Obviously my home baked breads go bad more rapidly than those commercially baked, because I do not use preservatives or enzymes. Sometimes they go bad within days and most of the variables have to do with moisture and how the bread is handled immediately after it's baked. Molds grow where the conditions are most met for growth. I suspect it has more to do with the conditions in the home or the preparation and packaging of commercial breads than any changes in the bread or its ingredients. I do not have forced air heat. I had electric baseboard and now I have hot water heat. Forced air heat keeps home air drier. Central air conditioning does as well. If the humidity is up, mold growth is up. Ambient mold spores in the air is up and each time your bread hits air, it gets more innoculated. Breads wrapped before they are cooled stay moist. They mold faster. Breads kept in a warm enviroment mold faster if they're also not allowed to dry out. You'll notice how dried bread for stuffing doesn't mold. It just gets hard. It's all about moisture. Certain brands of bread are a lot moisture and denser than others, too. Those are the brands kids usually ask for when they're little. To me, those brands are like foam rubber. My homemade crusty bread, if it isn't cut and not put in plastic goes into suspended animation. LOLOL. If I butter the loaves and wrap them before they're cooled, they are oh, so tender and good and mold oh so fast. I freeze my breads if I don't plan on eating them in a week. I'm thrilled if they last a week to ten days in the breadbox.

I believe the bacteria involved in soft cheese is Listeria, which can multiply under the right conditions and become the toxin Listeriosis. The CDC estimates that approximately 1600 illnesses and 260 deaths due to listeriosis occur annually in the United States. It's been associated with Mexican-style soft cheese, and other types made with unpasteurized (raw) milk, but other dairy products as well -- generally from lack of pasteurization, OR introduction of the bacteria at some point after it's been pasteurized, OR post-processing contamination from unpasteurized milk. Listeria can grow under either anaerobic (without oxygen) or aerobic (with oxygen) conditions. The bacteria multiply best at 86-98.6 degrees F, but it also multiplies better than all other bacteria at refrigerator temperatures. I believe these are the reasons not to vacuum-seal soft cheeses. Vacuum-sealing might encourage keeping them much longer than might be safe. We consume all kinds of bacteria all the time, it's when it's in the right environment that the bacteria multiply and become a toxin. It's the toxin that's the problem, and that doesn't happen with much regularity. The challenge comes because we don't know if the bacteria is actually present to begin with, and that is why we should practice good food safety rules when choosing, handling, preparing and storing foods of all kinds. Vacuum-sealing just isn't the appropriate method for everything. Factors that increase Listeria's potential to human health: (source: linked below) 1. Grow at refrigerator temperatures, 32-degrees F and above. 2. Grow in an acidic (as low as 4.4 pH) or basic (as high as pH 9.6) environment. 3. Tolerate low moisture environments; it has been detected in hard fermented salami. 4. Grow under anaerobic conditions at refrigeration temperatures. This property makes Listeria a potential threat to the safety of foods packaged under vacuum or modified atmospheres as the growth of this microorganism is not inhibited in vacuum packaged food items. 5. Grow at extremely high salt concentrations, especially at refrigerator temperatures. It has been detected in commercial cheese brines. Thus, cheese brines should be considered as potential sources for cross-contamination. 6. Due to Listeria's ability to attach to different surfaces, packaging materials can be a potential source of contamination. I've been using a FoodSaver since 1986 (on my 3rd one) and I have practiced home food storage since that time and vacuum\-seal large quantities of dry goods (both bags and jars), refrigerated and frozen foods \- without incident. Dry goods stored at room temperature need to be at 10% moisture or LESS. Things I DON'T vacuum\-seal because the moisture level is too high for dry\-packing using a vacuum\-seal is brown sugar and popping corn. I also avoid vacuum\-sealing home\-dehydrated foods because in most cases the percentage of moisture left in the food is unknown. Home\-dehydrated foods are also short\-term storage foods which should be used relatively quickly and store well in an airtight container. When it comes to the freezing foods that are raw, fresh, or cooked, you simply apply good food handling practices and incorporate the proper practices for thawing to increase a safe food supply. At least 80% of the food items in my freezer are vacuum\-sealed. I can "flip" through the baskets that contain frozen fruits, vegetables, breakfast meats, pre\-cooked meats in individual servings, portioned ground meat (raw and pre\-cooked) as well as all meat purchased in bulk, stacks of homemade bean burgers/tuna or salmon patties...... Chili, soup, pasta sauce, sloppy joe mixture, etc., are all frozen in user\-friendly sized containers. Once they are completely frozen, I pop them out of the containers (now the plastic containers can be used for something else), stack the food cubes and vacuum them. I can quickly use one frozen cube of chili to turn into a taco salad meal, topping for baked potatoes, or as a soup. I generally portion foods first, quick\-freeze them, then vacuum\-seal them. I cook for 2 adults, but I make most things in large amounts (cook once for many meals) and freeze them in portions. These are my "convenience" foods. I probably only make mashed potatoes 2 or 3 times a year (after my spring harvest, fall harvest, and when I find potatoes BOGO), but always have portions of freezer mashed potatoes ready to thaw, heat and serve. I also freeze portions of cooked grains and beans. I just made a large batch of black beans and I quick\-froze them on a rimmed baking sheet covered with a sheet of FREEZER paper. When they were completely frozen, I lifted the freezer paper and the beans loosed from the paper. I then used the freezer paper as a funnel to pour the loose beans into a FoodSaver bag. With the opening of the bag to one side, smooth the beans into a single layer and vacuum\-seal the bag shut. When you need some black beans, cut the bag open, give it a tap and the beans will once again become individual frozen beans and you should be able to measure out the amount you need. I try to freeze foods in a single layer this way. Then they are easy to "file" in my small plastic baskets that line my freezer shelves. I always re\-package commercial frozen foods into FoodSaver bags so they last longer. \-Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: [Food Safety \- Listeriosis \#9.383](http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09383.html)

