I know it would be best not too have to freeze bread in the first place,
but as it is something I do, I would like to have it back in as good
condition as possible. As soon as the bread I cool, I wrap it tightly in
plastic and put in in the freezer. When I need a loaf, I take it out to thaw
at room temperature until the plastic starts showing signs of condensation,
at which point I put it in my oven to reheat, its pretty well established
that reheating saves the bread (albeit only once) something about any
remaining reactive gasses being released into the cells. I cant seem to
find info (I searched archives for reheat) on what temperature to reheat the
bread to other than to reheat to the core, so as to best cause this
reaction. I just took bread out of the freezer, so any suggestions are
appreciated

hutchndi

"hutchndi" > wrote

.. I cant seem to
> find info (I searched archives for reheat) on what temperature to reheat
the
> bread to other than to reheat to the core, so as to best cause this
> reaction.

Well I did find this in King Arthur Flour Companion today.

"Reheating stale bread (stale bread, not rock hard, days old bread) to 140
degrees, the temperature at which starch geletinizes, will make stale bread
soft again for a short period of time).

Just in case anyone else was interested.

hutchndi

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 12:14:10 -0500, "hutchndi" >
wrote:

> I know it would be best not too have to freeze bread in the first place,
>but as it is something I do, I would like to have it back in as good
>condition as possible. As soon as the bread I cool, I wrap it tightly in
>plastic and put in in the freezer. When I need a loaf, I take it out to thaw
>at room temperature until the plastic starts showing signs of condensation,
>at which point I put it in my oven to reheat, its pretty well established
>that reheating saves the bread (albeit only once) something about any
>remaining reactive gasses being released into the cells. I cant seem to
>find info (I searched archives for reheat) on what temperature to reheat the
>bread to other than to reheat to the core, so as to best cause this
>reaction. I just took bread out of the freezer, so any suggestions are
>appreciated
>
>hutchndi
>


I have no scientific basis for what I do. I take the bread out of the
bag and run wet hands over the crust...likely the same effect as your
condensation.

I wrap it in foil, but do not seal the top, and heat at 250 degrees F
for 15 mins, then remove the foil and up the temp to 325 and keep an
eye on it.

Smaller loaves get less time and/or higher heat.

I just froze 6 of the 8 loaves I made today, so I hope this technique
keeps working.

Boron

hutchndi wrote:
> I know it would be best not too have to freeze bread in the first place,
> but as it is something I do...

Hutch,

Maybe it's time you investigated flat breads. Same dough as what you do
now, well, maybe a bit higher hydration. You make your dough and when
you need bread you pull off a few of golf ball sized chunks, roll them
somewhere between 1/8 to 1/4 inch and toss in a hot pan. The oil is
absolutely minimal. It's more like dough contacting hot damp metal.
Nasty, stinky, old dough makes the best flatties... so age away.

It's easy and quite satisfying. My wife and kids love it. Flat bread
days are a big deal here.

Will

"Will" > wrote

a bit higher hydration. You make your dough and when
> you need bread you pull off a few of golf ball sized chunks, roll them
> somewhere between 1/8 to 1/4 inch and toss in a hot pan. The oil is
> absolutely minimal. It's more like dough contacting hot damp metal.
> Nasty, stinky, old dough makes the best flatties... so age away.
>

Sounds like Stu's Molunken Fire bread:
http://home.gwi.net/~nas/bread/recip...esFrameset.htm
which I have unfortunately never gotten around to trying yet.

hutchndi wrote:

> Sounds like Stu's Molunken Fire bread:
> http://home.gwi.net/~nas/bread/recip...esFrameset.htm
> which I have unfortunately never gotten around to trying yet.

Yeah... it's like that. Old dough rolls easier, I suspect, and probably
puffs a bit more, but yeah.

It's as quick as making toast once you get the rolling part.

Will

"Boron Elgar" > wrote >

> I have no scientific basis for what I do. I take the bread out of the
> bag and run wet hands over the crust...likely the same effect as your
> condensation.


