Bread

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>>9379415
>how do I keep it fresh for longer?

When you go to cut slices out of it start in the middle, then push the two ends together after removing your desired slices. Keep as little of the crumb exposed to the open air as possible.

>>9379415
Add some oil to the dough. 1 tablespoon is good for about 2 lbs of dough and won't change the bread very much. Try 2 tablespoons if this isn't enough.

>>9379415
A few things on stale bread.

Sounds like you cut it when it was still warm out of the oven. Even though its super tempting to eat it when it is still steamy out of the oven this will make it go stale faster. wait for it to cool to room temp before cutting it.

Ascorbic acid - litraly vitamin C. It stops one of the main mechanisms of staling, called retrogradation. This is when the water molecules that are separating the starch from forming long chains fall out (dehydrogenate/degelatinisation) and allow it to recrystalise with other sugars in the bread.

The more gluten in your bread, the slower it will go stale. So longer knead/higher protein flour.

>>9380025
Fat does also help with the bread going stale. But 1 tbs will make a slightly noticeable difference to the dough imo. Fats will also "lubricate" the gluten in the bread. Think of gluten as a rubber in the bread, its made up of two types of protien that are like long stretchy pubic hairs all tangled up. The more you knead the dough the more you develop the gluten and the more there is, but triglycerides (fats) will let the protien strands that make up gluten slide past each other. So your rubber becomes less like a hard bouncy ball, and more like strechy gum. One tbs will change it a bit, but give it a try.

Do you have anymore crumb shots? Also whats your recipe.

Btw that looks pretty freaking good, especially for a first attempt.

>>9379415
no you didn't. you just want to talk about bread, so you make up a story about baking bread for first time, then ask a question you already know the answer to.

>>9380231
oh and also obviously just keep it covered. Either in an airtight container, or better in cling wrap, especially cover the cut side of it.

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>>9379415
>how do I keep it fresh for longer?

Storage conditions. Don't store bread in a sealed plastic container; that traps moisture and leads to mold. At the same time don't just leave it out or it will dry out. You want to keep it in something that's semi-permeable. The old fashioned wooden breadbox is ideal for this. (pic related). Another good alternative is to put it in a brown paper sack and fold/roll it closed.

Don't store bread in the fridge. That will make it go stale faster than anything else. If you need to store long term use the freezer.

>>9380231
> wait for it to cool to room temp before cutting it.
This is a very good point!

slice it, bag it, and freeze it. Pop it in the toaster oven when you're hankering for some bread.

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Made mine in a cast iron pot. The sesame seeds on top add good flavor too.

Putting some egg white (albumen) on it before the oven maybe?

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>>9379422
>>9380242
Sound advice.

>>9380025
Olive oil good?

>>9380231
Thanks man, I only really looked up a recipe online. And I might have cut it too soon, I waited only 20 minutes after taking it out of the oven.

It's really basic, some sugar, flour and a little bit of salt. I was also told to add a container with water inside to the oven for the first 30 minutes the bread is in the oven but I'm not sure what that was for actually.

>>9380235
Out of all the things I could lie about on an anonymous image board.

>>9380281
That's an interesting idea, I'll look into it.

>>9380508
>Olive oil good?
It's exactly what I use.

>>9380508
Olive oil is good. Add it with the water.

The water in the oven is to increase the humidity and has to do with making the crust. alternatively you can sprinkle water on the loaf by flicking a pastry brush or with a spray bottle. Water will give it a crisp hard classic bread crust, brushing with oil will give a different kinda biscuity crumbley crust. Egg wash will give a good colour, and looks nice if you egg wash before you score so you have the juxtaposition colour thing going on, also egg wash helps if your sticking sesame seeds or herbs or something on the top.

>>9380588
I meant add it with the water that goes IN the bread, not the water in the pan in the oven. Also you can experiment with different fats, a knob of butter, whole milk instead of water etc.

>>9379415
>how do I keep it fresh for longer?
Freeze half of it. Fresh baked bread freezes very nicely, and all you need to do when you take it out is pop it in the microwave wrapped in paper towels to thaw and then put it in the toaster to crisp up.

I buy ciabatta rolls in bulk at Costco and freeze them in little individual bags for whenever I feel like making something with a fucking ciabatta roll. Keeps for months.

>>9379415
A splash of olive oil will help it last longer.

Good job, OP! You've already gotten some good answers to your question, but I'll reiterate that the best way to store your fresh bread is in a paper bag, folded over or rolled up. Also, store the bread cut-side down, to minimize air contact with the exposed crumb.

You can also slice it and freeze it!