Freezing baked bread ?

[LAGOM]

Now that we have a somewhat spacious freezer we're looking into using some of it for bread. Finding a good bakery in a local anchorage or port under way, especially south of the border on the Pacific West Coast, has in the past been a real challenge.

Yes, we can bake under way too but the investment of time doesn't always make that practical, especially the clean-up !

We've looked for frozen dough but it was less successful than expected and we won't expect to find any in Central America.

So, once we find a good or great baker it would be wonderful to stock up and freeze until the next time.

We've just started to experiment with vacuum packing loaves and freezing them, but we'd like to learn from others' mistakes rather than just inventing our own way to mess it up.

Do you freeze bread ? How do you do it ? How do you thaw it out and do you re-bake it or have any other tricks to make it seem fresh again ?

Thanks,

[jt11791]

I freeze bread at home all the time. I do nothing special, just chuck it in the freezer in the plastic bag it came in. Keeps for months.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by jt11791

I freeze bread at home all the time. I do nothing special, just chuck it in the freezer in the plastic bag it came in. Keeps for months.

Ditto.

[StuM]

We freeze sliced bread all the times. As soon as we get back from shopping the bread goes straight in the freezer and we take out slices as required. We don't bother with special packing, just the standard plastic bag and clip-tie that the loaf comes in.


Once it defrosts, it's as fresh as the day it was baked, even if it's weeks old. If you are in a hurry and throw the slices in the microwave for a few seconds, it is just like when it came out of the oven.

[Stu Jackson]

I learned how to make artisan bread a few years ago. Simple to make: flour, yeast water and salt. Refrigerate. It rises, NO kneading, ever. Pull off a hunk about the size of a grapefruit, makes two or three loaves. Freezes very well. I love it 'cuz it's no work bread. You can keep the fridged bread for tqwo weeks + before baking.


Everyone's got their favorite recipes.

[Auspicious]

For bread we're going to leave in the freezer for some time we vacuum seal. Otherwise a zipper-top freezer bag. Sometimes, especially in the zipper-top bags, we get some condensation so the bread is damp when it thaws. We just lightly toast it in a dry skillet. Thawed bread goes in a locker we call the bread box - lots of other things in there but no fresh produce that might lead to mold on the bread.



I do make yeast breads on board. A bowl for mixing the dough and knead directly on the Corian countertop. Clean-up isn't bad - scrape the bowl with a spoon before washing and the countertop with a bench knife before clean-up. I'm a pretty tidy cook so that may be a factor.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by jt11791

I freeze bread at home all the time. I do nothing special, just chuck it in the freezer in the plastic bag it came in. Keeps for months.

no brainer

[TBW]

Coconut bread from Staniel Cay last winter. Wrap in Saran, zip lock. Worked just fine.

[nortonscove]

Originally Posted by jt11791

I freeze bread at home all the time. I do nothing special, just chuck it in the freezer in the plastic bag it came in. Keeps for months.

My mother has done this in the same manner for years and it seems to work fine.

[oleman]

Traveled the World over on a Commercial Vessel. A common food for all people is home made bread. Great bread can come from strange places, IRAN for instance has great baked goods in local shops.

[Luc bulterys]

We love fresh bread, and hate old bread. So yes, also we are freezing bread all the time. No matter if it is bought or self-made.
An advice: Freeze it as soon as it cooled off in a good plastic bag that is closing well with as little air as possible. In general, I use good quality zip-bags for that, and I reuse them a lot of times until they don't close well anymore. Just have to dry it well immediately after you used it.
An advantage is also that you can bake enough bread to fill the oven, not heating the oven just for one bread at the time. This makes a big difference in energy consumption, but of course, it depends largely on your own oven's capacity.
I also add some water in a separate bowl while baking bread. So the bread becomes more crusty, which I like. Bon appetite !

[jposey]

I've been baking and freezing bread for 60 years, and as others have said, it's very easy to freeze.

But, just to clarify, if it's to be frozen for extended periods of time, it's best to seal it well, to preclude air, so that it won't easily get freezer burn. Too long in the freezer, and it will get it anyway.

Lastly, it's best to let it completely thaw, uncovered, at room temp. An optional, short warm up period in the oven, makes it even better.

[Macblaze]

I've found that the hardest thing to keep "hard" frozen on our boat is bread. I don't know if it needs a lower temp or what, but it might be interesting to do some tests to see if bread takes a bit more energy...

But look up no-knead bread or no-knead boule... It's easy-peasy to make. Or focaccia...my favourite boat appie.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

I've found that the hardest thing to keep "hard" frozen on our boat is bread. I don't know if it needs a lower temp or what, but it might be interesting to do some tests to see if bread takes a bit more energy...

But look up no-knead bread or no-knead boule... It's easy-peasy to make. Or focaccia...my favourite boat appie.

My Mother used to freeze bread, and we do now on occasion as we have a very large freezer.
Bread will freeze as hard as a rock, but maybe not always, I believe it’s due to moisture content, drier bread I believe may not freeze as hard.
Our freezer that we freeze bread in is kept in the low teens and works fine, the one we put meat in for longer term is kept at or below zero.
Numbers are Fahrenheit.

[ebs001]

Originally Posted by LAGOM

Now that we have a somewhat spacious freezer we're looking into using some of it for bread. Finding a good bakery in a local anchorage or port under way, especially south of the border on the Pacific West Coast, has in the past been a real challenge.

Yes, we can bake under way too but the investment of time doesn't always make that practical, especially the clean-up !

We've looked for frozen dough but it was less successful than expected and we won't expect to find any in Central America.

So, once we find a good or great baker it would be wonderful to stock up and freeze until the next time.

We've just started to experiment with vacuum packing loaves and freezing them, but we'd like to learn from others' mistakes rather than just inventing our own way to mess it up.

Do you freeze bread ? How do you do it ? How do you thaw it out and do you re-bake it or have any other tricks to make it seem fresh again ?

Thanks,

We have been making our own bread for around 30 years. We use a bread maker set to the dough cycle and do the baking in the oven. Minimal amount of time and effort and very little clean up.

The main trick to good bread is Canadian Flour. This is from our own experience and confirmed by Vernon the best baker in Hope Town Bahamas.