Moldy Monday - Waste Not Want Not

I heard that! "Oh it's just a little bit of mold. I can just pick that right off. My kid won't notice the hole in the crust. They're not going to even eat the crust...are they?"

Fess up. How many have you done this?

That's what I thought. All of you. Seriously?! I hate to tell you this but once one spot appears, you can bet the whole loaf is covered with a fine network of hyphae which can be so fine that they are not visible to the naked eye.

Necklace from Artist Sarah Norton's
Etsy store Beat Black

My dear there is nothing worse than wasting food. You don't want to throw it out, you don't want to eat it. I get it. Blagh-urgh! But is there a way to avoid food poisoning and not toss the bread in the garbage? Absolutely.

First take the bread you do have and cut it up into smaller pieces and compost it, but be certain it's covered by a layer of compost to prevent animals or birds from eating it. If you don't or can't compost you are going to have to toss it. 

The best way to manage bread is to keep it at room temperature (Vintage bread boxes are kickass!) only as much as you can eat before mold appears.

What amount is that exactly? Jezzum, how should I know?! My family is all over the map with this. Sometimes it's four loaves of sliced bread in a weekend. Sometimes it's two slices.


My family is fickle too. None of that crappy Wonder/Bimbo bread. They want whole grain, honey oat, sweet sponge, fancy pants bread that mold LOVES!!!! So I blow $4 on a loaf and hope they eat it all. And get all cranky pants when they don't.

You can freeze loaves and thaw it in it's closed plastic bag. Bread products should not be refrigerated, because they will go stale, unless they're sweet breads like cinnamon swirl or breads with fruit and nuts in it.

If you have a funny bread or mold story, please share it below.