Can You Freeze Bread With Paper Towels?

Have you heard of freezing bread with paper towels? It might sound crazy at first, but it actually is a sensible solution for freezing bread. Here is how you can freeze bread with paper towels and the benefits of doing so!

Paper towels can definitely be used to freeze bread. What makes them great is they create a protective barrier between the bread and the ice crystals which form on freezer bags. This slows down the rate at which your bread stales and makes it easier to separate the slices when it comes to removing your slices.

How to Freeze Bread With Paper Towels

These are the steps involved in freezing bread with paper towels plus a freezer bag. If you make the bread yourself, allow it to properly cool on a cooling rack before slicing. Then follow along with step 1!

1- Insert the paper towel

Place one or two slices of bread at a time between two pieces of paper towel in a concertina style fold.

2- Place in a freezer bag

Place the slices of bread in a freezer bag. If you don’t have one, a plastic bag or even a bin liner will work fine. Try to squeeze out as much air from the freezer bag before sealing it up. This will help prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface of your bread when you defrost it.

3- Seal the bag

Seal up the bag as tightly as possible. If there is no seal on the bag, use three folds over the open end and secure it with strips of tape.

4- Freeze!

Put it in the freezer! It becomes more challenging if you try to freeze too much at once because there isn’t enough room for everything to be nicely stacked, so don’t overload your freezer with frozen loaves, use several bags instead!

5- Defrost when required

Defrost at room temperature or in a microwave when needed.

Do I have to use paper towels to freeze bread?

If you just use cling film or any other loose-fitting sandwich bag type material you might find large ice crystals forming all over it. These will can damage the outer surfaces of your bread badly, leading to freezer burn.

If you are going to store your bread in the freezer for a short duration then it probably won’t make a difference. But if you plan to store sliced bread in the freezer for long you might find that using paper towels to separate the slices makes a big difference. See the how to freeze sliced bread post to discover more methods!