On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during the
week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
them, somehow.

What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven
half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?

Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?

I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong) and
putting it in the refrigerator for several days doesn't seem to give good
results.

So any feedback from those of you who have done this kind of thing would
be appreciated.

--Mac

Mac wrote:
> On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during
the
> week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
> them, somehow.
>
> What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven
> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?
>
> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?
>
> I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong)
and
> putting it in the refrigerator for several days doesn't seem to give
good
> results.
>
> So any feedback from those of you who have done this kind of thing
would
> be appreciated.
>
> --Mac

Google for "par baking". Here's one link that recommends a slight
formula change and baking 90-90% complete before freezing....

http://www.bakingbusiness.com/refboo...rticleID=44449

On 14 Mar 2005 03:59:15 -0800, "Will" >
spewed forth :

>
>Mac wrote:
>> I
>> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
>> them, somehow.
>Google for "par baking".

Or, bake the loaves completely and allow to cool thoroughly. When the
bread is cool, slice it and put the individual slices on a baking tray
in the freezer until frozen. Reassemble the loaf in a freezer bag and
return to the freezer. You'll be able to pull out only as many slices
as you need/want without defrosting hte entire loaf.

"Mac" wrote in message news

>I would like to make two or three loaves, and
>freeze all but one of them, somehow.
>
>Should I take it out of the oven
> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?

I've never tried this, but I'd be interested in how you make out if you give
it a try.

>
> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?

I've done this quite a bit. I find that the sooner I freeze the bread after
it cools to room temperature the better.

>
> I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong)

I've not had good luck freezing dough.

-Mike

"Mac" > wrote in message
news
> On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during the
> week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
> them, somehow.
>
> What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven
> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?
>
> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?
>
> I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong) and
> putting it in the refrigerator for several days doesn't seem to give good
> results.
>
> So any feedback from those of you who have done this kind of thing would
> be appreciated.
>
> --Mac
>


Personally, I think fully baked loaves keep pretty well in the freezer, I
have only frozen them for a week or so, but others have told me they have
frozen theirs for up to three months and still thawed well. Someone
somewhere wrote that if you are going to freeze them for a long period, to
use heavy freezer baggies and leave plenty of air inside, to prevent freezer
burn. Maybe someone could better explain the air thing, if I read that
right?

Hutchndi

HUTCHNDI wrote:
>
>
> Someone somewhere wrote that if you are going to freeze them for a long period, to
> use heavy freezer baggies and leave plenty of air inside, to prevent freezer
> burn.

I think that you want to exclude all the air possible. I wrap
loaves in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and place that in a
plastic bag to bundle it up for the freezer. I have found loaves
hiding in the freezer that were over six months old that were
still pretty good.

Regards,

Charles

--
Charles Perry
Reply to:

** A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand **

"Mac" > wrote in message =
news
> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?

Yes, I'd say.

If slicing is before freezing, it is a good idea to place=20
wax paper sheets between piles of slices that will be=20
thawed concurrently. (Slices get stuck together when
frozen.)

An electric knife is very good for slicing bread, esp. soft
newly-baked loaves.

Here a half loaf lasts a day or two, so loaves are simply
cut in two for freezing, and sliced after thawing.

A minute in the microwave oven, on high, works for us
to thaw a half loaf good enough for cutting.

Nacherly stuff for freezing is bagged in plastic.

--=20
Dick Adams
<firstname> dot <lastname> at bigfoot dot com
___________________
Sourdough FAQ guide at=20
http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughfaqs.html

"Mac" > wrote in message
news
> On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during the
> week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
> them, somehow.
>
> What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven

I have never tried to freeze half baked or unbaked dough. I just bake the
bread. Let it cool thoroughly. Slice the bread and then wrap it 2 pieces at
a time in plastic wrap and then put the small wrapped packages in a freezer
bag, expell the air and freeze. When I want bread I take out how ever many 2
slice packages I need and either leave them in the pastic wrap on the
countertop to defrost which doesn't take very long, or unwrap them and throw
them in the toaster. I suppose I have kept bread up to about 3 months, I
suspect much longer than that and it will progressively get less eatable.

I don't think frozen bread is ever going to be as good as it was when
freshly made but it is just fine when toasted.

Ellen

I use a Foodsaver to keep the damage from oxygen to the bread. I put them
in the freezer, freeze the loafs and then use the Foodsaver bags to get the
air out. Works perfect for me and you can keep them for a long time that
way. I bought some from SanFrancisco and when they came, they were in the
same kind of bags.

Pete


"Mac" > wrote in message
news
> On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during the
> week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
> them, somehow.
>
> What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven
> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?
>
> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?
>
> I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong) and
> putting it in the refrigerator for several days doesn't seem to give good
> results.
>
> So any feedback from those of you who have done this kind of thing would
> be appreciated.
>
> --Mac
>

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 07:23:22 -0600, Mike Pearce wrote:

> "Mac" wrote in message news >
>
>>I would like to make two or three loaves, and
>>freeze all but one of them, somehow.
>>
>>Should I take it out of the oven
>> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
>> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?
>
> I've never tried this, but I'd be interested in how you make out if you give
> it a try.
>

I've just tried this. I'll let you know how it comes out, although based
on all the responses I'm getting, I am inclined to abandon this
approach and just freeze the fully-baked bread.

[snip]

> -Mike

best regards,

Mac

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 03:59:15 -0800, Will wrote:

>
> Mac wrote:
>> On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during
> the
>> week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
>> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
>> them, somehow.
>>
>> What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven
>> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
>> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?
>>
>> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?
>>
>> I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong)
> and
>> putting it in the refrigerator for several days doesn't seem to give
> good
>> results.
>>
>> So any feedback from those of you who have done this kind of thing
> would
>> be appreciated.
>>
>> --Mac
>
> Google for "par baking". Here's one link that recommends a slight
> formula change and baking 90-90% complete before freezing....
>
> http://www.bakingbusiness.com/refboo...rticleID=44449

The link is interesting, and even gives me a starting point for final bake
temperatures. Much appreciated!

--Mac

Mac wrote:
> On weekends I (sometimes) have time to bake. But I never do during the
> week. I don't like eating bread more than two or three days old, so I
> would like to make two or three loaves, and freeze all but one of
> them, somehow.
>
> What is the best way to do this? Should I take it out of the oven
> half-baked, then freeze immediately? Then should I thaw it before
> finishing the baking, or put it in frozen?
>
> Should I bake it all the way, then freeze it?
>
> I'm pretty sure I can't freeze the dough, (correct me if I am wrong) and
> putting it in the refrigerator for several days doesn't seem to give good
> results.
>
> So any feedback from those of you who have done this kind of thing would
> be appreciated.
>
> --Mac
>


I bake the loaves and let them cool completely. then bag them in heavy
bags and freeze in the deep freezer. pull em out and let them thaw and
eat away!

Sean