| Freezing bread dough is a great way to save money | | | | 3) Put dough in the freezer at a maximum |
| in the kitchen. With the rising costs of food every | | | | temperature of 0 degrees Farenheit and ideally lower |
| dollar saved helps. And although we know that | | | | for an hour or two. I use a parchment or waxed |
| homemade bread is cheaper and healthier for our | | | | paper lined cookie sheet or loaf pan. Do not wrap the |
| families many people don't make bread at home | | | | dough yet because it will continue to rise. |
| because it is so time consuming. | | | | 4) After 1 to 2 hours feel the dough to see if it's |
| But by freezing bread dough you can make make | | | | frozen solid. When solid remove from the freezer |
| large batches all at once and bake loaves when your | | | | and wrap for storage. Use freezer quality materials |
| ready.The key to success is planning ahead. | | | | and remove as much air as possible for best results. I |
| Because thawing the dough, waiting for it to rise and | | | | recommend plastic wrap and heavy duty tin foil or |
| then baking takes a fair amount of time and varies | | | | plastic freezer bags. Freezer paper would also work |
| based on the temperature in your kitchen, I suggest | | | | well. |
| you try your first batch on a weekend or a night | | | | Remember to label and date your frozen dough. If |
| when you have some extra time so you are not | | | | you want add the cooking instructions to the label as |
| rushed. | | | | well. |
| <b> Steps For Freezing Bread Dough</b> | | | | 5) Use your frozen bread dough within 2-3 months |
| 1) Make the dough according to your recipe. Use | | | | for best results. Yeast dough frozen longer that that |
| regular action yeast, not a fast or rapid rise yeast | | | | can start to lose it's ability to rise or develop freezer |
| because regular yeast holds up better in the freezer. | | | | burn which will cause it to rise unevenly. |
| I also like to round up from one packet or 2.5 | | | | 6) Put bread dough on the counter or in the oven |
| teaspoons to a whole tablespoon of yeast. A flour | | | | with only the dome light on (no heat!) to thaw and |
| with a high protein content is also ideal for freezing | | | | rise. Once the dough is doubled in size from when |
| bread dough. | | | | when you punched it down in step 2 bake as |
| 2) Let the dough rise once then punch it down and | | | | directed by the recipe. |
| prepare to freeze. | | | | |