Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’

Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by RankingMember on Friday August 30, 2019 @11:12AM (#20839368)

This seems counter to my experience with bread. I wonder if it differs based on bread type. The whole grain stuff I buy grows mold noticeably faster if left out compared with being stored in the fridge.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by RussianCow on Friday August 30, 2019 @11:15AM (#20839404)

By "stays fresh" I think the OP means "doesn't go stale", not that it doesn't go moldy. Bread in the fridge dries out considerably faster than bread sitting out.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by phonypc on Friday August 30, 2019 @11:26AM (#20839503)

Bread staling is actually somewhat separate from drying. The cooked starch recrystallizes, and it's the low temperature in the fridge that accelerates this.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by eurg on Friday August 30, 2019 @12:57PM (#20840337)

Are you keeping the bread in an open or a closed container, and what's the humidity in the room like? Here at home at 25 deg Celsius and <60% rel. humidity, a correctly stored whole grain bread doesn't grow mold in a week. It's rare that I keep bread that long, though (usually 4 days max). Closed containers don't work well, there needs to be some air exchange.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by AnimalMuppet on Friday August 30, 2019 @01:05PM (#20840427)

What happens if there isn't air exchange? Mold? The bread gets soggy? Something else?

Where I live, it's more like 20% relative humidity, and bread with air exchange dries out.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by eurg on Friday August 30, 2019 @01:22PM (#20840561)

edit: If no air exchange, it dries slower, inviting mold. There is such a thing like an ideal "drying to age" ratio to keep age-related staleness at a minimum w/o having to care for mold. What I mean is, older bread should be drier than fresh bread, not too much, not too little. Correctly kept, it dries out (only after several days) instead of getting moldy.

About your situation: I've to admit that I don't know about keeping bread well in such bad conditions. I'd try a slightly more sealed container, or if that doesn't work, slice and freeze it fresh. Other than that, find uses for dry bread (works perfectly fine in soup, or if white bread, make breadcrumbs etc. etc.).

20% rel. humidity is so low that it is very uncomfortable for humans, even unhealthy for some people. Are you really sure that's your in-house humidity? Outside/inside are often very different, due washed clothes drying, cooking, plants, respiration, and also humidity from the cellars in some buildings.

If yes, and if possible, I'd recommend an air humidifier to get that up to 40% or so. Depending on volume, a $60 unit should be able to do this, even if it will take three weeks until the humidity slowly approaches sensible levels.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by astura on Friday August 30, 2019 @11:15AM (#20839406)

Refrigerated bread doesn't mold as fast, bit it gets stale faster.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by quadyeast on Friday August 30, 2019 @11:52AM (#20839760)

Yup, I would rather have slightly stale than moldy bread. And it does not get that stale that fast.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by notJim on Friday August 30, 2019 @12:09PM (#20839915)

It's weird, in my experience, bread almost never goes stale. It goes bad by going moldy. I wonder if the bread I eat (usually the industrially produced wheat bread) has higher moisture content than breads of yore.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by bryanlarsen on Friday August 30, 2019 @12:28PM (#20840093)

Are you keeping it in a plastic bag? That traps the moisture that lets it mold. A proper bread box is designed to let bread dry out slowly so it doesn't mold.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by phonypc on Friday August 30, 2019 @12:43PM (#20840197)

A lot of what's added to industrial bread is indeed to avoid staling. Doesn't have much to do with moisture.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by notJim on Friday August 30, 2019 @01:11PM (#20840475)

http://www.daveskillerbread.com/100-whole-wheat

> INGREDIENTS: Organic whole wheat (organic whole wheat flour, organic cracked wheat), water, organic dried cane syrup (sugar), organic expeller pressed canola oil, organic wheat gluten, organic molasses, organic cultured whole wheat, sea salt, yeast, organic vinegar.

Is it the vinegar?

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by phonypc on Friday August 30, 2019 @01:23PM (#20840571)

The extra gluten and the relatively large amount of sugar. That bread is also unusual for not including various enzymes and glycerides.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by ska on Friday August 30, 2019 @12:47PM (#20840239)

additives mostly explain it, I expect.

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Re:Much fridge food ‘goes there to die’ by soperj on Friday August 30, 2019 @01:12PM (#20840481)

Do you have it in a plastic bag?

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