Freezing Challah

Photo Credit: Sina Mizrahi

I can think of nothing more pleasant than the smell of fresh challah baking. And then there’s the pure goodness of challah itself — soft, fluffy, and just so delicious. There’s a lot of love infused in each loaf and we want to maximize its shelf life. So the question begs to be explored: What’s the best way to preserve challah? Let’s do some research on freezing challah (and bread in general).

I’ll start by getting a bit scientific here so we have some context. There are two main processes that occur when bread goes stale: loss of moisture and the retrogradation and recrystallization of starch. (Sounds fancy, I’ll explain.)

Wheat flour contains large amounts of starch molecules, which form a crystalline (highly organized/defined) structure. Once mixed with water and baked, that structure breaks down and becomes more disorganized and gel-like (because of the water absorption), and that’s what gives bread its fluffy texture. As bread cools, the starches begin to regroup and return to their ordered crystalline structure again. It’s this gradual return (“retrogradation”) to the crystal state (“recrystallization”) that causes bread to harden and grow stale.

This process happens more quickly in cool environments than in warmer temperatures, which is why you shouldn’t store bread in the refrigerator. But the process slows dramatically when in freezing temperatures, which is why the freezer is the best place for your fluffy, delicious, freshly baked loaf of challah.