Making homemade bread last longer?

[brickie in oz]

I got a plastic container with a snap lock lid and the bread lasts ages, it now goes moldy before it goes hard.

[david s]

You can also try bread improver, although I have no idea what's in it.

[brickie in oz]

Ive tried it and it makes no difference, main ingredient, wood ash.

[texassourdough]

Sourdough is naturally long-lasting. White bread is notoriously not. Baguettes are good for no more than a day or so. Freezing works really well on sourdoughs and should give you a "workable" product with white bread. Don't refrigerate it! That only accelerates the demise. Staleness is supposedly, in part, due to water migrating out of starch granules, allowing them to "crystallize". Nuking it in the microwave rehydrates the starch BRIEFLY making it okay for a few minutes before it really gets dry and stale. There is little you can do to stop staling. It is a natural chemical process dictated by temperature, humidity, and such. Keeping it moist and warm will help with staling - and accelerate mold.

In Italy we bought an eight pound loaf of Pane Casareccio Genzano that was quite edible a week after baking. Yeah, it was a bit stale, but it made great crostini, bread salad, and bread crumbs for stuffing things. Part of the beauty of sourdough is learning to use it to the end.

Good luck!
Jay

[Lburou]

I ran into this link while researching 'dough enhancer'. What do you all think?