From classic white to whole grain and sourdough — a quick guide to choosing the right loaf for what you are actually going to do with it.
Buy for the Job, Not the Label
Almost every disappointing loaf is a good loaf bought for the wrong job. A soft white tin loaf makes a poor bruschetta and an excellent bacon sandwich; a dense rye is the reverse. Decide what the bread has to hold before you decide what it is made of.
The Four You Will Meet Most
- White tin loaf. Soft crumb, thin crust, slices square. Sandwiches, toast, anything a child has to hold.
- Whole grain. Heavier and slower to eat, with enough fibre that a single slice actually keeps you going. Goes stale faster because there is less fat in it.
- Sourdough. Long fermentation, open crumb, chewy crust. Best on day one, better toasted on day three, and it will not go mouldy as quickly as a supermarket white.
- Baguette. Almost all crust. Buy it on the day, eat it on the day, and accept that this is the deal.
Storing It
Never in the fridge. Bread goes stale roughly six times faster at fridge temperature than on the counter, which is the one piece of kitchen advice that sounds wrong and is not. A paper bag for a crusty loaf, a sealed bag for a soft one, and the freezer for anything you will not finish in two days — sliced first, so you can take out what you need.
A loaf that has gone hard is not a loaf that has gone off. Hard bread is the beginning of croutons, panzanella and bread sauce.
