The Fresh Loaf

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Freezing slices

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Freezing slices

I tried the advice in Peter Reinhart's BBA, sliced up a loaf of rye baked this past weekend and froze the slices. Using a long sheet of plastic wrap, I wrapped the slices so each one had wrap on both sides, then put them in a ziplock freezer bag.

The thawed bread tasted very fresh, but I'm wondering if there is a more efficient method of doing this. My freezer is pretty full so a few of the slices were a bit squished.

 

 

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

...you could put your wrapped slices, or some of them, into one of those stackable Ziploc plastic boxes.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Thanks, PaddyL. That might work if I take out the ice cube trays. Reason I tried freezing slices is because it's more efficient to bake more than you immediately need in the summer and thawing a few slices is faster than an entire loaf.

I'd rather be outdoors than in the kitchen!

 

 

qahtan's picture
qahtan

 

 A friend of mine, bakes his bread, lets it cool, slices it and then wraps it whole,

 removing only what he wants at a time........ qahtan 

Tacomagic's picture
Tacomagic

That's exactly what I do.  I usually make 2-3 loaves at a time, one I'll keep on the counter and the rest I'll freeze.

I base my freezing method on the length I expect to be freezing it.  If I plan on eating all the bread within a month, I'll just slice up the loaves and toss them in either ziplock or tied bread bags (I kept a few from when I used to buy bread... amazingly they hold up really well).  I like the bread bags better because I usually make batards, and the bread bags keep the loaf together better than the ziplocks, which prevents excess surface area from being exposed.  So far I've not had any trouble keeping bread up to a month just stored like that.  When I need bread, I just remove the number of slices I want and thaw them (sometimes the slices freeze together a bit and need to be gently seperated).

For longer term storage I slice up the loaf to be "long termed" and then freeze it.  Once it's frozen I place it in a vacuum sealed bag (I love my vacuum sealer) and toss it in the back of the freezer.  I freeze it before vacuum packing it so that the bread retains its shape better.  A mishap with sealing it right away lead to some very flat, mishapen bread.  I've had Vacuum sealed bread last upwards of 3 months and still taste fine coming out of the freezer .  Not super fresh, but as good as you would find from any day-old bread store; and frost burn hasn't been a problem.  Usually bread that I let freeze this long is used for toast or grilled sandwiches.  Otherwise if bread has been in my freezer for longer than I'd like, it becomes bread crumbs.

Cheers,
Taco

Confusion is a state of mind... or is it?

LindyD's picture
LindyD

That makes sense, Taco - freezing then packing. My somewhat curled slices led me to post the question. I don't have a vaccum sealer. I just use the Alton Brown trick of sucking the air out of the ziplock bag with a straw. Multi-tasking... 

 

ejm's picture
ejm

This is the same method we use. Except I usually double bag (using the plastic bags* from buying vegetables and Alton Brown's straw method to suck out the air) the sliced loaves in half loaf portions. That way, it's easier to find room in the freezer.

LindyD wrote:
I tried the advice in Peter Reinhart's BBA, sliced up a loaf of rye baked this past weekend and froze the slices. Using a long sheet of plastic wrap, I wrapped the slices so each one had wrap on both sides, then put them in a ziplock freezer bag.

Wrapping each slice separately seems way too labour intensive.

<rant>It also seems to be using up too much plastic. I notice that television cooks also tend to recommend the use of huge sheets of plastic wrap and aluminum foil and sometimes wonder if they all have multiple shares in the plastic and aluminum foil production companies. If there were a way that the sheets could be re-used, I wouldn't be so bothered but I'm pretty sure that they only go into landfill. Already overly full landfill....</rant>

* I hand wash the plastic bags (using dish soap) and hang them to dry before using them to wrap bread for the freezer.

 

Truth Serum's picture
Truth Serum

I know this is an old thread, but it is still pertinent! I just tossed out a loaf of  frost covered bread. I will carefully wrap each slice up.