What you didn’t know about freezing bread
It may seem like such a small action, but freezing your bread could help save 20 million loaves of bread from going to waste each year.
That’s right, 20 million loaves of bread are thrown away each year in New Zealand – mainly because they go stale or grow mould.
While that is a staggering figure, the problem can be solved very easily – if everyone stored their bread in the freezer, instead of at room temperature, their bread would remain fresh and mould-free.
Simple.
To stop bread slices sticking together once frozen…
To stop your slices of bread freezing together, gently bang the loaf of bread on the bench to separate the slices before you put it in the freezer. This means that you will easily be able to pull out a slice or two without having to defrost the whole loaf.
Did you know you can make toast straight from the freezer?
That’s right – just pop your frozen slice of bread straight into the toaster, there’s no need to defrost it first. It will only take slightly longer to cook than fresh bread.
Frozen bread defrosts really quickly…
Leave the slices of bread laid out in a single layer at room temperature and they should defrost in 15 minutes or so.
What about making sandwiches with frozen bread?
If you don’t have time to wait for the bread to defrost before heading out the door in the morning, you can make sandwiches with frozen bread. In fact, it is easier to spread things like butter on frozen bread. The sandwiches will be defrosted by lunchtime.
You can even freeze sandwiches
That’s right! Although you want to make sure your sandwich doesn’t have any salad fillings like lettuce, cucumber or tomato that will go limp and soggy once thawed. It’s easy to make a batch of sandwiches, wrap them tightly in cling wrap and then freeze them until you need them! How’s that for meal prep? For the best results, let them defrost at room temperature or place them straight into a toasted sandwich maker.
Toast doesn’t have to be boring
Move over Marmite! Toast can be the basis of many different meals. Here are some of our favourite toast toppers:
