preventing a baguette from turning rock hard

[applecore]

i'm throwing an evening picnic party and i've just ordered about 30 banh mi sandwiches to be picked up around 3pm. the last time i did this, the bread (baguettes) got stale pretty quickly - meaning, it was really hard by the time we were sitting down to chow. the sandwiches are made to order by the restaurant, and individually wrapped up in butcher paper but it still seems to get really hard.

there are tricks to keeping brown sugar soft.. is there a trick in keeping my delicious banh mi soft(er) so my guests can actually eat them without ripping the roof of their mouths? i plan to keep all of the sandwiches wrapped up (with the veggies on the side).

thank you for your help!

[Veggo]

In low humidity areas like Denver, a fresh warm morning baguette without help can be used to hit baseballs by happy hour. It's automatic in Denver to get them home, cut them into 3 pieces, and put them in a large zip-lock for use at dinner. Often with a light spritz from a wetted hand flick in the bag. I would do the same for your sandwiches. Butcher paper is not your friend.

[mimolette]

The store probably toasted the bread before stuffing it.

[Karl S]

Sounds like you have good baguettes. Good baguettes, like good bagels and good hard rolls, are designed to be purchased soon after being baked for serving within a couple of hours; the good ones stale within hours. (These products were perfected in the industrial era where housewives would purchase their breads a couple of times a day.)

The moral of the story: do this for a luncheon picnic.

You can try to refresh the baguettes by: Preheating the oven to 350F. You can wrap the bread in a moistened clean towel and bake it for 5-10 minutes or as needed until it's where you'd like it to be. Another approach involves misting and baking and repeating. Some try moistened paper towels, with and without a foil covering. You get the idea.

[Parigi]

Baguette does get stale quickly. It is not meant to last overnight. Here in France one gets a fresh baguette everyday. Hell, every meal.

[jhopp217]

This doesn't sound like it will suit your needs, but whenever I buy a baguette and don't use the whole thing, I let it get stale. Then before using again I put it in the microwave on high for about 10-15 seconds. It smells and feels like it just came out of the oven. Two notes: The middle gets very hot and it does tend to get stale quickly after so you have to do this right before you eat it! Works for bagels too!

[Bada Bing]

You might have had day-old baguette's from the sandwich maker, if your sandwiches were already stale on day one.

But traditionally made bauguettes stale quickly, and they cannot be expected to be perfect even the next morning. If you keep them in a ziplock or otherwise sealed environment, you might keep the crust from going stale an extra day or so, but then the crusts will also lose their crispness.

[applecore]

i think that is precisely what happened. this time around, none of the sandwiches turned hard.

[applecore]

the wet paper towel seems like a plan - i'll store all of the sandwiches in a bag with something soaked in water.. or maybe some fruit. thanks for your help

[comestible]

Yes, that's surprising, and I wonder if it has to do with the particular banh mi baguettes. If they are from a Vietnamese baker, maybe it's the ingredients. The Italian baguettes and heroes I get locally (well, of course, they're not called baguettes, they're more like a long brick oven loaf) are fine for a full day. The banh mi baguettes I've had seem to have a softer texture.

[link_930]

It's surprising to hear that the bread gets stale so quickly. When I go backpacking, I usually wrap baguette sandwiches (usually pretzel rolls) in a wet paper towel, then aluminum foil. They keep well this way even in 90+ degree weather for 8+ hours (food safety, I know, I know, but I'm still alive!).