Living · 6 pages · 12 min
Why stale bread goes firm
The starch slowly recrystallizes, and the crumb firms even in a sealed bag.
From the opening
Stale bread goes firm because starch that the oven had disordered slowly recrystallizes, a change called retrogradation. The crumb tightens as those ordered regions return, even when the loaf has not lost much water to the air. The opening covers amylopectin crystals firm the crumb, amylose sets the fresh structure, and why the refrigerator can speed it.
The rest of the brief — the later sections and the reading notes — opens after Stripe confirms payment.
Inside
- Amylopectin crystals firm the crumb
- Amylose sets the fresh structure
- Why the refrigerator can speed it
- Why reheating softens a stale slice
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Amylopectin retrogradation after baking
- X-ray evidence that staling is starch reordering