The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 762

DRYING VERSUS STALING Drying and staling are not the same thing Here’s the difference: • Drying involves the evaporation of moisture from within a piece of bread The structure of the bread remains more or less the same, though it become less pliable because of the moisture loss Dry, not stale, bread will be crisp like a cracker and crumble into a fine powder Bread that has dried out is very hard to refresh • Staling is the process by which moisture migrates out of swollen starch granules and into the spaces in the bread The moisture-deprived starch molecules then recrystallize, forming tough structures within the bread Stale, not dry, bread will taste leathery and chewy, not crackery or dry Bread that has staled can be refreshed by heating it, causing the starch granules to reabsorb moisture It’s quite possible for bread to stale without drying— just think about what happens to a loaf of preservative-free bread when you place it in the refrigerator overnight Staling actually occurs much faster at cooler temperatures, which is why your bread will become leathery and chewy by the next morning no matter how tightly it was wrapped In order to prevent both staling and drying, it’s best to store bread tightly wrapped on the countertop or in a bread box if you’re going to eat it within a day or two For long-term storage, wrap your loaves in foil and pop ’em into the freezer This will freeze the internal water molecules, preventing them from migrating out of the bread and thus stopping it from staling Reheat frozen bread in a 300°F oven, wrapped in its foil, until warmed through  ... storage, wrap your loaves in foil and pop ’em into the freezer This will freeze the internal water molecules, preventing them from migrating out of the bread and thus stopping it from staling Reheat... will become leathery and chewy by the next morning no matter how tightly it was wrapped In order to prevent both staling and drying, it’s best to store bread tightly wrapped on the countertop or in a bread box if you’re going to eat it... stopping it from staling Reheat frozen bread in a 300°F oven, wrapped in its foil, until warmed through