# freezing bread dough



## breadster (Feb 23, 2001)

help! whenever we try to freeze our bread dough and bake it off later, it turns out terrible. The texture is heavy and coarse. This is a challah and the texture should be dense , tight and soft- which it is when we bake it same day or refrigerate the formed dough overnight. we make it, form it and freeze it right away. When we take it out we let it rise at room temp. I've tried all kinds of comparison and batch tests - it still doesn't work.

This would really help our production if we could make loaves ahead of time to bake off as needed.

I feel i am missing something fundamentally simple. Am I?

Thanks for any assistance!


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## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

Sorry Breadster I didn't see your post until now. I'm not a bread expert but maybe we can go thru a couple things and something will become noticable.


First thoughts are you yeast amounts. As I understand you need to increase the amount of yeast when freezing to compensate for a certain amount that will die in the process. I'll see if I can find the percentage...are you already doing that?

Other thoughts: 

First I wouldn't shape it before freezing. I freeze in a ball double wrapped and defrost in the cooler over night, then shape, rise and bake.

Are you giving it a rise after it's imediately made and then wraping and freezing? Because you still need to rise it twice.

Are you keeping your dough wrapped through-out the defrost so the excess moisture stays on the outside of the plastic wrap and isn't on your dough?

Are you defrosting in the cooler or on the counter? Could you be exausting your dough before it hits the oven by not add enough extra yeast and then defrosting too quickly so the outside of the dough is proofing at a totally different rate then the still cold inner loaf?

If none of these idea ring any bells perhaps you can tell us more details? What have you done testing?


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## breadster (Feb 23, 2001)

ouch!! all of the above!

Wendy, thanks for getting back on this.

1) we do not add extra yeast

2) we do not defrost in the cooler wrapped - it comes out of the freezer- goes onto pans - on to the racks to defrost and rise
- since it has a rise b4 it goes into the freezer- this would be its second rise- however- it sounds like the defrost is way too rapid

3) for our needs , it really does need to be formed b4 freezing-
the idea being that it might be someone other than one of the regular bakers baking it off

if you can get me more info on the yeast % that would be great

i'll look into the slower defrost too

thanks!!


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## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

I looked thru a couple books today for you breadster I only could find some info..

In Baking With Julia p. 45 (in reference to brioche dough): "Storing, If you are not going to use the dough after the second rise, deflate it, wrap it airtight, and store it in the freezer. The dough can remain frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw the dough, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight and use it directly from the refigerator."

In this book there's a note on freezing bread (that contain added fat like brioche, crosaint, danish and puff) at each of those recipes and no notes (I saw) about freezing leaner doughs until after their baked.

Bo Frieberg says on p.175: "Individual pieces of formed danish and danish dough can be prepared ahead and stored in the freezer (unbaked) with excellent results. However these pieces should never be frozen after baking. To use forzen Danish made up in individual pieces, let them thaw slowly, preferably in the refridgerator, before placing them in the proof bob to rise. Use frozen dough as soon as it has thawed enough, in the refrigerator or at room temperature, to be workable."

Which sounds fine until his last sentence when he says "or at room temperature" so that's a contradiction but his book is not always perfect.

I didn't have time to read back thru these sources but I'll post them and let you look. I don't do alot of reading on breads, so I checked the books I use often (I'll look thru some books I don't use as often when I get a chance). I'd swear I read it in Baking with Julia but I couldn't find it there. Look at:

www.bakingandbakingscience.net/

If that doesn't work right look up "Baking and Baking Science with Willie Prejean".

I also look at: www.Pastrychefcentral.com

I'll keep trying......


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## breadster (Feb 23, 2001)

thanks!!! WDB

i'll check into the links you sent


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