Where do you keep your bread?
January 6, 2020 6:22 PM   Subscribe

We just moved from a house that had an open space above the refrigerator to a house with no open space above the refrigerator. We used to store bread-y things and chips on top of our refrigerator. Now I’m stumped. It feels WEIRD to keep these things anywhere besides where we used to, but it’s been brought to my attention that I might just be freaked out about moving. Where do normal people keep their bread?
posted by ersatzkat to Home & Garden (66 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
In the pantry? Now you have me questioning my bread-storing choices.
posted by po822000 at 6:28 PM on January 6, 2020


This is really climate-dependent! In the PNW a metal breadbox works for me. Air vents, but very small.
posted by clew at 6:28 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


We keep ours in the bread drawer. It's just like a regular drawer, but there's bread in it.
posted by bondcliff at 6:28 PM on January 6, 2020 [25 favorites]


Ours sits on the counter in a basket beside the toaster. I wouldn't have stored mine above the fridge because I think that's too warm.

My mom stored bread in a huge pottery jar (big enough for me to get inside when I was four .. I remember the joy of suprising people who were expecting a loaf and found a boy. Before bread she stored flour in it, and wasn't too happy about finding me inside)
posted by anadem at 6:31 PM on January 6, 2020 [24 favorites]


I keep bread in the freezer, because I don't eat much of it, so it goes stale/moldy if I leave it out. Chips and crackers go in a cupboard.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:32 PM on January 6, 2020 [23 favorites]


We have a bread box my grandfather made years ago. Bread goes there. We do have space over the fridge so chips and stuff go there. If we didn't have that space, it would go in the bread box too. We also keep a bag of noodles in the bread box too.
posted by kathrynm at 6:35 PM on January 6, 2020


Ostensibly, on the counter next to the fridge, between the fridge and the toaster.

Usually it's wherever I put it down, though, which can be pretty much anywhere in the kitchen. It ends up in the fridge a lot, which I'm mad at myself about.
posted by brook horse at 6:40 PM on January 6, 2020 [3 favorites]


It's supposed to going the breadbox, which is on the counter with a toaster on top of it. In reality, it usually lives on the cutting board because I don't get around to slicing the whole thing for a few days and then it's gone.
posted by metasarah at 6:43 PM on January 6, 2020


My bread lives on top of the microwave, in large part because my microwave lives in a nook that was likely originally designed to fit a bread box.
posted by blerghamot at 6:49 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


bread goes in the fridge, or it's all moldy (and potentially eaten by the weird cat) within a couple of days. American South here, where it's basically never not humid. chips and such go on flat surfaces where they're out of the way. they did go on top of the fridge growing up but some of that probably had to do with growing up (i.e. they were up there so we wouldn't get into 'em so easily); as an adult, top of the fridge (including cabinets) are for things that need to be stored that are hardly ever used but can't be parted with for various reasons (like the ancient Kitchenaid mixer that's over 40 at this point).
posted by mrg at 7:03 PM on January 6, 2020 [10 favorites]


In the breadbin, or the freezer - depending upon the bread and how much of it we have.
posted by pompomtom at 7:06 PM on January 6, 2020


Mostly the fridge because it's just me and it lasts better there. Get a basket or wooden bowl or bread box. Maybe that will help you adjust to the move.
posted by theora55 at 7:10 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


On the counter.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 7:16 PM on January 6, 2020


Store bought sliced bread: fridge. Homemade bread: on a cutting board on the counter (or, really, in my belly).
posted by teragram at 7:17 PM on January 6, 2020


In a bread box on the counter. If you put bread in the fridge it dries out. Though if you want to keep bread longer, just freeze it & pull out what you need to defrost when you need. it.
posted by wwax at 7:22 PM on January 6, 2020 [6 favorites]


When I was growing up we had a bread drawer, which was just the extra deep drawer at the bottom of a set of kitchen drawers. In my current kitchen we keep plastic storage containers in that drawer and the bread goes into a wire basket on the counter.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:26 PM on January 6, 2020


A year and a half ago we moved into an apartment with the same square footage as our old apartment but with TONS more storage space...including a PANTRY. Now we store bread in the pantry. Unless it ends up on the table.
posted by lhauser at 7:28 PM on January 6, 2020


Breadbox on the counter for most bread, but occasionally we stick in the fridge instead.
I rarely eat bread and I have no idea what my husband's logic is around it.
posted by sm1tten at 7:33 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Pantry.
posted by amro at 7:34 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


