[Sca-cooks] question about breads

[Terry Decker]

>I will be making bread for an upcoming event.  Due to
> time and lack of large kitchen space, per norm, I
> would like  to premake the bread.  Any suggestions?
>
> In a few modern cookbooks I have read the dough being
> frozen prior to rising, then when needed, bring dough
> out of the freezer, cover and let thaw and rise, then
> bake.  Has anyone tried this?

Yes.  Double the yeast.  Work the bread normally through the first rise, 
then shape it, wrap it in wax paper, and wrap that tightly in aluminum foil. 
Freeze and keep in a freezer that is not self-defrosting.  To use, remove 
from the freezer, place in or on the prepared tins, let thaw and rise. 
Bake.

With everything else I
> will be doing the day or 2 before, I think it would be
> easier to thaw in stages and bake, then to have to
> keep stopping in the middle of chopping veggies, ect
> to mix dough,etc.
> I have also heard of completeing the process and then
> freezing the baked bread then thawing to serve.  My
> only experience w/ this was w/ bread bowls that we
> made for stews.  At that point, you want it kind of
> day old/hard or you end up w/ mush. I don't want hard
> bread for feast.
>
> Ideas??
>
> Alexa

Let the baked bread cool completely before wrapping in aluminum foil or 
plastic bags, then freeze it.  To use, remove and let thaw for about 4 hours 
(for a large loaf) placing it in a low oven for the last 30 minutes.  For 
feasts, taking it from the freezer and rebaking it for 30 to 40 minutes does 
even better, but the bread needs to be used almost immediately.

There may be a more complete discussion of this in the Florlegium as it was 
covered several years ago.

Bear