We buy bread almost every day, and often choose it by eye. Yet bread differs a lot, and the choice decides whether it is still soft in the evening or turns into a rusk by lunch. Here is what is worth knowing while you stand at the shelf.

The kinds of bread

Wheat bread is made from top-grade or first-grade flour. It is pale and soft, with a thin crisp crust. This covers loaves, baguettes and round white loaves.

Rye bread is dark, dense and slightly sour. It is often made from a mix of rye and wheat flour, so the word "rye" on the pack tells you nothing about how much rye is actually in it. Read the ingredients: if rye flour comes first, rye is the main part.

Sourdough bread rises without baker's yeast or with only a little. It usually has a tang, a dense crumb and goes stale more slowly.

Wholegrain bread has more bran, a dense texture and a nutty taste. Check the ingredients: wholegrain flour should come first on the list, not just "with bran".

How to tell fresh bread

Fresh bread smells like bread: warm, grainy, slightly tangy, not sour and not empty. If there is hardly any smell, the bread has been lying around or was baked from a ready-made mix.

Press the crumb or the crust with a finger, even through the bag. Fresh bread springs back. If the dent stays, the bread is damp or underbaked. If the crust is hard and rings and the crumb falls apart, it has dried out.

The crust should be golden or dark golden, even, without big pale patches and without blisters. The crumb on a cut is even and airy, not sticky.

Check the weight. Good bread is heavier than it looks, while a very light airy loaf goes stale quickly.

Here is what the catalogues have on bread right now:

In the catalogues now: bread

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Buns and pastries

Buns, sweet rolls, croissants and puff pastries keep worse than bread. They have butter, sugar and milk, so they are soft but lose freshness fast, especially the small ones. Better to buy as many as you will eat in a day or two.

Look at the baking date, not only the best-before date. In a shop pastries may be sold the day after baking, which is normal, but take the ones closest to the date.

Buns for sandwiches and burgers are cheaper bought by the pack, and they freeze very well:

In the catalogues now: bread rolls

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How to store bread

Bread likes air but dislikes draughts and heat. It is best kept in a bread bin with small vents. If you have no bin, a cloth bag or a paper bag will do.

Do not keep bread in the fridge: it goes stale there faster than on the counter. And not for long in a closed plastic bag either: bread sweats, the crust turns soggy and mould appears.

Rye bread and sourdough keep longer than wheat. Cut bread as you need it, and put the cut side down: that way the crumb stays soft.

How to freeze bread

Freezing helps when you bought too much bread or live as a couple. Slice it beforehand: taking out a slice is easier than breaking off a piece of a whole loaf.

Put the slices in a bag or a container, press out the air and put them in the freezer. The bread keeps its taste for a few weeks. Take a slice and put it straight into the toaster frozen, or leave it for about ten minutes at room temperature.

A whole loaf can also be frozen, but it must be thawed completely and then warmed in the oven to bring the crust back.

What to make from stale bread

Stale bread should not be thrown away. You can make:

  • Croutons. Cut into cubes, sprinkle with oil, add salt and pepper and dry in the oven. Good with soup and in salads.
  • French toast. Dip slices in a mix of egg and milk and fry. Serve with cheese or jam.
  • Breadcrumbs. Dry the bread, grind it and keep it in a jar.
  • Stuffing. Bread soaked in milk goes into the mince for patties, meatball soup and sarmale.

If the bread has only dried a little, sprinkle it with water and warm it in the oven.

Shop checklist

  • Press with a finger: the bread should spring back.
  • Smell it: the smell should be warm and bready.
  • Check the baking date.
  • Choose by ingredients: flour first on the list.
  • Buy what you will eat and freeze the rest.

And where bread is better value right now is shown by a comparison across stores:

Where it is cheaper: bread

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You can save even more with the discounts in the catalogues, especially on bread you can freeze.