In the microwave, which is on a shelf under the counter of the kitchen island; the toaster lives on that counter. This works for me because I live in an old, very-not-mouseproof house in the country and mice can't get into the microwave.
posted by kate4914 at 7:43 PM on January 6, 2020 [6 favorites]


We store bread in the cabinet closest to our toaster. Extra loaves go in the freezer
posted by katypickle at 7:50 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Breadbox lives on the granite-top island, between fruit and veg bowl and cheery red egg spiral. Wellington has a moderate climate where summer (now) rarely goes over 24C/75F. So it’s custom to leave lots on the bench. And luckily Mila The Cat isn’t too curious about our food nor the kitchen.
posted by lemon_icing at 7:59 PM on January 6, 2020


A high school friend's family would store bread in a second back-up microwave they had in their kitchen (I think it must have been used during big family events?) but would often forget about it and the bread would pass beyond this world and become a science experiment of dozens of species of mold preying upon each other. Then my friend would try to charge the rest of us an admission fee to take a look at it.
posted by XMLicious at 8:08 PM on January 6, 2020 [5 favorites]


Bread goes on the counter, unless we really want it to last a long time, in which case it goes in the fridge (where it will dry out, so its a tradeoff) and all chip/cracker/carby snacks go in the pantry. Above the fridge seems too warm for bread to me. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
posted by JuliaIglesias at 8:11 PM on January 6, 2020


We freeze it, then store the current loaf either in the fridge or sometimes just on the counter tossed into the bowl of fruits and veggies. We're real casual about bread storage, I don't think of bread as tempermental. I guess I mostly use bread as a toasted sponge to eat butter, so if it's a tiny bit stale or the texture is off or whatever, I wouldn't even notice.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 9:16 PM on January 6, 2020 [3 favorites]


Another data point: so I'm not sure if I can really call them normal people, but an ex-boyfriend's family stored all bread in the freezer. Even the bread they planned on eating that day. Any time they wanted bread they'd throw it in the toaster, including flatbreads that don't go from frozen to lightly toasted very well. I spent a lot of time at their house and never once saw anyone there eat bread that wasn't toasted. I don't think it had even occurred to them that non-toast bread is something that people would intentionally eat.

This took place somewhere where humid 35C degree weather in the summer isn't uncommon, so store-bought bread does go moldy on kitchen counters within a few days. But there are also these things called fridges!
posted by blerghamot at 10:22 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


We've always kept ours in the fridge (Pittsburgh region).
posted by Chrysostom at 10:25 PM on January 6, 2020


Pantry or (in a bag on) the counter.
posted by Lady Li at 12:09 AM on January 7, 2020


So is 'breadbin' not that common a term outside the UK? Only cropped up once so far.
posted by biffa at 12:13 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Strictly speaking a breadbin, in my family, would be a big metal-lined cabinet, big enough for many loaves. The nice ones tipped out instead of sliding out and the same kitchens would have had potato and onion and flour bins.
posted by clew at 12:37 AM on January 7, 2020


Lots more pantries than I was expecting. Is that always a separate room, or are some of them cabinets?
posted by clew at 12:39 AM on January 7, 2020


We have a basket on the kitchen counter. We didn't plan it that way. The basket was on the counter and one day the bread just naturally gravitated to it. And it never left.
posted by Toddles at 1:20 AM on January 7, 2020


Breadbin on the worktop (by the toaster). Reserve loaf in the freezer.
posted by Segundus at 1:24 AM on January 7, 2020


When I was a kid we had the metal or wooden bread bins with the sliding front, but I don't like them because they are hard to clean. Now I have this, next to my toaster. Mine is white, though.
Chips go in a deep drawer with a lot of other pantry stuff, like nuts and grains and noodles.
posted by mumimor at 1:27 AM on January 7, 2020


Mine goes on the bench for a couple of days because that's how it tastes best, but because I get bread with no preservatives it tends to get mouldy if I leave it out longer than that. Then in the fridge. It does dry out some, but I actually don't like toast that much and defrosted untoasted bread is kind of gross.
posted by Athanassiel at 1:38 AM on January 7, 2020


In top of the microwave. We did have a breadbin once, but it opened at the top with a lid so inevitably more bready things got put on top of it and then it was a pain to get stuff out. Plus, out of sight put of mind.

When I rebuild the kitchen I'm planning to put in a pantry cupboard next to the fridge and then the bread will go in there.

Bread never goes moldy in my flat really, it just goes stale and then rockhard.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:50 AM on January 7, 2020


I keep mine in the fridge because it's just me and otherwise it would get moldy. Growing up we kept it on the microwave/on the counter in a basket.
posted by Shadow Boxer at 2:18 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Wooden bread bin on a counter nook that really only fits that.

