
Bread is a staple food for countless people throughout the world. More than that, it’s considered one of the oldest foods in human history, one that has huge cultural significance and has been used in countless ways throughout the years. It’s also an ingredient many of us can’t imagine living without.
The benefits are easy to see, as bread is portable, is energy dense, and is made from long lasting ingredients. What’s more, bread can be used as the vehicle for countless ingredients, giving rise to a huge number of types of sandwiches, not to mention dishes like French bread, stuffing, and bread pudding.
Yet, for all its benefits, bread is highly perishable. If made without preservatives, many loaves will last for just a few days. Commercially made bread with preservatives last longer, perhaps a week, but that’s as far as it goes.
That’s why we’re looking at how to freeze bread. Doing so helps to extend the shelf life, to between three and six months. Thawed bread is also surprisingly similar to the fresh version. This even means you can buy extra bread on special and freeze some of it immediately.
Freezing bread is as simple as putting a loaf in the freezer, but you need to be sure to wrap it well so there’s no freezer burn. In this post, we will step you through the specifics and what you can expect when you freeze your bread.
How To Freeze Bread
Freezing bread is as simple as wrapping it well and putting it in the freezer. But, as you’ll see, there are some complexities to think about, ones that will influence the quality of your bread.
Freezing Bread – The Steps

Step One: Slice The Bread (if desired)
The first step in freezing bread is to think about how you want it. Do you want to freeze an entire unsliced loaf, a sliced loaf, or individual slices of bread? Knowing this will impact how you prep the bread.
An unsliced loaf may freeze a little better, but it’s also less practical. Because of this, many people choose to slice the bread first. This allows them to simply remove a couple of slices when they want bread, rather than defrosting the entire loaf. That said, slices on a frozen loaf sometimes stick together, which can be frustrating.
Finally, you can freeze slices of bread in their own small bags (perhaps two to four slices per bag). Doing so allows you to just pull out a bag when you want bread, rather than trying to separate slices from the loaf.
Step Two: Wrap The Bread Well
Next, you need to wrap the bread extremely well. This often involves using two layers of plastic wrap, then either freezer paper or foil.
Focusing on multiple layers like this is essential, as freezer burn seriously messes with the quality of your bread.
Also make sure to remove as much air as possible from the bag. This is another crucial way to prevent freezer burn and preserve bread quality. Once the bread is wrapped, you can place it in the freezer.
One more thing – make sure that your freezer isn’t too full. Too much food in the freezer means that air won’t circulate well, which can lead to uneven freezing and freezer burn.
How To Get The Best Frozen Bread

Freeze The Bread When It’s Fresh
Freezing food simply pauses deterioration and won’t ever improve the quality of your bread. Because of this, it’s best to freeze bread as soon as possible. This way, it tastes as good as it can once thawed.
If you’ve already had the bread for a few days, it might be better to use it now, rather than freezing it.
Make Sure The Bread Is Cool
Also, if you made the bread yourself or purchased it fresh from a bakery, make sure it is completely cool before you freeze it. Otherwise, the bread may freeze unevenly or become soggy once thawed.
Use The Bread Soon Enough
Your bread might be good for up to six months, but most recommendations suggest freezing it for no more than two months. Doing so ensures the best possible quality.
Label The Bread
Labeling the bread helps make sure you use it in ample time. This is crucial, as time slips by so fast sometimes and it’s easy to forget exactly when you first froze the bread.
What Happens When You Freeze Bread?
Bread retains its quality surprisingly well after freezing. However, there is still some moisture loss and changes to the bread’s texture. This often means your bread ends up a little drier and crumblier.
These effects are less noticeable with the processed bread from local stores, due to the additives used. You can also reduce the risk of issues by wrapping the bread tightly and freezing it for no more than three months.
How To Use Frozen Bread

