Please recommend a bread box

June 15, 2020 2:56 PM

We need a bread box. We've needed one for a while, but now that getting more bread requires either masking up and venturing out to the grocery (which we would like to do as infrequently as possible) or baking our own, keeping baked goods fresher longer has become a priority. If you like your bread box, please tell me about it!

Previous bread box models we've tried included a wooden one with a roll-down slatted front, which didn't seem to do any better at keeping things from going stale than leaving them on the counter did. There was also a "bread bin" style with a wooden cutting board resting atop a bin-type container, which actually had too effective a seal so we found that it retained too much moisture and things went moldy faster. (I particularly disliked that one because at least if the bread goes stale it can be used for croutons, breadcrumbs, panzanella, etc. but moldy has to be tossed.)

If there's a bread box you like that's currently available for purchase, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!

posted by Lexica to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Best answer: Someone gave us a Brabantia Fall Front Bin as a present 7 or 8 years ago and it has held up very well over time.

Things I like about it:

• It's flat on the top so I can throw other things there without them falling off. It makes a good temporary storage spot in our small kitchen
• It looks very chic, we have the Matte Steel version linked above, but it looks like they have different colors available.
• Perhaps most importantly, it does the job. There's a magnetic seal to keep the lid tight.

Things I don't like

• Not much, honestly, although the base slipped on the counter more expected, but after I put some rubber grippy things on the bottom, everything was good.

posted by jeremias at 5:49 PM on June 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

Mod note: A few comments deleted. Asker is looking for recommendations of actual breadboxes, not alternatives like the freezer, so please stick to that. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:35 PM on June 15, 2020 [5 favorites]

I have this one, although pre-pandemic it was 16.99. If you make bread it’s great. I don’t need it for bagels etc. The adjustable air vents have served us well so far (I’ve had it since Xmas, and the humidity in the house has changed a lot.)
posted by warriorqueen at 7:53 PM on June 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

Seconding Brabantia. I have the roll top version, so less shelf space on top than the one jeremias linked above, but it’s solid. Great construction, good seal without being airtight. I live in an old house, so mice are always a worry, but the Brabantia bread box has never yielded.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:20 PM on June 15, 2020

Another vote for the Brabantia roll top. Mine is from 1960 or something like that, but the modern versions look pretty much identical.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:30 AM on June 16, 2020

We went with the Brabantia bamboo-lid with handle because we can slice the bread on top (I tend to turn the lid upside-down and cross-ways to do it, to get the best cutting board surface) and the handle makes it easy to move around when we need the counter space back (sometimes for making more bread!)
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:53 AM on June 16, 2020

n+1 vote for Brabantia - we just got this model and it keeps the bread at just the right level of moistness.
posted by majorsteel at 9:22 AM on June 16, 2020

Response by poster: Update: We got the Brabantia Fall Front Bin and love it. It does a good job of keeping baked goods fresher longer, and the flat top means the coffee grinder and canister can live on top. It's great. Many thanks for the recommendations!
posted by Lexica at 1:12 PM on September 18, 2020 [2 favorites]