Bread 101.3 | Freezing & Restoring île de païn bread

Freezing bread

If bread is not used within:

• The day of purchase for small breads such as baguettes, fougasse, rolls, sticks…
• Three days for medium breads (Bagatta, Companio…) or
• Seven days for wholegrain breads (100% Rye, Vollkorn…)

We recommend freezing your bread after cutting it into slices or pieces that can be used within the day of purchase a day.

Defrosting smaller units is fast and efficient and ensures that none of your valuable bread goes to waste. A slice of bread can go from frozen to toasted within 5 minutes. How convenient is that? Ensure that the slices fit into the toaster. You may wish to cut large slices in half before freezing.  Reassemble the slices and wrap accordingly. Slices can be removed one by one, allowing a small household to enjoy fresh bread every day.

Wrap for the freezer

Our bread freezes well in:

• Tightly wrapped plastic (not plastic wrap, a shopping bag is perfect) after wrapping in wax paper
• Heavy zip-lock bags if the bread is in cut into slices or manageable pieces. Try to remove as much air as possible with a straw before the final seal
• Airtight plastic containers, preferably with as little air remaining inside to avoid frost
• A vacuum sealed pouch in the best of worlds
• Heavy-duty aluminium works the best and is very practical. The fact that it can withstand several uses if one is careful is a big benefit.

How long can you freeze bread for?

Domestic freezers, if maintained well (not overfilled, defrosted regularly, auto defrost), work perfectly well. The integrity of the bread will be maintained for a month at least and even longer. Proper wrapping is paramount. A trunk freezer is even better if available. Temperatures are more consistent which is beneficial for freezing bread.

Restoring

If frozen whole, larger breads such as our Companio should be defrosted overnight. Smaller breads or pieces (say the size of 4-5 slices) will take about 2 hours to defrost.

Toaster or Sandwich press

Slices are best toasted in a classic toaster or in a sandwich press. It will take a few minutes depending if one likes it lightly toasted (as the crust intensifies), or properly crispy and dark roasted.  Lightly buttered slices also brown well in a regular pan. Flip after the bottom side has browned.

Oven Heating from Frozen

We suggest that loaves of about 1kg are reheated in a 150°C oven for approximately 20 minutes, preferably in aluminium foil. Finish the re-heating process without the foil for another 20 minutes to restore a proper crust.

If you like accuracy, insert a thermometer when you think the loaf is ready. It should read 70 degrees Celsius for a perfect re-heat. If not, place the loaf back for a few more minutes until it reaches this crucial temperature for optimum quality.

If you want a more serious crust reheat the loaf without the foil for about the same time. However, do not wait for the crust to form in the oven. It will form as the loaf comes back to room temperature, resulting in a light, crisp, and re-invigorated crust. Cover the bread with a cloth to prevent it from drying out and to keep it warm until service. Reduce the amount of time in the oven for smaller (500 g) and lighter textured loaves by 25 – 50%.

Oven Heating a Defrosted Loaf

A loaf at room-temperature weighing about 1 kg will take approximately 30 minutes at 150°C. Like your loaves to have more colour? Increase the temperature by 10°C on each test until you reached your perfect temperature crust – color balance.

Bread that has been frozen and re-heated should not be kept for too long. The staling process is accelerated after the re-heating and cooling. Hence we’d recommend only re-heating the amount that is needed. Having said that, we have tested frozen and re-heated Companio loaves and did so again the following day.  The taste and texture was still very acceptable.

Microwave

We do not use microwave ovens in our kitchens. We do not recommend using them for our breads. Besides unknown health effects, microwave heating tends to dry out the bread and does nothing for the crust. Enough said!

Did you know?

We know that eating hot bread straight from the oven is hard to resist, however it is neither good for the digestive system nor for flavour or savour. Why?

Hot bread is still busy melding until it has come to room temperature. The gases developed during the baking have yet to exit completely and the crust and crumb are giving off each other’s flavour profile and need to stabilise. Once properly cooled, the bread will be of greater flavour and nuance and will delight the palate optimally gram for gram, calorie for calorie.

Your five senses and your digestive system will appreciate the patience and effort.

The secrets of baking beautiful bread are revealed in Markus’ Blu-ray DVD “Baguettes & Ciabattas” now also available for download on VIMEO.