Whenever you have fresh-baked bread, let it cool completely before storing it in a plastic bag, ortherwise you’ll get moisture in the bag and the bread will absorb it & soften the crust.
Once I’ve cooled my bread, I cut a few slices and put a couple in a sandwich bag for easy access. I put the rest of the loaf in a bread bag and then suck all the excess air out with a straw before twist-tying it. Both bags go in the freezer. The couple slices thaw quickly for toast in the morning.
One thing I’ve always disliked about bread baked in a machine — the hole in the bottom of the bread.
Good news! There’s a way to get rid of the hole in your bread machine bread. There are actually two great ways to end up with a yummy loaf of home made bread without a hole in the bottom.
The easiest way is to check your machine manual for the final punch-down just before the final rise. As soon as the dough has punched down and is about to start that last rise, you want to pull the paddle out. I pull the pan of dough right out of the machine, put the dough in a plate or even just hold it in my hand. Then I pull out the paddle out, put the dough back in the pan and hoist the pan back in the machine. This all takes about 30 seconds so there’s insignificant effect on the rest of the bread cycles. When it’s all done… surprise! A beautiful loaf of bread with no hole!
A slightly less easy way (but with better results) is to pull the dough out after it’s risen and finish the baking process in the oven instead. I’ll cover this technique in my next blog post, so stay tuned!