Egg Challah ingredient to preserve freshness and stay

to add preservatives. Maybe it's because the oil content is usually quite high (can be as high as 20% baker's percentage), but our  Challah usually keeps very well if kept in a sealed plastic bag. 

I too, just place it into a zip lock plastic bag with most of the air removed.  If I'm worried about it loosing moisture, I just put one sheet of damp paper towel into the bag as well, not touching the bread.

I don't have Nathan's recipe handy, but if you replace at least half the sugar or even all of it with honey (in a slightly lesser amount than the sugar), that seems to prolong freshness.  I like Stuart's suggestion of the damp paper towel in the bag as well.  I use the "classic challah" recipe on the King Arthur Flour website (uses honey).

I live alone and eat only my own breads.  To make this work, I slice my loaves once they've cooled completely.  I put the slices into a heavy duty freezer bag which I then put into my freezer.  I then thaw only what I want to eat either in the open air or by toasting them.  Works every time.

This is maybe sacrilege! but I don't put egg in my challahs as I think this makes them dry out quickly. I also use a lot of oil.

Chacun à son gout.

I've tried honey instead of sugar and this does improve the texture.

This is a revelation.  The substitution of oil for the fat of the egg yolk, and honey in place of sugar which improves the soft texture but preserves the sweetness, this results in a fantastic loaf!

My favorite challah recipe follows.  It's the one I base most of my challah variations on though I'm always trying out other recipes.  I know I've made upwards of 5-6 hundred challahs over the years.  It's my impression that challah stales faster than most breads, regardless of the recipe whether eggless or not.  It still say FREEZE slices and use them as needed.

Eier Challah (egg challah)

4 large eggs

2 cups water

1/2 cup veg. oil

3/4 cup honey

2 tbs salt

5 tsp yeast

enough bread or APF such that, once kneaded to windowpane stage, it's no longer sticky and it'll sit like a ball on your countertop, maybe 9 cups of flour total, maybe more or less

You know what to do with those ingredients, I presume.

When challah gets stale....make stuffing for your bird of choice : )

I got this tip from Rose Beranbaum, but try adding just a bit of old firm sourdough starter (about 65g per challah) into the challah dough.  It doesn't matter if it's whole wheat or white or even whether it's active.  The acidity of this extends the shelf life of the challah and also makes the dough easier to braid.  If you don't have starter lying around, try adding a tiny amount of vinegar for a somewhat similar effect. 

So, if you want to know some of the tricks we use, this is what I have seen/tried over the years.

1) Try leaving out the challah in the with NO bags. The challah forms a crust and makes it non porous and protects the inside. The moisture stays in the dough along with the taste. A bag softens the crust and makes it go stale quickly because the moisture escapes the inside of the challah and stays on the outside.

2) Try using potato water. Potatoes have natural preservative qualities. I once made potato bread and the bread stayed soft and fresh for almost a full week, no exaggeration. It was almost miraculous. Potato water is the water you boil potatoes in.

3) Try freezing the challah even overnight. It's not the same as when it's fresh, but it's better than overnight.

Note: Once it's a little stale, you can put the challah on top of the fire to warm up and it mitigates the stale taste. If you are an orthodox Jew, you would put it on the warming tray or in the warming drawer on Saturday for a few hours.