Hi Ann,
I cool the bread completely, wrap in waxed paper (to "soak" up any moisture), into a gallon ziplock bag, insert straw into partially zipped bag, suck air all out, fold "zipped" part of bag under and freeze.

I wrap it in foil after it has cooled a bit but is still a tiny bit warm...
Then I warm it in the foil at 300 for about 20 minutes and then open the foil at the top and leave for another 10 minutes...
Sometimes I just leave in the foil for the whole 30 minutes...the crust isn't crackling crisp, but crisp enough.
Linda C

I wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then wrap it in foil. The trick is to keep whatever "wrap" you use as close and tight to the bread as possible to keep the moisture in the bread from migrating from the crumb, through the crust, and forming ice crystals. I never have ice crystals. -Grainlady

The trick that works for me, and I freeze a lot of bread, is to wrap each loaf in paper towels and then into freezer bags. The bread won't be soggy when defrosted.

Ann

I've also been wrapping in paper towels since Ann T mentioned this awhile ago, and it works great for me too, since I nearly always have homemade bread in the freezer.

It's just so easy to bake two loaves and then freeze one for later.

Annie

I used to wrap a loav in saran and then in foil, until once "someone" who was helping me in the kitchen heated the bread in the foil....and saran and the sarans tuck....well never mind you know.
I don't do any paper towel stuff....and never have had any soggy crust. I just pack the foil tightly around the bread...
BUT...if the bread is in a freezer that self defrosts by the "warm up a bit" method, there will be ice crystalf form in any airspace.
A non defrosting deep freeze works best.
Linda c

I do the same as Ann and Annie, it is by far the best way I have found.

Two things I do that might help.

The first thing is that when my loaves are still hot from the oven, I brush the tops with butter.

The other is that when I freeze bread, I slice it before I pack it. --Ilene

Thanks everyone. It sounds like the biggest mistake I am making is not wrapping it tightly first - in paper towels or saran or whatever. Do you think it makes a difference whether its completely cooled before freezing?

Ann

Ann, you definitely want your bread completely cooled before freezing.

Ann

I don't cool mine completely...the crust will re crisp in the oven. Many times I wrap it very warm. I figure Iw ant the moisture that it would lose by cooling to stay in the bread....it can lose that moisture when I reheat it again.
I always re-warm frozen bread.
Linda C

I have found that if the bread isn't completely cool before wrapping that condensation forms and when frozen you can end up with ice crystals, making for a soggy loaf when defrosted.

I guess freezing while not completely cool is okay if you are going to reheat in the oven. But I unless I'm making a loaf of garlic bread I never reheat my breads. Once defrosted I want to be able to use the bread the same way I would fresh baked bread, without having to reheat it first.

Ann