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| Bread Armor Ciabatta Saver (2-pack) |
This is the story of the last stale loaf of bread I ever owned:
I bought a loaf of French bread a couple of months ago from Essential Baking Company, a local artisanal bakery here in Seattle. After using half of it to scoop up sauce from my dinner of linguine with fresh tomatoes, basil, and capers, I wrapped it in a paper bag and placed it on the counter for later.
Of course, the next day when I went to make sandwich, the loaf was hard as a rock and unusable except as bird food; a pitiful waste of good bread and money.
I’ve done this 1 million times – foolishly wrapped a loaf of good bread in a paper bag, expecting it to stay fresh. (I more often get the supermarket brand loaf, which is loaded with chemicals and preservatives, and will stay strangely soft for days out on the counter.)
Then, I remembered that we carry a product called Bread Armor. It looks like a fancy plastic bag - but it saves bread, and here's how:
I first tried it on an artisan ciabatta loaf (from the Pike Place Farmer’s Market). I wanted to see how long the Bread Armor would keep the bread fresh. So, I sliced off a hunk, leaving the soft interior exposed, and just threw it in the Bread Armor. The loaf was still good the next day – and the next day, and the next. Bread Armor helped my ciabatta remain soft and edible for 6 days! (I would’ve eaten it, of course, had I not been experimenting.) I’m told that these bags are great for gluten free bread, which tends to dry out quicker than regular bread.
The secret to keeping bread fresh is to keep oxygen away. Bread Armor is thicker and seals tighter than standard plastic bags. Another key: the bags are shaped like the loaf instead of just like a giant square or rectangle. There’s less area for oxygen to occupy. And, I still have the 2 Bread Armor bags I bought (recently used for freezing some homemade pierogies); these bags are much more durable than standard kitchen bags, and I feel safe washing them because they contain no BPAs.
More reasons Bread Armor bags are awesome? They’re made in the USA and are recyclable. Want to save money and make your artisan or gluten-free bread last longer? Buy a pack of Bread Armor.
