I almost never do this, but I hardly ever find something I like this much so I am. For the last two weeks I have been using a new product called Bread Armor to put my homemade bread in. These are heavy duty BPA-free, ziptop plastic bags made to store Artisan breads in that you buy at the store or bakery, like the luscious, crusty loaf of sourdough or French bread that is ever so enticing. Well, I thought if they could store bakery bread, they could certainly store my homemade bread. And can they ever!

You know those rolls we made last Sunday? They were finished today, 8 days later. There was not a hint of mold and they were still soft and fresh tasting. You don't get that sort of thing in your average ziptop bag.

I used to use one of the major namebrand ziptop bags to store my bread in, but they always fit awkwardly and they weren't big enough. Plus the bread would start to mold on day 4 without refrigeration. I don't like keeping bread in the fridge. It condenses. And anyone who has ever stored a loaf in the freezer knows that when you thaw it, the bottom part will be less than desireable eating.

Now I can leave it out on the counter for over a week. (The product says up to seven days, but I got 8). My regular bread doesn't last that long, but when we only make burgers every seven or eight days or a bit longer, those hamburger buns could be a problem. Not anymore!

And the best part is the bags are reusable. Just shake out the crumbs (save them for meatballs or meatloaf in your freezer) and it's ready to go. And when they do eventually wear out, they can go in the recycling. This is a win-win situation for me and I love that it's helping me reduce my waste output. That's frugal and sustainable.

Oh, and it wasn't terribly expensive as far as these things go, either. A 2 pack of French bread bags is $2.99 and I can fit two loaves of bread in that cut up (I lay the slices sideways and stack them three high) and the variety 3 pack, also $2.99 has one bag that is perfect for my rolls. I expect these to last a good long while based on their quality and I think that 15 uses per package would be the equivalent of using disposable ziptop bags. I will report in after 15 uses, and then again after 30, but the one I've used four times now and it's still in as good of shape as when it was brand new.

I am going to try using them for homemade French bread and pumpkin and zucchini bread when the right season hits and I'll write about how they do then, too. It might not work so well since those breads are kind of sticky, but who knows?

Anyway, here's the website if you'd like to check it out: