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  • put a small UV light in the bread box and no more mold problems. – Netduke Nov 22 '17 at 20:13



Additional Reading:

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The wikipedia article about breadboxes states:


And that they also

protect their contents from mice and other pests.

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    @user17763, refrigeration does unpleasant things to most breads. Either store them at room temperature, or freeze them. – Mark May 16 '15 at 7:22





Don't keep your bread in the fridge, for goodness' sake. You lose a lot of flavor and freshness by doing that. It speeds decomposition of certain aspects of the bread even if it does make it last longer. A bread box is meant to be used to keep bread fresh and great tasting for 3-6 days, which is about the longest you can expect fresh bread to last. There is a balance of powers happening within that box and the balance is not to be messed with.


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    This doesn't really add anything that isn't already addressed by other better written answers. – Ross Ridge May 15 '15 at 5:50




Were I live. A bread box is used to put a slice of bread in. In less than 15 minutes this will draw ants. Once the bread is covered in ants. You spray inside the box to keep there numbers down. Even putting bread in sealed plastic ones the ants will find a way in. This is tropical use of them.. Way up north. When women baked bread once a week. It was put in a bread box to keep moist for the week. It slowed bread from drying out. In today's world the plastic bag it comes in does a better job of keeping bread fresh. So they are more just for looks. In the old days some use to add a slice of apple or such to the bread box to keep bread moist. So they were the bread wrapper before bread wrappers came about. In the tropics ants just eat a hole threw the wrapper. Why we have a small bakery in each neighborhood. Ants don't attack hot ovens.


Bread boxes were actually made to keep fresh bread that didnt come pre pavkaged in plastic, much like 90% of store bought bread today.. Id say 1950s & before most bread came from bakerys, some came in a paper bag, others like baguette breads were bought with no wrapper. It was best to remove the paper because paper attracts moisture. The bread box was kept in a cool not cold like a refrigerator, but cool, dry and dark place. Daily you should open the box just to remove moiature & then close the box back up. Most baked breads then didn't have all the preservatives that todays food is loaded with. So without a bread box a fresh baked loaf was best the 1st day baked. When stored in the breqd box this could extend the life 2 to 3 days longer. I was born in 1960 & have had a bread box on the counter every day of my life. Ive found even with todays pre packaged breads in plastic, even though filled with preservatives to help leep it fresh for approx 7 to 10 days, which is what ive come to see with moat all breads today, that the pre packaged breads will stay fresher and mold free when kept in a bread box, again in a cool dry and dark location. No need to open the plastic surrounding the bread, this doesnt seem to help with todays breads wrapped in plastic. I hope this info helps. I will add by putting breads in a refrigerator, this will attract moisture and breads dont need excess moisture, the fridge & its cold will ruin bread very quickly. You can freeze breads, but i reccommend for no more then about a month. Since 99% of bread has moisture, a freezer will keep it for extended periods, but if too long a time it will make bread extremely dry and brittle...

  • "Good old days" rant aside, I never buy prepackaged bread, and mostly buy preservative free bread, or bake my own. The bread box is not a very good way of extending its life when compared to a paper or cotton bag. – rumtscho Mar 13 '19 at 9:01
  • Can you please do something about your wall of text? – user34961 Mar 13 '19 at 11:31

I majored in Bread Science at the University of Northhampton, near Oxford and from a purely British perspective, all your answers are wrong. Bread is meant to be consumed on a daily basis, ie. as in the Lord's prayer, "give us our daily bread. Any bread worth eating should be consumed ASAP and so there is no reason to own a "bread box." because there will be no bread left to be stored.

  • Does British bread spoil faster than bread in other countries? – Erica Nov 9 '15 at 0:07
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    Did you actually get a BS in Bread Science? – Lorel C. Nov 21 '17 at 4:51
