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Graham Graham is offline
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Default Question about freezing

On Sat, 17 Oct 2020 17:58:46 -0000 (UTC), bob prohaska wrote:

> Graham > wrote:
>>>
>>> Ask a worker in your local supermarket bakery how they manage to do it.
>>> They receive all their breads frozen and then bake on demand. Even in
>>> France, many so-called boulangeries operate this way, the pre-formed breads
>>> often imported from other EEC countries.

>>
>> Just a thought but perhaps you defrosted at room temperature. Next time,
>> defrost in the fridge. Then the dough will thaw without any appreciable
>> rising. Then you can let it proof at room temperature.

>
> I have a vague (and possibly mistaken) memory of frozen dough sold in the
> supermarket which could be thawed, proofed and baked to make fresh bread.
> This was at least twenty years ago, I never tried it and haven't looked since.
> Did anybody ever try it?
>
> I have tried both freezing/thawing and simply rising dough in the fridge.
> Neither seems to work half so well as simply starting with warm materials
> and letting the yeast work at room or slightly elevated temperature to
> completion, usually over a span of five or so hours. Whenever I try to
> apply some brakes, the rise doesn't recover.
>
> The two obvious suspects are yeast activity and dough gas retention. Anybody
> willing to hazard a guess? Being able to pause and restart the rise would
> be very handy. My dough is 60% white 40% wholewheat King Arthur, 60% water
> at most. Red Star active dry yeast behaved about the same as sourdough
> starter.
>
> Thanks for reading,
>
> bob prohaska


Overnight "rising" in the fridge has never made sense to me, although I
have tried it. After all, the fridge is supposed to be cold enough to
minimise any microbial activity. I do use the fridge when making
butter-rich doughs such as brioche, but that is to make the dough easier to
handle.
Many years ago, friends of mine who have long-since died, used to buy large
packs of frozen bread dough from the supermarket. One summer they left for
vacation and after a few days realised that they had turned off the
electricity. They raced back to find that the dough had thawed and risen,
forcing the freezer door open.