This is interesting. I was holding off the reheat until there was good
condensation figuring this is when the bread had thawed sufficiently,
couldnt remember where I got that from. Reread this from the Bread Builders
this morning, so I probably recalled it wrong:

"When you take it out of the freezer, leave it in the plastic bag while it
thaws until visible signs of water on the outside and inside of the bag have
disappeared. Then take it out of the bag. Bread that is thawed at room
temperature will be palatable, but can be made nearly as good as fresh bread
if it is thoroughly reheated and allowed partially to cool before serving. "

also from the Bread Builders:

"The poor flavor of stale bread crumb is due in part to loss of volatile
organic flavor compound such as alcohols, aldehides, and ketones. Recent
research, for instance, has looked at two aromatic Mailliard products which
are responsible for roasted smells and malty smells (and which mask
unpleasant fatty smells that are prominent in stale supermarket "French"
bread). Levels of these aromatics fall quickly after bread cool, with half
the original content gone after four hours. Eventually all of the gas cells
will contain air, and the bread will taste stale. Reheating will boil any
remaining aromatics into the gas cells, and some new Mailliard aromatics
will form, this will aproximate the flavor spectum of fresh bread. This
revival, however, will last less than an hour, as the aromatic levels
achieved are so low. Reheating, then, gives a small bump to the flavor of
slightly staled bread, improves the hydration of its starch, and may
re-establish the moisture gradient between the crust and crumb-but the trick
will only work once."


The part that reads "and may re-establish the moisture gradient between the
crust and crumb" has me thinking that it might not be such a good idea too
add, or desire, any moisture on the loaf to be reheated, so next time I will
try the first quote and wait for the condensation to dissapear. This time
around the crumb was like fresh bread, but the crust had thickened a bit and
gotten sort of crunchy.

hutchndi

"hutchndi" > wrote in message
news:UVsDf.14391$Dh.8817@dukeread04...

>This time
> around the crumb was like fresh bread, but the crust had thickened a
> bit and
> gotten sort of crunchy.

Have you tried just letting the bread defrost without putting it in
the oven? I'd expect the crust to thicken up and get crunchier after
being in the oven. I freeze a loaf of bread almost every time I bake.
I freeze the bread as soon as it gets down to room temperature and
defrost at room temperature. The bread doesn't really change all that
much due to the freezing.

-Mike

"Mike Pearce" > wrote

I freeze a loaf of bread almost every time I bake.
> I freeze the bread as soon as it gets down to room temperature and
> defrost at room temperature. The bread doesn't really change all that
> much due to the freezing.
>

Do you defrost open to the air, or in plastic? I have fully defrosted at
room temp in the plastic from the freezer and the crust seemed something,
fresh is sort of chewy and crisp together, and this was not as crisp maybe?

htuchndi

----- Original Message -----
From: "Will" >
Newsgroups: rec.food.sourdough
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 6:20 AM
Subject: Reheating After Freezing


>
> hutchndi wrote:
>
> > Sounds like Stu's Molunken Fire bread:
> > http://home.gwi.net/~nas/bread/recip...esFrameset.htm
> > which I have unfortunately never gotten around to trying yet.
>
> Yeah... it's like that. Old dough rolls easier, I suspect, and probably
> puffs a bit more, but yeah.
>
> It's as quick as making toast once you get the rolling part.
>
> Will
>

Hutch,

here is the general recipe i used:
http://www.innerlodge.com/Recipes/Br.../Flatbread.htm
i figured it was about 60% hydration and used my old starter. the kids and
wife really loved it. here is another reciope i found in one of the bread
groups
Whole Wheat Sourdough Pita Bread

1 cup whole wheat sourdough starter
½ cup filtered water
1 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup additional flour (approximately

Mix whole wheat starter with the next 4 ingredients, mixing/kneading
well. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Add additional flour. Knead well. Divide dough into six equal parts.
Form each into a smooth round ball. Roll each ball to ½ inch
thickness. Place on a square of baking parchment and let rise.

Preheat oven with a baking stone or lined with quarry tiles to 475
degree f. Slide the pitas on the parchment direct onto the tiles and
bake for about 10 minutes, or until puffed and just starting to brown.
Remove and cool on a wire rack.



the big thing i noticed was that using my tiles were best. also temp was
set around 500º, and if dough doesn't make a baloon in the oven, you need to
let the temp recover to around 500º.

the reason i have so much starter left over now is because i keep my starter
on the counter at room temp now, feeding it once a day with 50g of ap flour
and 40g of water. only keep a teaspoon of original. my starter is much
happier and smells wonderful, and is always ready. however because of this
change, i now have a lot of extra starter- flatbread here we come.



dan w

"hutchndi" wrote in message news:HQEDf.14424$Dh.9953@dukeread04...
>
>
> Do you defrost open to the air, or in plastic? I have fully
> defrosted at
> room temp in the plastic from the freezer and the crust seemed
> something,
> fresh is sort of chewy and crisp together, and this was not as crisp
> maybe?
>

I defrost the bread in the plastic. I'll often leave the bread out in
open air for a bit after it's been defrosted to dry out the crust a
little, but I do that with any bread stored in plastic previously
frozen or not.

-Mike