Freezing Bread Dough (was Re: SC - Bread Soup Bowls)

[Decker, Terry D.]

> Does anyone on the list have tips for freezing bread dough in general, not
> just for trenchers?  
> 
The freezing techniques I mentioned work for your average bread.  The
application is as a trencher, but the method works for most general
applications.  In period, the trenchers would have been a coarse wheat loaf,
four days old, trimmed and sliced for the table.

> Bread from scratch is _much_ cheaper and usually tastier.  However trying
> to produce enough for a feast on that day without tying up the kitchen or
> exhausting the cooks  (I am NOT a morning person) has just not seemed
> feasible. (This time I'm delegating bread to a moring person.)  I know
> bread dough will freeze, but how much has to be done to it afterwards?
> 
Frozen dough must thaw and rise.  You need counter space and ovens.  You can
lay batches to fill the ovens about an hour apart.  Fire up the ovens when
the first batch is ready and roll an assembly line of baking.  A standard
kitchen oven holds about 8 one pound loaves.  For really large feasts, I've
put in three sixteen hour days just for the baking.  Freezing the dough can
shorten the time, if you have the oven capacity to push it through.  At the
InterKingdom I mentioned, I had four ovens and spent Friday night with all
of then hot.  Other specialty baking had been done on Wednesday and
Thursday.  Sunday, I died. 

> Does anyone have recipes that are better suited to such freezing and will
> give reliable results?
> 
Most standard bread recipes work fine, especially if you double the yeast.
I do not recommend freezing doughs fortified with eggs or large quantities
of sugar.  The only way to be sure is test the recipe.  Bread from frozen
dough is usually a little denser than bread from a fresh rise.

> What about bread made, baked, frozen, and reheated?   What little
> experience I have of this hasn't been too happy.  But my roommate owns a
> bread machine....
> 
You can't allow condensation to develop on the crust, it will turn leathery,
so it's out of the freezer into the pan and into the pre-heated oven.
Larger loaves take more re-heating than smaller loaves.  You may want to use
an oven thermometer to make sure the oven temperature is right.

> I'm not a bread baker;  my results when working with yeast-risen dough
> have
> been, well, erratic.  Not enough practice yet to predict results. I'm
> usually not in one place long enough to do all the fiddling with it over
> time that it seems to require!   And I am certainly not going to plan on
> serving from a recipes of  whose results I cannot be reasonably certain.
> I
> can't even get consistant results from the bread machine unless I use a
> mix. That's too expensive for a feast, and anyway while they're
> predictable
> and easy, the loaves have a rather boring taste & texture.
> 
Proof your yeast first.  I use dry active yeast and add it to a half cup to
a cup of water with a pinch of sugar dissolved in it.  In five to ten
minutes it will foam and turn creamy, then you use it to make the dough.  In
most cases, the liquids need to be between 70 and 90 degrees F.  In some
cases, the recipe asks for 110 degrees F.  Don't go above 110 or the yeast
may lose some of its potency.

To change the flavor of the bread, use a tablespoon of honey, molasses, or
malt syrup in place of the sugar.  If you want a little more change,
dissolve the sweetener in a cup of water.  Stir in two cups of flour into
the water, then cover the bowl with plastic, let it stand for four to
twenty-four hours.  Use this a starter.  Subtract the water, flour and
sweetener from the recipe, break the starter apart in a bowl containing the
remaining water and make the recipe as per instructions. 

> The regular ovens at the site  where I'll be doing a feast in Feb. ( I
> think -- the autocrat hasn't officially confirmed bid acceptance) don't
> work but they have two commercial convection ovens. (Finally - a site with
> any kind of working oven besides one tiny residential style stove!)   What
> effect might this have on baking the bread? 
> 
Convection ovens bake bread faster and quite well, but I would worry about
breakdowns, since it is obvious the owners of the site don't believe in
maintenance.  Depending on quantities and timing, I might pre-bake.

Convection ovens are trickier when it comes to re-heating frozen bread.

> Also,  I know there is a temperature adjustment that has to be made for
> using convection ovens but I haven't yet found out what it is.  Does
> anyone
> have experience with this?
> 
> Thank in advance for the advice,
> 
> Jocetta
> 
Can't help you with that, I haven't used a convection oven in years and I
don't remember the differences.  I do know I wouldn't trust the official
oven temperature until I ran a test batch through the ovens.

Bear
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