Do you freeze your bread? Whenever I am in the area, I always stop at the Oroweat Outlet and stock up on any good deals. The only thing is that sometimes freezing the bread, even when I’ve wrapped it well, dries it out a bit.
I was telling Girly Girl about this and she offered this little trick: take the bread out of the plastic, wrap it in a damp tea towel and store it in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready to use it, remove it from the fridge, take off the tea towel, wrap it in foil and warm it in the oven at 200 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Supposedly, it is good as new!
Have you ever tried this? Do you have another tip?
~Mavis
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Grandma PattyB says
I pay $0.625 per loaf of bread…. here’s how:
One gallon of milk = 2 quarts of Greek yogurt and 6 cups of whey
6 cups of whey = exact liquid needed for 4 loaves of bread!
One quart of homemade Greek yogurt = $1.50
One loaf of home made bread = $0.625
Bread freezes (one 5lb bag of flour will make 4 loaves of bread with flour left over)
Milk freezes (buy @ Costco for more savings)
Score!
Heather B. says
I would love get a recipe for using whey in bread! Will you share?
Clare Honn says
I use it in place of water in any bread recipe.
Bert says
Grandma PattyB
I don’t mean to hijack this thread – but could you send me your recipe for greek yogurt?
and I love the idea for using the whey for bread water
PattyB says
Bert…. sorry to be answering you more than a year later! Greek Yogurt: 1 gal of milk (any kind you like but I use 2%), heat gently on stove to 180* (use a candy thermometer). Then cool back down to 95-100*. Then add your starter…. a tub of commercial yogurt that has live culture or some of your last batch that you reserved. To cool down quickly I put some ice cubes in a large fry pan, then put my hot pot of milk on top and stir. I have to remove some of the melted ice cubes because the fry pan isn’t deep enough and I’ll have a flood.
Next step. put the lid on the pot, wrap in clean towels (think blankie) and put in your oven with only THE LIGHT ON, no heat. Keep there for 8 hours. Then check to see if it thickened. If not thick enough, then more time in the oven.
Next step. spoon the mixture into a very large colander that has paper towels that will strain it even more. Put over a big bowl and pop in the fridge for another 6-8 hours. Your yogurt will thicken as the whey is drained out. When you are happy with the results, scoop yogurt into mason jars and pop back in the fridge. Mine has lasted two weeks because I’m the only one who eats it in my house.
If you find that your yogurt is too thick after draining, just stir in some of the whey until you get the consistency you like.
Whey can be frozen. Here’s a link to help with any troubles: http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/answers-to-your-questions-about-making-homemade-yogurt
Enjoy!
Rosemarie says
For all you yogurt/cheese makers out there. One valuable tool that I use to make greek strained yogurt is a salad spinner strainer. It has a nice big flat bottom for draining whey really quick(like 30min a quart). To line it I have a nylon organza cloth that I have burned the edges on to stop fraying. It can be washed and sanitized. Also, I make the yogurt in quart wide mouth canning jars. Before adding the warm cultured milk, I sanitize the jars by putting a little bit of water in the jar. Then I put on the plastic screw lid, loosen it a little and lay it on its side in the microwave, then heat for 5 minutes. I have found that many of my failures in yogurt and cheesemaking dealt with skipping a sanitizing step.
randy says
I want to come live at your house! ;>)
Cecily says
I freeze it upside down then thaw it right side up in the fridge. Not sure why but it works. Maybe its the kind I buy.
Sue Lester says
Weird…I have a very similar loaf of bread in a very similar plastic bag, but mine says “Brownberry”. I don’t freeze bread. I haven’t seen a loaf of whole wheat bread here in Grand Rapids, MI for less than $2.00 in years.
Pam says
My former mother-in-law always froze her bread. When she wanted to make a sandwich, she’d pull a couple of slices out and put them on a plate. Then she’d gather everything else she wanted to put on the sandwich and would assemble. Bread was always perfect by the time she took the first bite. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t believe it but she was right.
Candice C says
We stock up on bread/eng muffins/buns at the outlet in the next town once a month and freeze. The bread and eng. muffins never give me a problem however the buns sometimes do. I found that thawing w/out opening wrapper until completely thawed helps but once in a while the top in rather dry. That problem was alleviated by placing them on a dinner plate and covering with a damp paper towel and zapping in the microwave 10-15 seconds. They are warm and fresh. Many times if you stop by on a Monday the breads are there whoch didn”t sell on the weekend from the restaurants.So restaurant sized buns and loaves of wheat bread and last time we purchased a full bakery tray of restaurant sized hamburger buns (24) for 2.50. That size is not carried in the grocery around here..just sold to restaurants. So score! Great size for sloppy joes and bbq pork or beef sandwiches.