Homemade bread goes beyond the kitchen; it is a tradition. “Breaking bread” has traditionally meant eating together, hashing out differences and restoring peace. Homemade bread has achieved distinction as a staple dish all over the world. Bakers, homemakers and chefs have spent years perfecting different types and bread and the techniques to preserve and improve it. When we think of storing bread in a safe and fresh manner, Ellementry comes to mind.

With so many types of bread available, from sourdough to white, whole grain and rye, it is often challenging for bread connoisseurs to preserve fresh bread. Here is where Ellementry comes into the picture as it offers a beautiful and elegant bread box to store your bread and cakes. Research into healthy lifestyles, baking, and consuming fresh bread has led people to look for healthy ways to store, preserve and relish fresh homemade bread. The bread box has made a comeback in recent times in non-toxic, nature-friendly materials like wood to store homemade bread. To understand why bread boxes work so well, we will need to delve into the history of bread, its ingredients and the impact on health. So, come, let Ellementry give you a lowdown on the history of bread.

Also Read- Why Bread Remains More Fluffy When You Use a Bread Box

The invention of commercial white bread

While store-bought bread is often packaged in plastic, homemade bread requires different treatment to conserve its freshness. It is important to understand a little bit about the manufacturing process to understand the difference between a home-baked and store-bought.

With the industrial revolution, new baking processes were invented. These techniques were less strict, less expensive to use and unfortunately included the use of chemicals and additives to make bread that lasted long without compromising too much on taste. Small family bakeries began to decline in the 1950s, replaced by commercially manufactured white bread that came wrapped in plastic covers.

The dangerous effects of white bread

Excessive yeast continues to be used in industrial bread to create air bubbles for a fluffy, light texture. This also allows for the use of lower quality grains in the dough, depriving consumers of nutrients. Besides, industrial bread loaves are loaded with preservatives that extend the shelf life of the bread. Thus storing bread in a plastic wrap, in the refrigerator, a bread box or solely in a paper bag makes little difference to its shelf life.

Eating white bread frequently has been proven scientifically to have devastating effects on the body. White gluten lines the intestines are resulting in conditions like inflammation, bloating and constipation. The gluten from white flour is also known to affect metabolism, clog the blood and contribute to diseases like obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol. Virtually every household consumes bread in different forms, leading to a range of symptoms that vary from mild to severe in their intensity.

This isn’t the case, however, with homemade bread.

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Using and storing homemade bread for health and taste

The only way to be healthy is to ensure a gluten-free diet. With so much research going into a healthy lifestyle, homemade bread is making a comeback and more and more families are taking to baking in their communities - for friends and neighbours. Small family-owned bakeries with freshly baked bread are now on the rise across the country to promote safe eating and healthy indulgence. Fresh bread does not use excessive yeast, chemicals, additives and preservatives.

While the warm aroma of freshly made bread is tantalizing, there remains the question of preserving it for future consumption. Storing fresh bread in the refrigerator or freezer causes it to become hard and stale due to a process called retrogradation, where the starch turns to crystalline form owing to the moisture in the bread. The process speeds up at cooler temperatures such as in a freezer. Thus bread stored outside a refrigerator is fresher for longer.

Challenges with storing homemade bread

Storing bread in a paper bag for more than a day makes it hard and crusty. Plastic wraps and bags fare a little better than paper bags but suffocate the crust causing it to become soft and dry. The only storage method that keeps homemade bread fresh for a relatively long period maintains its crisp exterior without causing the interior to harden is the bread box at Ellementry. This box is a fusion of metal and wood and that is what makes it easy for cleaning and maintaining. The bread box helps store bread, cakes and bagels as well.

Why is the breadbox proven to preserve homemade bread the best?

Bread Boxes were designed to keep their contents at room temperature preventing drying, hardening or crusting of bread thus prolonging shelf life. The lid on a bread box offered by Ellementry doubles up as a cutting board to cut those perfect slices of bread. This reduces condensation and helps to prevent mould formation for as long as possible.

Different types of bread boxes

Bread boxes come in different shapes and sizes. These boxes can be used to store foot-longs, sourdough, baguettes and other bread. The challenge is to find a box that is safe, environment- friendly and practical. Ellementry’s artists create hand-crafted bread boxes that are as elegant as they are functional. Boxes of wood and metal are stylish, rustic in their look and feel and are extremely spacious. Our bread boxes are designed to be aesthetic and sophisticated, to fit different sizes of bread while blending with a tastefully designed kitchen. If you are looking for a more natural touch, bamboo bread boxes are food-safe, environmentally friendly and naturally beautiful. Toast racks at Ellementry are another wonderful addition to make the serving of bread a pleasing task.