Using the freezer as a workflow solution
More as an academic exercise than anything else, a friend and I are developing a product line for an as-yet unrealized bed and breakfast and small coffeeshop / bakery.
One of the tips I picked up from a previous career inspecting restaurants and bakeries was to make large batches of cookie dough, portion and freeze it, then bake off as needed.
I'm wondering if any of you in the professional realm do this as a routine matter of course, to assist with workflow in the bakery, and how it turns out?
In our little fantasy, we'd mix up several large batches of cookie and pastry dough once or twice a week, portion, and freeze. Then we could go straight from freezer to oven for fresh pastries and cookies at a reasonable hour in the morning. (and again in the afternoon).
I'll be experimenting with doing the same with bread doughs -- doing a bulk fermentation, portioning and shaping, freezing, then defrosting / proofing in a fridge overnight and baking in the morning.
As we both have families, anything that allows us to do most of our work when our kids are in school will be a bonus (and if this little venture never gets very far, it will at least help us better plan our baking as it is!).
Ideas? Experiences? Thanks in advance!