I keep mine in the freezer. If I put it in the fridge, it seems stale to me. I take out what I need as it's needed. I even prepare the sandwhich while it's frozen, which makes it easy to spread things on the bread without tearing. Just don't cut it while it's frozen, as you'll end up with squished ends! It only takes a couple of minutes for it to thaw.

You can't really "store" bread. It gets moldy unless it is refrigerated or frozen. You wouldn't want to eat bread that had been treated with enough chemicals to prevent mold.

In fact, all foods get moldy after a while. It's just one of nature's ways.

I usually keep bread in the fridge, extra goes into the freezer. Stale bread is for the goats, they love it as special treat.

I usually make two or three loaves at a time, and only keep one out, usually in a plastic bag. The others go in the freezer until needed. I tend to find my bread dries out too much if I store it in the fridge.

In the humid days of summer, I sometimes cut the loaf in half, and freeze one half, so that it can't go mouldy as fast in the humidity.

I keep mine in the freezer, whether it's sliced bread, English muffins, bagels, rolls, or leftover pizza. As Robin said, most bread products take only a few minutes to defrost, or if I forget to take them out of the freezer early enough, I'll zap them in the microwave for 15 seconds or use the toaster.

What bugs me is having left-over "heels". DH doesn't want a sandwich made from them. Even though I'll use them for myself, I usually end up with a bag full of them, which I have to trash, eventually. :>(

I wonder why it has all changed so much. Years ago I could leave whole loaves in their wrappers in a basket on top of the fridge for a couple of weeks with no problems. I love "heel" toast,with lots of butter and jelly.

I've read that one shouldn't refrigerate bread, but I've never noticed a difference. Like others, I keep out just enough for two days and freeze the rest. DH likes commercial bread for his sandwiches, so he buys the long sandwich loaf; I freeze it 4 slices to a zip bag so he can just reach in and grab the next one out as soon as he finishes what's in the bread box.

My homemade bread is made with a tablespoon of potato flour included in the flour, and it actually doesn't begin to stale for 4 or 5 days. It's never lasted long enough for me to find out when it will mold, lol.

One thing to consider is that you may have an excess of mold spores floating in the air. Make sure you spray all the kitchen surfaces with 50/50 vinegar/water and then wipe with cloth dampened with clean water.

If there is a lot of mold in the neighborhood, it could come in every time you open the door - we have this problem from a house two doors upwind. The health dept has visited them several times; they clean up for the visit and then just dump everything until the next notice of a visit. Next door neighbor went inside once and came out gagging; she said there was black mold and gray molds covering almost every surface in the kitchen and on walls and ceiling elsewhere. How can anyone stand to live like that?!!

Obviously my home baked breads go bad more rapidly than those commercially baked, because I do not use preservatives or enzymes. Sometimes they go bad within days and most of the variables have to do with moisture and how the bread is handled immediately after it's baked.

Molds grow where the conditions are most met for growth. I suspect it has more to do with the conditions in the home or the preparation and packaging of commercial breads than any changes in the bread or its ingredients.

I do not have forced air heat. I had electric baseboard and now I have hot water heat. Forced air heat keeps home air drier. Central air conditioning does as well. If the humidity is up, mold growth is up. Ambient mold spores in the air is up and each time your bread hits air, it gets more innoculated.

Breads wrapped before they are cooled stay moist. They mold faster. Breads kept in a warm enviroment mold faster if they're also not allowed to dry out. You'll notice how dried bread for stuffing doesn't mold. It just gets hard. It's all about moisture. Certain brands of bread are a lot moisture and denser than others, too. Those are the brands kids usually ask for when they're little. To me, those brands are like foam rubber.

My homemade crusty bread, if it isn't cut and not put in plastic goes into suspended animation. LOLOL. If I butter the loaves and wrap them before they're cooled, they are oh, so tender and good and mold oh so fast. I freeze my breads if I don't plan on eating them in a week. I'm thrilled if they last a week to ten days in the breadbox.