Thaw Slowly
Thawing your bread slowly helps it retain as much of its texture as possible. The easiest way to do this is to thaw the bread in the fridge, although leaving the bread on the counter can work as well.
Try to avoid approaches like the microwave, as it’s too easy to thaw the bread unevenly.
Also, it helps to take the bread out of its freezer bag before you start thawing it. Doing so means water won’t pool in the bag and make the bread soggy.
Use Soon
Bread resumes its usual deterioration once it has thawed. As a result, you’ll typically have just a few days to enjoy the bread. Use it as soon as you can to get the best tasting bread.
Toast It From Frozen
Instead of thawing bread, you can easily toast it before frozen. You’ll need to adjust the settings when doing so, as frozen bread takes longer to toast than fresh bread.
Keep an eye on your toast the first few times you do this, as the bread will sometimes brown unevenly. If this happens with your toaster, you might need to rotate the slices part way through the process.
Put It In The Oven
If you’ve frozen an entire loaf, try putting it in the oven at 325°F for 20 to 30 minutes. Doing so thaws and warms the loaf, bringing it back to life.
Just remember that you can’t freeze any leftover bread. Freezing and thawing your bread once is fine. Doing so twice doesn’t work at all.
Can You Freeze Stale Bread?
Stale bread can be frozen in the same way as fresh bread. But, the bread will be just as stale when you thaw it, so you’re not fixing anything
As such, you should only freeze stale bread if you plan on doing something with it later, like making breadcrumbs, stuffing, or French toast. Be sure to check the bread completely before freezing it, as you don’t want to freeze anything with mold on it.
Do All Types Of Bread Freeze Well?

Most types of bread can be frozen and thawed without an issue. However, some types freeze better than others.
High moisture breads, including challah and ciabatta can become crumbly after thawing. While they’re still edible, the texture isn’t as good as it was prior to freezing.
Sliced bread with fillings or bread with unusual mix-ins may be unsuitable for freezing too. Here, you might see some ingredient separation or dramatic changes in texture.
Delicate breads like croissants also don’t freeze well, as their structure doesn’t handle freezing. In fact, frozen versions of these in the store are often partially baked (also called par-baked), which helps to give them the right texture.
Other Ways To Preserve Bread

Many types of food can be preserved through dehydrating, freeze drying, canning, or fermenting. This isn’t the case for bread. Indeed, freezing bread is the most reliable way to extend its shelf life.
Storing Bread In The Fridge
If you’re not going to freeze bread, then you might consider storing it in the fridge. Doing so can be helpful in some situations, particularly in humid environments where moisture rapidly leads to mold.
Still… keeping bread here is often a bad idea. The fridge environment leads to moisture loss and means the bread becomes stale more quickly. The flavor of the bread changes noticeably too, often after less than a day in the fridge.
That said, your experience may differ with commercial bread products. Some of these use a decent number of preservatives, so they don’t dry out as much as the fridge.
Using A Breadbox
Outside of the freezer, breadboxes are the best way to keep your bread fresh. They’re carefully designed for efficient air circulation, which prevents your bread from drying out.
Canned Bread
It is also possible to buy bread in a can or can your own homemade bread. There are even a few recipes for doing so.
If you’re going to can bread yourself, care is needed. It’s easy for bacteria to contaminate the process, potentially leading to botulism. In fact, canning bread at home is generally not recommended, as the risks are too high.
Remember too that canned bread will never taste the same as fresh bread. So, you’re spending a lot of time and energy to get your bread into the can (and hoping you don’t contaminate it in the process). Even then, you’re often looking at just a year or two of shelf life, which mightn’t be worth the compromised flavor.
Preserving The Ingredients
The most realistic way to preserve bread is to focus on the ingredients rather than bread itself. These include flour, water, yeast, sugar, and salt. These ingredients have a fairly long shelf life already, especially if you focus on vacuum-sealed instant yeast rather than fresh yeast.
If you store these ingredients well, you should be able to make bread whenever you want to.
Hardtack
There’s also hardtack, which is sometimes known as survival bread. It’s a bread-like product that is hard, bland, and lasts a very long time. The toughness means you generally need to soak hardtack in liquid for at least five minutes before you can even eat it.
However, despite being called survival bread, hardtack is a product of its own. You can’t simply make it from bread, you need to follow a hardtack recipe instead.
If you do want to try it, there are only a few ingredients required: flour, water, and salt. Hardtack truly does last a long time. Just be warned, it doesn’t taste good at all.