freezing dough

[atl_baker]

I worked for a bakery at one time decorating cakes ... I notice that the bakers froze bread dough after shaping it and the day they needed the dough they would take it out the night before and place it in the cooler and I guess they baked it off that morning ( I don't think they put it in the proof box)but I had someone tell me that is an avid bread baker tell me that bread dough should never be frozen ... it should be baked off and then frozen ... my question is which is better or does it matter ... I am asking because I've been ask to bake bread
for a caterer and it would be nice to already to go ... thanks

[chefphilhahn]

I will tell you that if you freeze dough you need to add more yeast to your batch. depending on how much you are producing. I would say 1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp. When you freeze yeast you weaken it, so you want to give a little strength to it. Pulling it out to rise then baking it is the correct procedure. There is a one month shelf life on the dough after you flash freeze it. For the record, I would recommend baking a nice fresh batch. It will taste better.

[foodpump]

Frozen baked bread, or frozen dough, ready to proof and bake? It all depends on time and freezer space. Take out a frozen loaf the night before and you 've got your bread. Take out frozen dough the day before, thaw out in pans, proof and bake = "bragging rights" to "freshly baked bread". This is what I do, I use a commercial frozen dough (6 varieties) and my sandwich girl takes them out, pans them, proofs them, and bakes them. This system works nicely for me, as we usually bake off 8-10 pullman loaves/day. I also make a nice foccacia with a pre-ferment and age the dough overnight, then bake and freeze, as well as a roast garlic and Kalamata olive bread with 5% rye, age the dough 18 hrs, bakie and freeze. This gives me the variety I need. In the end what works best is what will ork with your schedule and flow of the kitchen.