What is the longest lasting white pan loaf and how best to keep it fresh

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beaky

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Really need to figure out which brand of bread will last longest and under what conditions. Very tired of throwing out bread and not in favour of buying half pans as they are expensive. But there are only two adults and no kids in the household so regularily throw out bread to the hens, usually when the mould appears after 3 days. And yes we keep our bread in a bread bin. I dont mind it going stale after 2 days. I will eat somewhat stale or hard bread as toast. But mouldy the next day and still a third left!!!!

So what is the advice on product and storage please.
 
I found the Tesco one to last really long, the guts of a week... not sure of the exact name but it's in a very distinctive green and silver 'shiny' type packaging.
 
Know how you feel. Green dots on it after only a couple of days. I think they must put them into the packaging whilst the bread is still roasting hot and then condensation builds up.

Lidl have a sliced pan that it called "longlife bread" or something to that effect. It is in a green and silver foil packaging. However, it has a bit of a doughy texture and whilst it does stay fresh for a whole week, it isn't as nice as say "Brennans".

I think it's only 79 cents as far as I recall, so it's worth a shot.
 
There's a lot of preservatives added to bread to make it last and chances are the longer it lasts, the more chemicals have been added.
Keeping it in the fridge works well. You can always freeze bread as well - works fine if you're toasting it.
 
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I keep mine in the freezer and take out a couple of slices when I need them (we're not big bread eaters). Toasting from frozen is great but for a sandwich, I defrost them in the microwave.
 
I tend to prefer bread with no preservatives. Why not divide the large pan into sections, take out what you need, freeze the rest and then in turn take out the next little packet :D the night before you need it and leave it to defrost overnight. Butter also gets the same treatment, small section divide - hate the taste and look of "yellow" butter after it has been left in the dish for too long.
 
Tesco own brand one in the shiny rapper costs about 80 cent and lasts around a week.
 
Pat The Baker white sliced seems to freeze/thaw well and come out as fresh as new. Some white bread when frozen seems to dry out and become adversely affected by the freezing process.
 
We buy brennans white or JM and O'B white and and are trying to get into the habit of immediately putting half in the freezer. When the other half is running out you can take out the night before.
 
I bought 'Hovis - No Crust' for something different last Friday, by Sunday morning it was dotty green!!

I know they are not as common anymore, but at home we had a breadbin. Would it be worth investing in one of these?

G
 
Wrapped bread is supposed to have a 4 day shelf life. Some people don't think to check the date when they are buying bread. They just squeeze it - a baker told me that's a waste of time. Bread that is soft to the touch might just have excessive water in it, he said. Check the date on the wrapper if it "goes off" before the best before date bring it back.

I've a wooden bread bin, it's fine for storage, but it doesn't do the bread much good. In fact it probably causes it to go stale quicker:(

Current favourite bread Tesco's Rye and Sunflower - but we'll eventually get tired of that
 
Agree totally with the freezing. I also got annoyed with throwing out bread. There are just 2 of us in the house too and I regularly freeze slices of brown soda bread or sliced pans. Buy any good sliced bread that you like. I wouldn't look for any special long-life stuff. I'd rather choose something based on the taste and the ingredients. You can toast directly from frozen, or get used to remembering to taking a few slices out of the freezer and leave them out in a plastic container overnight to defrost naturally. Defrosting in a microwave is pretty quick too.
I've frozen lots of different kinds and they all froze and defrosted perfectly.
If you don't want to generate freezer bag waste, you can save plastic Chinese takeaway containers and use those for freezing a couple of small slices. They're good for a few slices of those sliced brown soda varieties.

(I also freeze cartons of milk successfully, although they take ages to defrost. I just wish I could freeze lettuce, tomatoes, avocodos... )
 
forget about that white poison . get some of the lifeforce brand . They last nearly 2 weeks.
 
I don't like using the microwave to defrost bread. I freeze the whole loaf and if I'm making a sandwich I take out 2 slices and put them in the toaster but don't turn it on. Or you could put them on a baking rack if you need a lot. This is so that the air can get to them and the moisture evaporates and they don't get soggy underneath which happens if you just leave them on a plate to defrost. It takes about 15 to 30 min to defrost and I do something else while I'm waiting. Bread is then as fresh as I bought it. If I'm really in a hurry I sometimes put them on a lukewarm radiator and turn them over - this works best with bread rolls. If I forget to leave out the butter the night before I put a bit in the microwave to soften it up - not with the wrapper on obviously.
 
why not bake your own bread...my wife does it all the time and it tastes great...good feeling too like growing your own veg.
 
Not to sure about Brennana bread. Depending on where and when you buy it, it can be gorgeous or it can be very disappointing. I often wonder why the consistency is not there. Lately we have gone for SuperValu own brand bread. It has the thumbs up from everyone in the family and it's shelf life seems to be longer than the others.
 
I find M&S bread last the longest and also tastes best. Its usually dated a couple of days sell by date but can last up to four.
 
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