Advice on Freezing bread and bread dough

[Tesha]

Hello experienced bakers, I'm sending out an SOS

My son-in-law is so hard to buy presents for that I'm going to give him the one thing he always enjoys fully...
my home made bread ready for his freezer


So
- have you frozen unbaked and baked or partially baked breads?
- is there any worry about yeast or freshness?
- any special wrapping required?
- any that just don't freeze well?

thank you...

[hippywife]

1. I've never done it but...

this is a great site for bread advice:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5100/freezing-bread-dough-bake-later

I figure if they can make frozen pizza with crusts that rise after thawed/while baking (not sure which since I've never bought one) and frozen loaves of bread and rolls, it has to be pretty common.

Good luck! Food is always a great idea as a gift. :hi:

[Tesha]

8. thanks for the link..

and the good wishes-

I've got some dough in the fridge and I'll try freezing both baked and unbaked today - give it a couple of days in the freezer and evaluate

[Phentex]

2. I freeze baked sourdough bread....

well wrapped and I don't expect perfection when I thaw it. I take it out and place it in the fridge to thaw. I warm it on low before we eat it and nobody has complained so far! :)

[Tesha]

9. how do you wrap it?

and how long to you let it thaw?


so many questions... and so many thanks :hi:

[Phentex]

13. in paper and then the plastic bag like others have said...

I don't keep it a long time that way. When I want it for dinner that night, I pop it in the fridge and let it thaw.

You can do mini loaves this way and then give as gifts when needed.

[Warpy]

3. I've frozen fully baked loaves

with great success but they dry quickly so they need to be used within a month or so. I've frozen them sliced and unsliced, the former being great in summer when bread seems to go moldy within a day or two and I can remove it a slice at a time for toasting.

Offhand, I'd say freezing unbaked bread would be a pretty bad idea. By the time the middle thawed, the outer part would be over risen. If it didn't get thawed completely, you'd end up with gummy dough in the middle.

I'd suggest fully baked bread, frozen in good freezer bags.

[hippywife]

4. What about just par-baked?

That way it's risen and can just thaw slowly in the fridge before baking completely. I agree that it would be a good idea to use it quickly.

I kept pieces of leftover fully homebaked loaves we weren't going to finish for quite a long time to use for stuffing at Thanksgiving, which worked well, but I wouldn't have wanted to eat it as was.

[Warpy]

5. Have you ever cut into a loaf of fully baked bread

the minute it comes out of the oven? The center is still pretty raw if you do that and release all the steam inside the crust.

I'm afraid "par baking" just wouldn't work. I'd experiment with it if I were you and send him frozen, fully baked loaves this year. If your experiments are successful at all, you'll know what to get him next year.

[hippywife]

7. I'm not the OP so not sending any bread to

anyone, but I think I might experiment with it sometime.

[Tesha]

10. I think you're right...

I'd feel terrible if he had to lie about how good they were... :cry:

thank you

[surrealAmerican]

6. I regularly freeze already-baked homemade bread.

Just cool it completely, wrap it air-tight (a zip bag works), and put it in the freezer. It thaws overnight in the refrigerator. If it were sourdough or rye bread, where the texture of the crust is important, you would notice the difference, otherwise there isn't much difference.

[Tesha]

11. Ah - thanks!

I'll get some correctly sized freezer zip bags.

and start baking!

[pengillian101]

12. "my home made bread ready for his freezer"

I don't make bread anymore.

My favorite monk-made multi-grain and seeded bread that I so crave is not available where we live, but I freeze it when I get multiple loaves. Put the whole wrapped loaf inside a vacuum bag, vacuum seal and it lasts indefinitely or so it seems.

He will enjoy your gift for certain! Homemade food gifts - what's not to love? :-)