April 29, 2010 - 1:58pm
freezing bread dough....
Hello! long time lurker here, don't post much, too much of a noob.. :)
I was thinking of getting in the kitchen this weekend a whipping up batches of various bread doughs that I can put in the freezer then simply take out and unthaw and bake when I need them. But I am unsure at what a point is it safe in the bread make process to freeze the dough. After shaping? should I rise once then freeze? After a second rise?
I am hoping the question is clear, I apologize if it is not.
Thanks!
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I am strongly of the opinion you are better off baking first and then freezing. And IMO you should not bake is short, expecting to make it up later when you heat. It is very hard to get the center and the crust both right if you do. Most typically, the center never reaches ideal temps of 205 plus or the crust is underdone. While the latter can be fixed, the former can't and the bread won't have a good roasted dough flavor.
My advice is bake as normal - or maybe 10 degrees cooler for the normal time to normal plus five minutes. Then let cool about two hours. Wrap in saran wrap and aluminum foil sealing the foil well and forming it tightly to the bread (I don't find foil is necessary if the bread will be eaten within a couple of weeks). Then to reheat, simply set the oven to 300 to 325 and heat it for about 10 to 15 minutes. The crust may well be better than your "fresh" bread.
Good luck!
Jay
i also would like to know how to make bread or roll dough, proof & freeze. i would like to make dough for bread or rolls similar to rhodes bread.
thanks, claudia