Bev, I feel your pain! I am constitutionally incapable of cooking one or two servings or baking less than three loaves per batch. Here's a possible plan: Buy a sliced white loaf and put four to six slices in a ziplock. Double bag and freeze the rest. Buy Hawaiian rolls and leave one out; freeze the rest. Buy mini-baguettes and leave one out, freeze the rest. Check the bread out before you start cooking: If there isn't enough, take out what's needed and spread it on a baking rack to defrost. By the time you've prepared a meal what you've pulled out should be defrosted and no longer damp. Bag it. Yeah, what a pain! But better than the mold thing. Because you're right. It goes moldy and/or stale in the bag or cannister if you have more than can be eaten. :D

I also find that the bread box drawer works well for keeping bread fresh and crusty for several days in a paper bag or perforated plastic. Before I had a bread drawer I would have to put bread in plastic the first night in order to keep it from drying out too much and going stale. The plastic would cause the bread to lose its nice crustiness. Of course it doesn't make a difference with grocery store bread that is already sealed in plastic. But it makes a great place for keeping bread products or any other bulky items off the counter. I don't have any problems with the sliding lid--it's very easy to get used to. I'm sure I've made up for the cost with the loaves I haven't had to throw out after going stale.

Thank you all the the good ideas. The only bread items i keep in the frig are things I'm going to toast, like bagels or english muffins. Otherwise I find it affects the texture. I never freeze bread, it doesn't last long enough! Homemade bread and muffins always disappear on the same day they are baked. My kids are 7, 10 and 13. They can all make there own PBJ, toast, or "easy grilled cheese", and cook hot dogs ot tortilla and cheese in the MW. I find that they are happier when they can do these things on their own. I like the idea of a sandwich station too. I'll need to rethink where I put things like the toaster and the trash. Between the frig and sink I have a 32" = 34" cabinet. I wanted to put in 3 drawers there for food storage, wraps and tupperware, towels, one shallow drawer for knives. The MW will be on a shelf immediate above this counter. This is the counter where I make sandwiches now. It currently has an old-fashion pull out wood cutting board that I use exclusively for making sandwiches or slicing bread. I was thinking of getting rid of the cutting board in the remodel, but maybe I should keep it? I guess I could move the toaster to this counter too, though it will steal some work space. If I make one drawer for bread, I'll have to find somewhere else to put my dish towels. I'm glad you told me not to waste money on the "bread drawer" thing with lid. I was also thinking of using some of that 34" width to put in a pull-out trash (between sink and new drawers. If I do that, then I'll want to keep the trash pull-out as narrow as possible, and the drawers as wide as possible. I also have a narrow 14", floor to ceiling cabinet with pull outs on the other side of the frig. I could put the trash pull-out there. It won't be as convenient as next to the sink, but maybe a better compromise location. I didn't like the idea of the trash immediately next to the bread drawer anyway. On the other side of the sink I have the DW and then another 15 - 18" for a cabinet or drawers. Over there I thought I'd keep my big mixer, mixing bowl, and other appliances like blender and food processor. I think cabinet with pull-outs would be better for this. Any insights are appreciated.

My take on bread drawer covers is that they work similarly to breathable bags-i.e. paper bags or the stiff plastic bags covered with perforations. They allow some ventilation so that the bread stays crusty but limits the ventilation so that bread will go stale more slowly than it would out on the counter. Bread stored in regular plastic bags can be kept anywhere---the moisture trapped by the plastic takes away any crustiness whether the bread is stored in bread box, on counter or in fridge. We have a bread drawer cover (it's plastic with 2 ventilation finger holes). I don't think the cover is doing any more than the closed drawer is already--decreasing air flow but allowing some ventilation. Since we have inset cabinets we have a bit of an airgap around the drawer allowing for some air circulation. I wonder if overlay drawers allow enough air circulation either with or without drawer covers. Maybe the volume of the drawer is large enough so that any trapped moisture won't make the bread soft.