The 24 to 36 hour ferment that makes this loaf sit light on your gut is also why nothing in it is built to last. It behaves like food, not like packaging.
Two or three small habits and it stays that way.
Storing sourdough on the counter
Paper, or a cloth bread bag. Never plastic: it traps moisture against the crust, and in a day or two you get mould instead of bread.
Stand it on the board once you have started it. The loaf seals its own opening and the crust protects the rest.
That is the bread drying gently, not spoiling, and it is when it makes the best toast of its life.
Never the fridge. A fridge makes a loaf stale faster than the counter does. Cold is not the same thing as fresh. The counter for this week, the freezer for anything longer, and nothing in between.
Freezing sourdough bread
Sliced is far more useful on a weekday morning than a frozen brick.
Wrap it and press the air out. In the freezer that trapped moisture is exactly what you want.
Thawing and reheating
2 hours + 7 min
Out of the bag first, then room temperature. Thawing inside plastic leaves condensation on the crust. Then 7 minutes at 350℉ to bring the crust back.
7 to 10 minutes
No thawing at all. Straight from the freezer into the toaster, or 350℉ in the oven or air fryer. Most people cannot tell.
Five days on the counter in paper or a cloth bag, and up to 30 days in the freezer. It has no preservatives, so it behaves like food rather than packaging.
No. A fridge makes a loaf stale faster than the counter does, because refrigerator temperatures speed up the staling of starch. The counter for this week, the freezer for anything longer.
Yes, and it freezes well for up to 30 days. Freeze it early rather than late, whole, halved or sliced. Wrap it in plastic and press the air out: in the freezer that trapped moisture is what you want.
Keep it out of plastic on the counter, and stand it cut side down once you have started it so the loaf seals its own opening.
A whole loaf: out of the bag, two hours at room temperature, then 7 minutes at 350℉. A single slice needs no thawing at all, straight into the toaster.
The same guide as one printable page.
Download the PDF Order the next loaf