Freezing bread from the bakery

[shoyski]

Valerie, I freeze bread all the time. Most of the time I put it in a heavy duty plastic bag and make sure all the air is out of the bag. I then put that bag inside another plastic bag.

[andreajackson]

So then when you take the frozen bread out of the freezer do you just let it thaw out? Or do you have to do anything specific to it?

[RunnerKim]

You can just let it thaw. For example - I often make up a batch of rolls and freeze most of them. Then I'll put one in my lunch - by noon it's thawed and ready to eat.

You can also warm it in the oven. I do this all the time with bagels I buy (I get them once a week and if I don't freeze half of them they're stale by the end of the week).

Here's some information that I include whenever I give bread. It's from Father Dominic's website (he's a baker that does a show on PBS).

 Thawing frozen bread will take about 2 to 3 hours at room temperature, or about 6 to 8 minutes on the defrost setting of your microwave. If you slice your bread before freezing, you can toast it straight out of the freezer.

 To warm bread, wrap loaf in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven for 15 to 30 minutes. Unwrap bread in the last 5 minutes to produce a crisp crust. Thaw frozen bread thoroughly before warming in oven.

(obviously less time if you have rolls).

Kim

[Vanessa]

I just saw his show making foccacia. I cannot find his website http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif
can you post it please http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[RunnerKim]

I did a quick search on Google.com and found it:
http://www.breaking-bread.com/

Kim

[valeriek]

Thanks so much for all of your help!

[valeriek]

I was planning on making dinner for my boyfriend last night but unfortunately our plans changed. I bought a fresh loaf of Italian bread from the local bakery and I would hate to have it go to waste. Can I freeze this? If so, what is the best way (tin foil, etc.)?