Interesting...

Have you ever wondered why crackers go soft when stale, as opposed to bread which gets hard? I have, often. I finally looked up the answer and thought I would share my new knowledge with you. When bread goes stale, the water molecules migrate to a different part of the bread. They don't evaporate like I thought, which is why you can get it soft again by heating it up. But crackers have a high salt content, and salt is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air. Thus the crackers gain moisture and soften up. Another interesting fact, bread goes stale faster in the fridge! The only advantage of putting bread in the fridge is to slow down molding. I have noticed my bread not seeming as fresh within a day of putting it in the fridge but I just thought it was the brand of bread. Oh well, now I know!