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.

I just started a new job where one of my tasks is to keep the restaurant supplied with fresh bread for their bread baskets.  The exec chef and I have decided on a baguette of some type (I'm thinking something like a whole wheat molasses dough), a 7-grain epi, and a sundried tomato fougasse. 

I have other tasks as well, so making fresh dough every day will be impossible.  I am thinking about doing all of my dough production on one day and freezing it, so it can be proofed and baked for service.  I do have a large proof box and three hearth ovens in my kitchen, so volume is not the problem.  I'm trying to come up with some sort of organization that would be best suited to my product.

At what stage can I freeze the dough?  Can I take it all the way to the shaping/final proofing stage and freeze shaped (unbaked) loaves?  How can I defrost and properly proof and bake them?

This is my first time not baking on the same day that I've shaped the dough, so I'm kind of clueless.  At what point would it be best frozen and thawed? 

 Thanks in advance for the help!

Kristen

Just a quick question, Ive just made Susans sourdough again and the Apple and walnut  braid, will they both successfully freeze if I slice them first?

Cheers

Dave w