this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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Sourdough baking

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Sourdough baking

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Hi all,

So I'm doing experiments to see how 'effortless' I can make fresh sourdough.

I have a dream - and maybe this can't be reality - of doing the cold ferment in a baneton, then transferring that to the freezer for long-term storage.

Has anyone managed to freeze a fully-proofed loaf before baking?

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[–] desGroles 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lots of interesting reading for you: https://breadtopia.com/freezing-sourdough-bread-dough/

For a super lazy approach the most common method isn't even in the list above - parbake

[–] ObM 1 points 1 year ago

Oh this is GOLD! Thank you!

If we were in that old site, and we had those karmic awards, I’d absolutely invest in some for you!

[–] seggy4 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have never done it with sourdough before but I have done it with yeast doughs. What I usually did was pull it out a hour or two before I planned to bake it to thaw out and let the rise finish. There are also a few places that supplied breads that were baked from frozen at a restaurant I worked at years ago, so I unfortunately do not recall how the full process was but I think it was the half a hour and then bake as normal to prevent the top from breaking and looking odd Tl;Dr ya should work might need to play with the cook time/temperature a bit to get it just right

[–] ObM 2 points 1 year ago

The half hour and bake would be amazing. I could bulk prepare some loaves and be set for short notice visitor and breakfasts.

[–] krayj 1 points 1 year ago

I haven't tried it exactly like that for bread, but I make a sourdough pizza dough (same basic recipe as my sourdough bread, just 10% less hydration), and I freeze it after cold proofing. Makes it really convenient to just whip out a pizza dough whenever I want to make a pizza.

For bread, since the structure is more fragile, I will par-bake my loaves, and then freeze. And then when I want 'fresh' bread, I'll pull out a par-baked frozen loaf, let it warm up to room temp, then finish the baking. It's indistinguishable from a fresh baked loaf.

My normal baking process for regular bread is: 20 minutes at 450f with steam, followed by 20 minutes at 450f without steam.

For par-baking then freezing, my process is: 30 minutes at 450f with steam, cool to room temp, freeze. Then thaw to room temp, then finish for 15 minutes at 415f.