From bob prohaska@21:1/5 to All on Tue Apr 4 23:16:29 2023
The other day I had occasion to exhume a loaf of bread that
had been in the freezer far too long (an unexpected request
depleted my ready supply). I'm guessing it was a year old.
The bread was perfectly edible but obviously dessicated; ice
crystals had formed on the surface of the crust. I removed
them before microwaving the loaf thinking they'd
make soggy spots. Would uniformly wetting the loaf help?
Maybe leaving it in the plastic bag? I didn't think of trying
that until just this moment.
Are there any methods that will re-hydrate stale bread
or, maybe better yet, prevent migration of moisture from
crumb to surface? The freezer hadn't suffered any temperature
excusions beyond normal operation. Would double bagging reduce
moisture migration?
Up to a few weeks/months simply microwaving a loaf restored it
to surprisingly good condition, no special effort required.