Sourdough is the loaf people most want to keep well and most often keep badly — usually by treating a hard-won crust as though it were the wrapper rather than part of the bread.
Why sourdough is different
Three things set a proper sourdough apart from a supermarket loaf, and all three affect storage.
- It is wetter. Most sourdough is baked at high hydration, so there is more moisture in the crumb to lose — and more to keep hold of.
- The crust is thick and dry. That crust is a genuinely effective barrier. Leave it intact and the loaf largely looks after itself.
- It is acidic. The lactic and acetic acids produced during fermentation make the loaf slightly hostile to mould, which is one reason a good sourdough often outlasts a commercial loaf without preservatives.
Day one: do nothing
On the day it is baked, a sourdough needs no help at all. Let it cool completely — at least two hours for a large boule, and resist cutting into it hot, which tears the crumb and lets a great deal of steam out at once. Then leave it on a board, uncovered, cut face down once you have started it.
Putting a same-day sourdough into any kind of bag is the one storage decision that reliably makes things worse. The crust is still giving off moisture, and anything enclosing it will soften the crackle you waited two days for.
Day two onwards: bag it
By the second day the balance flips. The crust has stabilised and the enemy is now the crumb drying out through the cut face. This is where a beeswax-lined bag earns its place: it slows that moisture loss without sealing the loaf in the way plastic does, so you keep a soft interior without surrendering the crust.
- Always store the loaf resting on its cut face, then bag it.
- Do not wrap the loaf in anything else first — one layer is enough.
- Leave a little air around it rather than forcing it in.
- If your kitchen is very warm, the loaf is better in the coolest corner of the room than in the fridge.
Half a loaf? If you know you will not finish it, cut the boule in half on day one, freeze one half immediately in a bag, and keep the other out. Half a loaf eaten fresh beats a whole loaf eaten slowly.
Bringing the crust back
A sourdough crust that has gone soft is easy to restore, and this works even on day three or four:
- Heat the oven to 200 °C.
- Splash or brush a little water over the crust — just damp.
- Put the loaf directly on the shelf for 5–10 minutes, or 3–4 for a wedge.
- Cool for five minutes before cutting, or the crumb will be gummy.
It will crackle audibly as it cools, which is the point. Refresh only what you are going to eat — the effect is temporary, and a re-crisped loaf firms up again faster than it did the first time.
Freezing sourdough
Sourdough freezes exceptionally well, better than almost any other bread, because the crust protects the crumb during freezing and thawing. Slice it first if you eat it in slices; freeze halves or quarters if you prefer to warm a piece at a time. Straight from frozen into a hot oven for 20–25 minutes produces something very close to a fresh bake — and noticeably better than a four-day-old loaf that was never frozen.
When it has gone past it
There is a point at which even a good sourdough is finished as a loaf, and that is not the point at which it is finished as food. Dry sourdough is the foundation of half the best dishes in the Mediterranean: panzanella, ribollita, bruschetta, migas, breadcrumbs by the jar. Our guide to yesterday’s bread has the details, and so does the recipe book in every Melipsa set.