Bread drawer is new to me! Given the tight spaces in London, the idea of having a whole drawer for bread is enchanting.
posted by like_neon at 2:37 AM on January 7, 2020


I grew up keeping sandwich bread in the fridge and “good” crusty bread on the counter. Now I have a goddamn dog who steals and eats bread, so we have a breadbox. We also keep overflow in the freezer.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:18 AM on January 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


We keep ours in the microwave. There is not enough cabinet space for it and the cat tears it up if it’s left on the counter. Been meaning to get a breadbox.
posted by frobozz at 4:24 AM on January 7, 2020


I'm in the tropics basically so it's freezer time. Freezer is better than fridge because fridge dehydrates it and it goes stale, whereas freezer just preserves it.

Pantry at ours is a cupboard. Food that isn't in the fridge or freezer goes in there or it goes off/gets eaten by geckoes/is stolen by small children if you leave it on the counter. Only exception is the bananas and avocadoes, they live in a basket on the fridge so the banans spray esters all over the avocadoes to make em ripen nicely without ripening anything else.
posted by Jilder at 4:40 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


We have a couple of these bread dispensers. Takes up little vertical space, has air holes for moisture control, and no chance of the loaves being squished. We leave the bread in the wrapper, and usually eat it before it becomes moldy. Sweet husband has his bread, I have mine.
Otherwise the loaves goes in the freezer (we buy in bulk when we can) or somewhere on the counter. At another house (job site) we keep the bread on top of the microwave or in the freezer.
posted by TrishaU at 4:44 AM on January 7, 2020


I keep all homemade bread in the freezer, even the current loaf. I'm just not a big bread eater. If I want a slice immediately I can pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to bring it to near-perfect consistency. Or I just let it sit out for a little while. I do toast most of my bread anyway.

Store-bought bread sometimes lives in a cupboard because it doesn't go bad as quickly (preservatives, I guess).
posted by Gray Duck at 6:09 AM on January 7, 2020


Breadbox on the counter next to the toaster. Unless we forget and leave it on the counter, then it's stored under the couch where the cat drags it to destroy in peace.
posted by teleri025 at 6:45 AM on January 7, 2020 [3 favorites]


Bread (from our bread machine, made about once every 4-5 days) lives in a paper bag on the counter. It ostensibly lives in a cupboard between the fridge and stove but in practice it almost never gets put away. Pantry is for crackers, canned goods, flour, dried fruit, and booze.
posted by skycrashesdown at 6:51 AM on January 7, 2020


> clew: "Lots more pantries than I was expecting. Is that always a separate room, or are some of them cabinets?"

Most of the ones I'm familiar with (USA) are small closets accessible from the kitchen.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:32 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Fridge, in the crisper drawer. I live in the American South. I buy locally made unsliced bread, and I've found it keeps longer there than anywhere else.
posted by Vhanudux at 8:04 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Fridge, in a plastic bag. Freezer, if I have lots for some reason.

It's usually homemade bread, which is dense and moist enough that when it starts getting a bit stale I can nuke it for a few seconds and make it pleasantly warm and soft.

Non-homemade bread I usually only eat toasted.
posted by confluency at 8:40 AM on January 7, 2020


Air-tight breadbox in the pantry.
posted by SPrintF at 8:43 AM on January 7, 2020


Response by poster: 0_0

this is fucking wild
posted by ersatzkat at 8:52 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


Currently I have a drawer with a metal liner specifically designed for bread, so that's where I keep it. In the past when I've had a large enough kitchen I'll keep it in a regular drawer or pantry cabinet. When I've had tiny kitchens I've kept it in the fridge. Top of the fridge seems like one of the worst places you could store bread--it's one of the warmest places in the kitchen due to the heat from the appliance and also being near the ceiling--bread will mold faster. That's one spot where people often put bread dough to rise because it's warmer than a countertop.
posted by drlith at 8:58 AM on January 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


Growing up, we had a bread drawer (a lined drawer with an internal lid to make it more airtight and pest-proof.) Now, the big Le Creuset lives on our kitchen island and we use it as our breadbox -- we just temporarily displace the bread when making a stew or whatever.
posted by desuetude at 9:02 AM on January 7, 2020 [2 favorites]


(My parents eventually started freezing most of their bread and I haaaate it. They insist that toasting or microwaving it makes it as good as fresh, and I totally disagree.)
posted by desuetude at 9:04 AM on January 7, 2020


I am another resident of the southeastern US whose bread is stored in the fridge. Mold is real, y'all.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:15 AM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


