What Makes Bread Go Stale?

An interesting little debate broke out in the comments to my post on women and processed food. One reader asserted that it's easy to bake bread at home for yourself: Just leave out the dairy, and store it in the refrigerator to prevent staling. Ladies, you can have inexpensive bread without excess salt and preservatives ... and also have your careers!

I'm sorry to report that this advice is pretty much exactly wrong. Many people think that bread goes stale because it loses moisture, producing that horrible, cottony texture that we've all come to know and regret in our homemade or bakery-fresh loaves. It turns out that this is not really correct. I quote Harold McGee's invaluablebook, "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen":