Why Do Some Breads Dry Out Faster Than Others
I’ve been home-baking bread on and off for 15 years. I started with commercial yeast breads, and then followed The Bread Baker’s Apprentice and focused on sourdough (levain) breads. Eventually, I got tired of maintaining a starter and started following Ken Forkish’s simple yeast recipes in Flour Salt Water Yeast.
Over the years, I’ve noticed different loaves keep for different durations. Some, like a baguette (which I have never baked myself), seem to dry out instantly, but others keep for days or even weeks.
While different loaves might dry out faster than others, they all go through a similar aging process. In commercial bread, additives in the loaf maintain a soft loaf no matter how old the bread is. In bakery bread, anything from ingredients like butter or oil to the baking process can affect how the loaf ages.
How Bread Ages: Starch Retrogradation
When a loaf comes out of the oven, as tempting as it is to cut right into it, it is not finished baking. The centre is likely a sticky mass of starches. As the bread cools, the crust thickens, and the starches solidify into the part of the bread that bakers call the “crumb” through a process called “starch retrogradation.”
Starch retrogradation is the process of moisture leaving the starch molecules, causing the starches to crystallize. This means every loaf has a sweetspot where the starches are just right for eating before the crumb firms up too much.
Essentially, from the moment a loaf comes out of the oven, it starts to go stale. Eat it too soon, and you get sticky dough; too late, and you get a stale, crunchy bread.
Ingredients that Prevent Bread from Going Stale
- High-protein flour retains more moisture, which is one reason you want to use hard flour or bread flour.
- Butter, oil, milk, and eggs cling to moisture and break up the retrogradation process.
- Sweetened breads with extra sugars will attract moisture into the loaf—one reason a typical loaf from a mechanical bread maker might last longer than one from a bakery.
- Commercial loaves from the grocery store have all kinds of additional additives to maintain a “just right” loaf.
Processes that Prevent Bread from Going Stale
During fermentation, starches are broken down in a sourdough loaf, which means the bread will stale more slowly.
Additionally, the way you bake your bread can change things. Bread with a thin crust will lose moisture faster than one with a thick crust.
Storage makes a huge difference! Starches crystallize faster at cool temperatures but stop below freezing. It is better to store your bread on the counter or in the freezer than it is to store it in the fridge.
Things I Learned
Most of this blog post felt like intuitive knowledge I had gathered from reading The Bread Baker’s Apprentice and Flour Salt Water Yeast cover to cover a few times. I confirmed my knowledge and the technical wording by referencing Why Some Breads Go Stale So Quickly (and How to Delay It).
I knew there was a technical term for “going stale,” and that article taught me the term “Starch retrogradation.” I had no idea, though, that putting bread in the fridge made things worse! I recall Peter Reinhardt and Ken Forkish are both very particular, though, about storing in the right conditions.
Protein content (gluten) affects starch retrogradation. I didn't know this, but it makes sense now. If you bake with a low-gluten flour like spelt, your loaf will stale faster than if you use a bread flour.
Reinhardt is okay with a plastic bag, while Forkish is not! Personally, I prefer a plastic bag to soften up the crust a bit. I like a good Forkish loaf, but the crust sometimes cuts the top of my mouth.