Generally speaking, refrigeration helps to keep food fresh. Fruits, vegetables, and dairy products all last longer if kept cool.

But don't try to store a loaf of bread in the refrigerator if you want it to stay fresh–refrigeration is the quickest way to make bread go stale.

As bread ages, it develops the dry, crumbly texture and leathery crust that define staleness. But staling isn't simply a matter of the bread drying out. Bread can grow stale even if it's sealed tightly enough that no water can escape from the loaf.

Bread stales when the starch inside the loaf loses its ability to hold water. Chemical changes in the starch inside the loaf cause it to lose water.