rotted grub.