How to Eat and Store our Sourdough bread

Making and keeping bread in Hawaii is challenging due to the warmth and humidity. Our bread will be at its peak for several hours after it has been baked, but the humidity can quickly allow the crust to lose its crispness. This is okay, but if you want to eat it as we like to, we recommend refreshing it for a few minutes in the oven, or toasting it if you find that the crust has gotten too soft for your liking.

We use Gary, our sourdough starter, in our breads, so our loaves will keep better than those made with commercial yeast. However, we do not use preservatives so our bread cannot be treated the same as much of what can be bought in stores. Bread should be kept at room temperature, and never put in the refrigerator. This will make it get stale faster! If you do not intend on eating your bread within 2-3 days, it should be wrapped well in plastic wrap or in an airtight bag, and placed in the freezer. When ready, you can take it out to defrost, then refresh it in the oven. The bread can also be pre-sliced prior to freezing so that individual slices can be defrosted at a time.

How to refresh Sourdough bread

Preheat your oven to 300-325 degrees.

If you have a spray bottle with clean water, you can lightly spray the outside of your loaf with water. Otherwise, you can also run it gently under a faucet of running water, wetting only the crust, and not the interior if it has already been cut.

Place the loaf into the oven directly on the rack, and bake for 6-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

When all else fails…

If your loaf has gotten stale, as long as it’s not moldy, there are still always ways to make use of it. Here are some ideas:

• croutons

• bread crumbs

• a savory or sweet bread pudding

• panzanella

• stuffing

• French onion soup

• French toast

• crackers