Half-baked frozen bread

La Brea Bakery and Ecce Panis are two brand names that parbake their breads, then freeze and ship to grocery chains, who finish the last part of the baking.  Here's a link to the La Brea process.

I'm not sure what is referred to by "normal bread."  Wonder Bread?  Pepperidge Farms?  

The La Brea and Ecce Panis breads are lovely and if purchased soon after they've been baked, are quite good as I recall (the last time I purchased bread was nearly three years ago).

Those are the only two parbaked brands I'm familiar with.

I think there is a difference between reheated bread and parbaked bread, not only in method but in taste.

Naturally the breads would be better if purchased after they were fully baked at the bakery, but the parbaked breads are better than the other stuff sitting on the shelves in plastic bags.

The only one I would avoid is a baguette from either bakery.  I've picked up a La Brea baguette, supposedly baked that morning, and it felt like a club.  

Hi

Sorry but part baked and re-heated have to amount to the same thing.   In French the term bis cuit means twice baked.   That is what both these concepts entail.

Think about it from a food safety point of view.   Parbaked HAS to mean fully-baked.   You cannot wrap a half baked loaf in plastic and send it on to another location, then finish off the baking process some time later.   You'd have people dying of food poisoning!

That's why supermarkets are desperate to sell this stuff whilst it's still warm.   The concept of staling revolves around something called the "retrogradation of starch".   Let's keep it simple by saying that at warm temperatures, starches remain as gel, reverting to crystals as they cool.   That's why bread should never be stored in the fridge; it goes stale very quickly.

Actually, from a freshness point of view bread will stale least quickly at 50*C.   Again food safety dictates that this is not a realistic option to store bread at 50*C!

Chances are that what is described as par-baked will only keep better because of the emulsifiers, preservatives, fats, enzymes and other cocktail of additives included in the formula.

Best advice: avoid the whole lot like the plague and send out a message that we will not be conned by those trying to hoodwink us into believing this type of bread is a "fresh" product: it isn't, sorry

Best wishes

Andy

Hi Andy,

I don't think you checked the La Brea Bakery link, Andy, so I'll quote it:

La Brea Bakery developed a highly effective, all-natural preservation process for national distribution - breads are baked 80% of the way, cooled and then flash frozen. A final store or restaurant bake of 10-20 minutes caramelizes the sugars present in the crust and reconstitutes the open, porous interior of each artisan bread. The end result is a golden, crisp, chewy crust and a perfectly soft, flavorful interior. With only minimal handling and no special equipment required, these authentic La Brea Bakery loaves provide an instant artisan solution for operators and consumers everywhere. Bread fresh from La Brea Bakery…wherever you are. 

Here's additional info from Baking Management

To reheat bread means just that:  you place a loaf of fully baked bread in the oven and reheat it.  This is most often done to recrisp the crust.  

I think it's quite unfair to make derogatory comments about a food product unless one has actually tasted it and read the ingredient label.

Hi Lindy,

Firstly, aplogies if my comments are derogatory in relation to products not relying on artificial means  to keep them fresh.   You are right that I should have made myself more informed before posting.

Thank you for the link, which I have looked over briefly.   The following is a quote from the article:

"The most important thing in making any par-baked product is to make sure you have the structure set in the product when you bake it," Joe Turano says. "If you don't, the product will collapse if not baked enough. Baking is what requires the most attention."

I should have been a lot clearer, granted, but 'structure set' is what I had in mind in saying the product is baked.  

I'm still thinking that anything which goes in the oven twice is second best to genuinely fresh bread.

However, I didn't mean to cause any offence, and apologise to anyone who did take offence.

Best wishes

Andy

Hi Barmaley,

There are many reasons why it might be considered important to buy bread locally.

You are quite entitled to your view, but the fundamentals pertaining to how inviduals make choices about purchasing food are pretty complex.

Transporting large amounts of food by road may not be sustainable in the future.   Supporting the local economy, by buying from local craftspeople will help to create viable and sustainable communities who can work to support themselves, rather than being forced to drive several miles and more to find shops which offer universal brands.

I guess I have a different vision for our future.   As a baker and teacher, I hope there is a place for genuine local craft bakers on the High Street of every town and village in our respective lands.

The item Lindy posted highlighted how very difficult it is to achieve that vision if nationally branded bread is brought in to local supermarkets to bake off.

I have expressed apology for suggesting the breads being discussed were adulterated.   Plainly they are not, and my apology remains out there.   I hope you can all accept it with the grace it is offered.   I am, afterall, very much a guest in this great community, and I would thank all of you for making me so welcome.

As I say, I respect your view about what you consider to be the best bread, and your right to choose that.   But, I have a very different vision for my ideal world.   No doubt the techniques adopted by La Brea are very technologically advanced, and designed with integrity to produce a great product.   I haven't tried it; that would be rather difficult given I live a few thousand miles away.   So it is, as Lindy rightly said, unfair for me to be as dismissive as I was.

However, I posted a long response to your question about how baking works, see:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17706/what-does-happen-dough-during-baking#comment-116496 Because the starch and protein chains have to be set in any type of loaf needing further"bake-off", to me that loaf is already baked.   I expect some won't agree on this point, but that is my considered opinion, and I sought to explain and justify it in the post referenced above.   In order for these starches and proteins to set without the Maillard, and general caramelising reactions taking place, the loaf has to have an initial heat treatment at a lower temperature than any loaf being baked for immediate sale.   That means more moisture is driven off.   The secondary heat treatment has to include a lag time while the loaf is heated up to the point where the remaining baking [ie Maillard and further caramelisation] can take place.   I realise La Brea have done a lot of research and come up with a number of techniques which will minimise the time in the oven during both heat treatment cycles.

What I would say is that there is no bread like this [ie made without the additives etc] available in the UK in what is described as "par-baked" form.   I have just re-read Lindy's comments above about this bread being "better than the other stuff sitting on the shelves in plastic bags", "and if purchased soon after they've been baked".   In the UK craft and artisan bread made by small and local bakers accounts for 3% of all bread sold.   Sadly the other 97% is made using improvers, emulsifiers and more besides.   85% of our bread is "plant bread", made using the Chorleywood Bread Process.   The whole market is dominated by just 3 companies.

My focus is on expanding the 3% above.   I fully accept Lindy's statements above; doubtless these types of bread are as she describes.   Sadly, their presence on the supermarket shelves makes it harder for local bakers to thrive.   Ultimately, that really does mean the death of true commercial craft baking, and I so passionately do not want to see this happen.

I had wanted to post a non preachy reply, but I'm sorry, I don't think I've been very successful.

Best wishes

Andy 

I would be the first to agree that the La Brea breads are (at least generally) very good. However, in my personal experience I prefer the results from fully baked (by normal standards), cooled for about 6 hours, and frozen. At issue, I think is what is "baked to 80% done"? That has to be at least to a center temperature of 185 or so to set the dough. But that is not hot enough to give great crumb flavor. For lean breads the magic point seems to be around 205 (or higher) which gives a stronger "roasted wheat" flavor to the crumb. While I have experimented with baking cooler and longer to get the crumb to temp without browning the exterior much, and then baking it hard to finish the crust, I find I prefer to bake it all the way and simply reheat it at about 325 for about 15 minutes.

Ultimately, however, it all comes down to personal preference.

Jay