Linda is absolutely right about losing moisture in food by letting it sit in a freezer. That's why you'd never freeze anything for a few hours; that will form ice crystals which you don't want. The question had to do with vacuum sealing, and I've found it's best to only leave food in the freezer for as long as it takes to firm. For some foods that's 10 minutes; others could take 30 minutes if they have a lot of moisture. Some moisture is lost, which is what allows you to vacuum seal without pulling too much moisture from the food, since that is often what prevents the bag from sealing. There's a fine line; you'll have to figure out where that is for your particular freezer. The less time you leave it in the freezer, the better off your food. To maintain freshness it is best to allow as little air around the item as possible. Of course; that's exactly what the vacuum sealer is for. I freeze hamburger patties first, because beef that has turned dark just looks nasty to me (not fresh). I've personally never had a loss of moisture in the meat by doing this to the point I can vacuum seal it (15-20 minutes in the freezer). Again, I just don't want the juices to run into the machine. When I throw them on the grill after they've been thawed, at least they look appetizing enough to eat! No one I know wants to eat a grey, nasty looking hamburger patty. Again, with cookies, because they are vacuum sealed there is no moisture loss as there is no oxygen for ice crystals to form. Even if you cut the end off the bag to allow a little air into it, then simply fold it under the food while it thaws, there's no moisture loss. Opening the bag first keeps the food from being compressed as it thaws, so instead of a dense compact cookie due to lack of oxygen, you'll have one that expands a little and becomes more...uh, ''normal'', for lack of a better word, because of the air. I've eaten things from my freezer that were vacuum sealed as long as a year before and experienced no losses of flavor/color/moisture. That's why my vacuum sealer has paid for itself in a short amount of time; it's in the cost of food that's no longer thrown away. They're especially great for small households, just for that reason. In fact, I'm on my second one in 7 years, since I wore the first one completely out. When I was designing my kitchen, I realized the vacuum sealer was one of my most used appliances. Because it gets used at least 4-6 times a day, we never throw out food any more!

I made my first loaf last night, and I really like the way it came out. I agree with Cheryl that the menu is a bit confusing, and I think I made the bread on the wrong setting, for size, at least. I forgot about the size setting when I was starting the machine, and I was making a medium (the smallest) loaf, which used a total of 3 cups of flour. I used the plain white bread recipe, substituted one cup of whole wheat flour plus two tablespoons of Vital Wheat Gluten, since I was using all purpose instead of bread flour, and so because of the whole wheat. The water was supposed to be 1-1/4 cups, but I used 1-1/3 cups because I thought the WW might need extra water, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. Well, I'm not sure I used the correct yeast - I have SAF yeast in the freezer, and so I just used that. It did not have a yeast flavor when it came out. It only slightly stuck, and so I used a plastic spatula to get it loose. I let it sit in the machine for about 10-12 minutes after the timer went off - not sure if I was supposed to do that, but the bread had a thick, somehwat hard, crust, which I like and prefer. I'm very happy with the loaf I made, although it does taste rather generic, but still much better than most WW bread I can buy. It's not as good as La Brea Bakery bread, but that is rather expensive, and this bread is an adequate substitute (except for the sourdough). The loaf came out lopsided, and so I will be making lopsided sandwiches, but I'm okay with that. I think it will also make good toast and French toast. Lars