Baking Notes

I've been baking regularly but it's all pretty much the same sourdough loaves without much variation: two spelt for hubs and a wheat for me, although this one came out as more of a focaccia - better for tearing and dipping than slicing. Anywhoo. My starter seems pretty happy too, which makes things even more seamless and easy; the only thing I might change is adding some olive oil to the spelt bread to soften up the crusts.  These loaves need such a long time in the oven - a full hour - that the crusts become a bit tough. The wheat bread is happy enough to just have 40 minutes of baking time - the crust is nice and crunchy the first day but then softens up on its own once it's wrapped up in a ziplock bag and stashed in the fridge (or freezer, or countertop, etc...) And is easily re-crunched with a quick stint in the toaster. The spelt loaves age well but with a dense pumpernickel / rye type consistency it only gets chewier with time, which is great if your teeth are up for the workload, but alas. Speaking of storing bread, does anyone use or even see bread boxes on kitchen counters anymore? They were something of a feature in kitchens from my childhood, but I can't remember the last time I saw one being used. Sourdough is the only bread I know that has the kind of shelf life that would work in a bread box at room temperature, everything else gets mouldy too quickly. So unless there is an especially high consumption and turnover in your bread inventory, my bet is to store bread in a ziplock bag and park it somewhere cold. Better yet, slice it up first so you can take out a piece at a time for toasting and snacking.