Freezer Bread Dough Prep
Domestic baking can be great fun. Or a great disaster. You have to make sure to get the yeast going, thus choosing the right water temperature to activate the yeast. You have to find the one spot in your home that has the perfect climate conditions for letting the dough rest. Don’t even get me started on kneading.
Kneading is a rocket science on its own. My life drastically changed after getting a Kitchen Aid machine with a dough kneading hook. I’m practically no longer required. Kneading for 3 minutes? No problem. My little helper is switched on and I stack the dishwasher. See you when you’re done, dough!
Once the dough is done, it’s either baking right away or freezing. I find freezing doughs much more convenient than loafs of bread. Dough takes up less space and when you put it in the oven to finish, you have a nice and freshly baked loaf of bread, your house smells like a bakery, everyone gets excited about a warm bread that just left the oven.
Meanwhile, I personally don’t get overly excited about thawing bread from the freezer. Definitely better, when I thaw bread that I made myself but certainly none of my desires to thaw and serve store-bought bread.
So, what’s the trick? How do you freeze bread dough/roll dough/pizza dough?
Unless you’re a frozen dough manufacturer with access to superior freezing equipment that freezes the dough very quickly, your dough’s yeast will suffer damages and it’s structure will be hurt. In home freezers, dough freezes slowly, increasing the risk of damage to the yeast and dough structure. Often, the result is a less than perfect end result with low (or no) volume.
How to freeze loafs/rolls
- Adjust the recipe: Double the yeast as your freezing action will kill some of it.
- After the dough has been kneaded, immediately divide it into properly sized dough balls for your loafs or rolls.
- Place the loaf or roll dough balls on a baking sheet, greased or lined with a silicone mat or parchment, then freeze. Once the dough pieces have formed a hard ‘shell’ around the outside, transfer them to a zip loc freezer bag, seal the bag, airtight, and then return them to the freezer.
How long do the dough pieces keep in the freezer?
They are still perfect within 2 weeks. They don’t go bad on the 16th day but every additional day makes it more likely that they don’t turn out soo perfect after baking.
How do you thaw the loaf doughs?
To thaw, remove the bag from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator overnight. I’ve used a thaw mat for rapid defrosting on the same day (planning all meals wisely doesn’t always work out). It’s quite affordable and if you have the cupboard space for one – why not?
For rolls you can remove them from the freezer about 1 ½ – 2 hours before dinner, place them on a baking sheet, lightly greased or lined with a silicone mat or parchment. Let rise. Bake them according to the recipe instructions and serve hot rolls, fresh from the oven!
What’s a good recipe to get started?
Potato Bread
We’ve eaten this potato bread at least 4 times in the past two weeks. It’s perfect to freezer dough prep them as we almost never buy potatoes. If we do, well, we have a 10kg sack and need lots of ways (or only one way: potato bread) to use them up.
Banana Bread – Oh She Glows
I fully omit the sugar the recipe calls for with no negative impact on taste. We keep things as sugar-free as possible for the little eater (and ourselves really). I’m planning to experiment with a bit more liquid and a cup of shredded walnuts or pecan nuts for additional nutritional boost.
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