Non-plastic alternatives for bread storage?

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GaryBishop on 9 Feb 2025 at 15:51

Following up on Microplastics accumulation in human brains does anyone have suggestions for plastic free bread storage?

My plastic bags do a great job of keeping my bread fresh but I don't need more plastic in my brain. 

Gary

I bought a bamboo bread box from Amazon about 1 1/2 years ago. Very satisfied with it. However, the model that I bought is no longer available. Searching Amazon for bamboo bread box yields lots of results with different shapes and sizes. I recommend buying a model with a sturdy flat top. You then can save on counter space by storing other kitchen items on top of the box (for example, my spice rack).

That's near the top of my list too, Gary. I imagine all the handling, creasing, twisting, etc. to be a particle-creation-fest. And not just for storage here, but 1/3 of everything I bake gets handed to a friend or relative, so it has to be a bag or wrapping.

My son suggested cheese paper:

https://www.formaticum.com/pages/faq?srsltid=AfmBOoo5vCatfs3VQTZe6ix07enojGvRO4PAKXpfV9-pOFPIUM4fNdXk

I'm thinking along the lines of good 'ol waxed paper bags (without the plastic viewing window).

 

On Amazon these are described:

  • Lock in freshness with our paper/poly duplex construction

 

Does poly mean plastic? I can't find the definition of "Dubl Wax®"

this is what bagcraft says: 
"Dubl Wax®: We use two different technologies to create Dubl Wax® paper. Our bags are coated on one side with heavy wax and on the other side with dry wax, which provides a strong moisture and moderate oxygen barrier to keep baked goods fresh longer. Our Dubl Wax® deli papers are aggressively infused with wax to provide a smooth uniform high- performance moisture barrier."

I've tried waxing my own cloth, but it still lets moisture through faster than I'd like. I know bread is at it's absolute best within 48hrs of baking, but that's too often for me (at least unless/until the family gets big enough to be actually eating a loaf every day or two). My current best compromise is to put the bread in a plain paper bag, and then put that paper bag inside a gallon ziploc bag. My thinking is that, since the bread isn't in direct contact with the plastic, microplastic contamination is minimized.

I'm hoping to build myself a wooden bread box to fit my batards and 9" Pullman loaves some time this year. My wife bought me a bamboo bread box a year or two ago, but the door didn't fit tightly enough to keep the bread from drying out as if it was just out on the counter.

My standards for average cross-sectional area put a lower bound on the appropriate volume of a loaf of bread, due to the square-cube law. Pre-heating the oven to 450F also isn't free. Believe it or not, not everyone has the same experiences and priorities that you do, and your quippy, one-size-fits-all answers are rarely - if ever - helpful to anyone. Enjoy!

These days I bake mostly Pullman loaves with the lid on. It occurs to me that I could store cooled loaves in the cleaned and dried pan if I had a tight fitting lid. The normal lid might do the job; the gaps are pretty small.