Stale bread is colloquially called "dry", but drying and staling are distinct processes. Stale bread can weigh the same as "fresh" bread, indicating almost no loss of water; conversely, bread can be dried out without going stale.
Staling is a process of
retrogradation, in which the starch transposes to a crystalline form in the presence of the water contained within the bread itself. The process speeds up at cooler temperatures, such as under
refrigeration, and thus bread stored at
room temperature remains fresher for longer periods than refrigerated bread. Frozen bread, however, traps the moisture as ice, and prevents the staling process. Breadboxes are thus designed to: • keep their contents at room temperature, prolonging edible storage time; • have a lid loose enough to allow airflow, reducing
condensation, which helps to prevent the formation of
mold; • have a lid tight enough to slow the drying process as well as to protect the contents from mice and all other pests, including ants and flies. ==As a saying==