Happy New Year Bakers!

I found this tutorial for handmade bread bags.  It also shows a very nice loaf of homemade bread.  Enjoy!

http://www.saltwater-kids.com/2010/04/5-minute-bread-bag-tutorial_9456.html

JoPi

Most of us make more bread than we can eat.  And hey, why not when it's takes just as long to clean up after making 2 loaves as it does after making 4 loaves.  Anyway, for those of you who give away (or sell) your extras, these bags might be of interest.  I use them for our bakery packaging because they keep things crisp and allow me to package the loaves while they're still warm.  Plus, as you can see, they enable the customer to pick up the loaves and see them from top to bottom.   I print the labels on a single color laser printer (no smudging), which makes them easy to edit.  The ingredient labels on the back are standard name tag size, the main labels on the front are slightly larger.  I use brown ones for the bread and silver ones for the pastries.  

bag closeup

assorted bags

-Mark

First I want to say hello! to everybody.  I've missed chatting about bread - and missed baking it even more.  Awhile back I suspected some food allergies, so decided to test some changes in my diet.  To my dismay, I found that I do feel a lot better when I don't eat wheat or dairy.  There was no way I could bake bread all the time and not eat it.

I've changed my focus to another hobby - gardening.  I'm attending my first plant swap in a few weeks.  Since I have almost no plants to trade, I decided to make some bread. With very rusty skills, some no-knead multi-grain seems good.  I'd like to bake it a week or two ahead. I have some of the Glad Cling Wrap to freeze it in. 

I could use some suggestions for thawing. Is there a good way to restore some crispness to the crust?

Then there's the whole issue of bagging it.  Does anyone know where I can buy some paper bags for boules?  I don't mind buying more than I need this time, as I may do this again in the future.  Or do you have other inexpensive suggestions for packaging?

I was just on King Arthur's Flour site and for anyone who's interested, they have their nice storage bags for boules, medium and bagette loaves on sale for half price. They're usually 9.95 for 30 or 35 and they're on sale for 4.49 or 4.99. I've ordered some and will let you know how the quality is.

Trish