I think this is regional and highly dependent on your local humidity level. In California I leave it in a bread box and it's good for a week at least without doing anything. When I lived in the deep south, bread goes in the fridge, because otherwise it will just mold immediately.
posted by bradbane at 10:29 AM on January 7, 2020


All UK:
Me: in the freezer if it's not going to be eaten in a few days, otherwise abandoned on the nearest approximately flat surface.
Parents: fridge. In Scotland. I have never understood this.
Grandmother (before her death): huge round plain stoneware thing (we're talking about two feet tall) with a wooden lid. I have no idea how old it was, but it seemed old. The only 'bread bin' I've ever seen which actually looked like a bin.
posted by Vortisaur at 11:16 AM on January 7, 2020


Philadelphia, where it's humid: basket on the counter (so glad to see I'm not the only one). We can't make it through an entire loaf before it goes moldy, so we often have to dispose of loaves.
posted by Peach at 11:23 AM on January 7, 2020


We have a basket on the counter by the fridge into which most (but not all) bread-ish things get put. My bagels and my grandmother's raisin bread get kept in the fridge (because the bagels get stale and the raisin bread gets moldy otherwise).
posted by darchildre at 11:25 AM on January 7, 2020


I live where it is generally humid but bread goes in the pantry, which is not particularly humid. My parents did fridge and freezer bread growing up. I personally never liked the taste if it wasn't toasted or baked, so I never put it there.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:27 AM on January 7, 2020


I put my bread in a large mixing/salad bowl that is kept on a bookshelf next to my very small kitchen counter right now. (The bookshelf is for putting kitchen stuff on btw, no books! haha)
posted by love2potato at 12:41 PM on January 7, 2020


Bread lives in the fridge (prevents mold). Chips go in the regular cabinet.
posted by Miko at 1:21 PM on January 7, 2020


Most of the time I'm by myself, and bread stored on a counter or pantry tends to go bad/moldy in a matter of days.

Also, as I tend to have several varieties of bread-type substances on the go at any one time (store loaves, bagels, english muffins, Ciabatta buns, croissants) -- they all get stored in the bottom shelf of my fridge. I haven't noticed any major drying out, as they are stored in plastic bags; and even if they were slightly drier, it's still better than wasting them.
posted by Jade Dragon at 2:28 PM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


I've never met any normal people. But growing up I visted several houses that kept the cereal on the fridge and I would worry about it getting knocked off and spilling everywhere.

With current roommate, chips go on the dining table, along with crackers, nuts, other shelf-stable snack foods. Basically our dining table is a buffet used only for serving food (and a cat bed), and we eat in our living room.

We have a metal breadbox on a wall shelf that has hooks underneath to hang cooking utensils. But roomate leaves bread out on the counter 75% of the time and I keep twitching about it because I illogically feel like it will 'go bad' faster.

Growing up in shitty apartments with roaches meant bread lived in a sealed container. By the time I can remember details in the eighties it was a rubbermaid style storage box with clicking lid (mom brought home stickers from the hospital so it said things like "change dressing Tuesday" and "medical waste"). Even after my parents moved up in the world we retained the practice because it kept the bread contained, unsquashed, and unmolested by dogs.

Husband grew up with bread inside the fridge, which we proceeded to dispute for 18 years until he died. My opinion: fridge bread is all weird texture and tastes like leftovers. Also fridge is already full with stuff that really needs to be there. Our compromise: his wonderbread was in the fridge, my muti grain bread was in the pantry.

Oddly my husband and I both had mothers that were about 5' tall and fathers close to 6'6". For both of us the top of the fridge was "dad stuff no one else should touch" territory. In my house it was the bar, all dad's alcohol was in the cabinet above the fridge. and his weird jars of pickled sausages and whatever else.
posted by buildmyworld at 6:20 PM on January 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


We keep ours in a metal bread box. Used to just keep it on the counter but one year we got mice so part of the process of dealing with that was making sure food was in mouse proof containers.
posted by donut_princess at 7:12 PM on January 7, 2020


Metal breadbox on the counter. Like a few others in this thread, the cat will get it if not in the box. There are couple of times where we've forgotten to close the box and we later find the remnants of a loaf sitting in the basement like discarded prey.
posted by weathergal at 7:31 PM on January 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


The top of our fridge is a nice warm spot for sourdough starter and our bread-eating cat (she has no interest in the starter). We store loaves and English muffins on the higher shelves of a corner cupboard.

Banana bread used to stay in the toaster oven until the cat learned how to open it. Maybe we should try the microwave!
posted by kiripin at 10:45 PM on January 8, 2020


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