You can keep donuts fresh at home in more ways than you think. You can easily store and preserve a donut’s rich, light and airy texture even after you’ve stored it. Having said that, I would also like to mention that it’s not easy to replicate the taste of a warm doughnut, fresh out of the fryer. But hope is not lost, in this article, I’m going to tell you about all the ways how to keep donuts fresh.
Keeping donuts fresh depends on time first and foremost. How many days do you want to store donuts for? Based on your answer, you can pick any of the 3 options I’m going to discuss with you below.
How to Store Donuts the Right Way?
For 1-2 Days: At Room Temperature
If you plan on eating the leftover donuts the next day or the day after, you don’t need to keep them in the refrigerator. Place pack up the donuts in an air-tight container and keep it on your kitchen counter, away from direct sunlight, at room temperature.
It’s okay to keep the donuts in a storage sealer or bag in case you don’t have a container. Just ensure that no moisture is already inside the bag and that it’s properly sealed to prevent the bread from rotting.
Keep the donuts in a cool and dry area. Away from direct sunlight. And make sure that the lid or the roof of the storage container is not sticking to the glaze or icing. This will make it harder and messier to remove the donuts from when it’s time to heat it.
And speaking of heating up the donuts, microwave for 5 to 10 seconds, not longer. The bread will become warm and soft quickly since it hasn’t been refrigerated. If you microwave it too much, the chocolate will melt and the bread of the donut might even feel harder to chew as the hot donut starts to cool down outside. So not more than 5 seconds!
For 1 Week: In the Refrigerator
Putting the leftover donuts in the refrigerator is when you want to prolong their freshness for 7 days. Use a thick, airtight container or bag to store the donuts in.
If you’re packing plain glaze or chocolate or icing-free donuts, you can probably store them for longer than 7 days. That’s because the icing starts to melt very quickly upon heating after refrigeration. While this might not spoil the flavor and texture of the donut but it won’t taste like a donut – maybe a brownie or a waffle with melted chocolate on top!
To heat up the refrigerated donuts, do not do it for more than 10-15 seconds at a time. Sometimes, the bread takes longer to warm up since it has been chilled in the fridge.
This generally happens with donuts on the last few days of refrigeration. So microwave the donut at 10-second intervals to get the warmth back in the bread. And expect the icing or chocolate on top to melt.
For 2 to 3 months: In the Freezer
I’m sure you must have guessed what the next tip on how to keep donuts fresh was going to be. Freezing donuts is very common. But what’s even more common is freezing unfrosted and plain donuts.
If your donuts have a chocolate layer, icing, or glaze on top of them, freezing then heating it can become messy. Plus, the donut will lose most of its freshness and flavor because of the sloppiness of the icing or glaze on top.
So freeze plain donuts and you can add a fresh chocolate layer after warming the donuts. So the donuts taste fresh and tasty with nothing melting.
Another reason why freezing chocolate or frosted donuts is a bad idea is that they stick to each other. So remove them after say a month of freezing would be a task. The plain donuts are pieces of bread, right? So they come apart easily without tearing from the middle or chipping.
The best way to preserve the texture and softness of a donut is to let it defrost at room temperature for 15 minutes before microwaving it. This will prevent the donut from getting too stiff or too soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can you reheat donuts in an oven?
Yes, you can. You can preheat the oven to 350 degrees for 10 minutes. And then place the donut to allow it to warm up slowly and evenly.
2. Can you store donuts with chocolate/cream filling?
You can follow the same steps to ensure the freshness of donuts. Reheating them slightly in the microwave at room temperature. And microwave for 10 seconds at a time until the bread is soft and spongy after refrigerating.
I would not recommend freezing donuts with a chocolate or cream filling for longer than a month. But in case you do, keep the frozen donut out to defrost for 15 minutes before microwaving it for 10 seconds at a time.
3. How to check if donuts have gone bad?
Mold is the first thing you see on a donut if it has become rotten and spoiled. Check for any moldy or off-putting odor if you can’t spot mold right away. Mold on bread shows up in a variety of ways. It can look green or grey fuzz, black spots, speckling, or white dust.
Final Thoughts
If you happen to buy donuts in large quantities, you don’t have to anticipate food wastage. You can store donuts in the fridge for up to 7 weeks and in the freezer for months. Trust me, you really don’t have to throw away the leftovers. Just seal the donuts in airtight containers or in sealed bags.
Donuts make the perfect dessert when you have nothing else in mind to eat. They’re soft, buttery, and for a lot of people, not too filling if you eat 1-2 at a time. Just be careful about how you store them and where.