I really love Grand Central's Sour White rustic sourdough bread. You can get
it in Portland and Seattle. This is my model bread for my own baking.
I have had a problem with keeping rustic sourdough breads fresh after
slicing/ripping off pieces. If I just keep the bread in the paper sack,
the exposed inner bread gets stale, but the crust remains crunchy & chewy.
If I put the whole thing in a plastic bread bag, the whole loaf stays fresh,
but the crust turns to taffy.
I have found the following solution to work well. As a compromise, I
now cover the exposed part of the bread with plastic wrap, leaving the crust
unwrapped, and then putting the whole thing in a paper bag. My inner bread
remains fresh and the crust remains crunchy & chewy. I can make a loaf last
two or three days this way.
I hope this helps.
Bill Wilhelmi
Technical Marketing
Workstation Technology Division
Hewlett-Packard Company