Why does fresh bread get hard so fast?

foodterminology

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The local grocery store sells either plain or sweet french baguettes in their bakery department. I noticed that each one got hard by the next morning (when I last purchased one or the other) which is faster than usual. I try to keep them tightly sealed in the plastic bags they are sold in between uses. Is it possible that they are using different ingredients or might it be something else? Thank you.
 
You could try wrapping them individually in cling film + the plastic bags. It helps but they all seem to dry out pretty quickly.
 
The local grocery store sells either plain or sweet french baguettes in their bakery department. I noticed that each one got hard by the next morning (when I last purchased one or the other) which is faster than usual. I try to keep them tightly sealed in the plastic bags they are sold in between uses. Is it possible that they are using different ingredients or might it be something else? Thank you.
Just out of curiosity, where are you in the USA? That can also be a factor.
You don't know how old they really are. Also if they were packaged while still hot, they lost moisture before you ever got it home. Also fresh bread goes stale much quicker than factory breads because there are no preservatives.
Might I recommend making french toast or bread pudding.
 
Bread is a bit of a mystery to me. I usually make a loaf at least once, sometimes twice a week. If I leave it out on the counter the crust stays crusty. If I bag it and put in in the bread bin the crust goes soft. I have noticed that 'artisan' loaves in shops are never bagged yet remain crusty also, unlike factory made bread to which the opposite seems to apply.
 
Not all bread is created equally. Bread that contains oil and eggs will stay moist longer.
 
If we buy French loaves they are virtually straight from the oven and any or part of any that are not being eaten that day go immediately into the freezer. Unfortunately, they only stay good for about 2 - 3 weeks in the freezer.
 
Proper French baguettes never keep well - I think they're designed to be eaten that day and a fresh one bought the next day....so maybe your shop is trying to emulate the originals :wink:

I've found rustic style or baguette de campagne can last a little longer, but even they will go fairly chewy by evening and be tough the next day. I remember from childhood holidays you used to be able to buy cotton baguette bags to help keep them fresh, but I've not seen them recently so I've idea whether they actually work or not. I think buying fresh bread each day is almost part of the French identity - I love that in villages too small to have their own boulangerie or on campsites there's almost always a bread van that does the rounds first thing in the morning.
 
You could try wrapping them individually in cling film + the plastic bags. It helps but they all seem to dry out pretty quickly.

That's curious..when I put bread in plastic bags it become like a sponge. Now I have changed the method and it works better than plastic bag: closed in its paper bag in the pantry. Or sliced and stored in the freezer and then warmed in the oven when I need.
 
Proper French baguettes never keep well - I think they're designed to be eaten that day and a fresh one bought the next day....so maybe your shop is trying to emulate the originals :wink:

I've found rustic style or baguette de campagne can last a little longer, but even they will go fairly chewy by evening and be tough the next day. I remember from childhood holidays you used to be able to buy cotton baguette bags to help keep them fresh, but I've not seen them recently so I've idea whether they actually work or not. I think buying fresh bread each day is almost part of the French identity - I love that in villages too small to have their own boulangerie or on campsites there's almost always a bread van that does the rounds first thing in the morning.
I think King Arthur Flour sells those bags.
I do wish the OP would come back and answer my questions.
If he is in a dry climate, his bread will dry out super fast.
If he is buying it from a couple of places, the bread isn't actually baked on site but brought in from a central location.
 
Baguettes are made differently from ordinary bread. The dough is moist and contains no fat or sugar, and is cooked in a steam oven (or in an ordinary oven with a large bowl of hot water). Traditionally, it was also never made to be kept but eaten on the day. I have frozen leftover bread but it doesn't keep long even in the freezer - it tends to go quite hard if frozen for too long and then falls apart on thawing out.

As for ordinary bread, I make my own - two small loaves rather than one large one, one of which goes in the freezer. A small loaf lasts me 2-3 days, and takes very little time to thaw out. I keep my bread fresh by putting it in one of those large plastic sweet containers that seem to appear miraculously at Christmas time.

As @Cinisajoy said, most bread sold in supermarkets and even your local baker's is brought in from a central location these days. It doesn't seem or taste the same as bread made and/or baked on site, and any commercially made bread usually has a disgusting amount of salt and sugar in it to preserve it and keep it fresher longer.
 
Just out of curiosity, where are you in the USA? That can also be a factor.
You don't know how old they really are. Also if they were packaged while still hot, they lost moisture before you ever got it home.
Sorry for the delay. I am in the U.S.A. and they are often packaged while still hot.
 
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