Frozen Bread

[3113]

I don't suppose this is the most inane question ever asked here...but it probably ranks in the top 50. I'm gonna ask it all the same.....

Can someone give me the skinny on freezing and thawing out bread?

Honestly. Growing up as a kid I noticed that some families put bread in refrigerator or freezer. My family never did. I mean, never. And I, as a consequence, never have either. At least, not outside of Pop-n'-Fresh biscuit dough.

Now, however, I've discovered and fallen in love with Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread--which is the closest thing to really good pita bread I've had outside of Greek restaurants (not like that tasteless pocket bread sold in stores). As I can't get to T.J.'s often, I bought three packages. But the bread expires pretty quickly. So I tossed two packages in the freezer for future use, and one in the frige.

I assume this was not a bad more and it will keep the bread edible long past the expiration date?

Any advise very much appreciated

 

[carsonshepherd]

*squeezes you because you're so cute*

Bread keeps for months in the freezer. You can wrap it up nice and tightly in plastic wrap and put it in a freezer bag with the air squeezed out to keep it at the peak of freshness.
Or you can just throw it in the freezer just like you bought it off the shelf, and you probably won't be able to tell the difference.
To thaw it, just pull it out of the freezer the night before you run out of the current package.

 

[Guest]

 

[fille]

I don't suppose this is the most inane question ever asked here...but it probably ranks in the top 50. I'm gonna ask it all the same.....

Can someone give me the skinny on freezing and thawing out bread?

Honestly. Growing up as a kid I noticed that some families put bread in refrigerator or freezer. My family never did. I mean, never. And I, as a consequence, never have either. At least, not outside of Pop-n'-Fresh biscuit dough.

Now, however, I've discovered and fallen in love with Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread--which is the closest thing to really good pita bread I've had outside of Greek restaurants (not like that tasteless pocket bread sold in stores). As I can't get to T.J.'s often, I bought three packages. But the bread expires pretty quickly. So I tossed two packages in the freezer for future use, and one in the frige.

I assume this was not a bad more and it will keep the bread edible long past the expiration date?

Any advise very much appreciated

I always keep my bread in the freezer because we just don't use it fast enough to keep it fresh otherwise. If someone wants a sandwich, I defrost it in the microwave and you can't tell the difference. But mostly, we use it for toast.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Stores have this crappy habit of selling 2 for 1's. I fall for it everytime. So I only buy bread that is double wrapped (cellophane in a plastic bag) and just throw one in the freezer.

When I get it out I open it, discard the cellophane and let it air thaw then put it back in the plastic bag.

Works for me.

 

[Tom Collins]

Yeah, what they said, 3. *giggles and makes you into a "Luckywich" with carson because he's right that you're completely adorable*

 

[3113]

Thank you, everyone!

*squeezes you because you're so cute*

Shucks! Yeah, my family was very much outside the heartland American norm. Mom never made casseroles or meatloaf or mac-n-cheese and I don't think I tasted peanut butter or p&j sandwiches till I was twelve. I didn't even get cookies and milk after school like every other kid (I was so jealous of my friends!). I remember being amazed by a Mormon friend's family when I visited and saw her mom canning fruit. Even more amazed when I got taken out to the shed and there were all these shelves stacked with canned fruits and veggies (for the coming apocalypse, I later found out when I learned more about mormons).

I couldn't figure it out. I mean, it looked really pretty, but why not just buy canned goods from the store? (To give me credit, we were in a southern California suburb. It wasn't like we were going to get trapped in a blizzard)

 

[carsonshepherd]

When you live in the country, 20 miles from a store (as I did, and now do again) you better buy 2 loaves of bread, because it's a pain in the ass to run out on a week day, when you aren't going to the store again until Saturday.

In the country, we can it because it's there, and it tastes better than you can buy. I just helped my mom make 15 jars of salsa last weekend. We've already eaten 2 jars at our house. Next weekend, we're making about 24 jars of apple butter.

 

[Tom Collins]

When you live in the country, 20 miles from a store (as I did, and now do again) you better buy 2 loaves of bread, because it's a pain in the ass to run out on a week day, when you aren't going to the store again until Saturday.

In the country, we can it because it's there, and it tastes better than you can buy. I just helped my mom make 15 jars of salsa last weekend. We've already eaten 2 jars at our house. Next weekend, we're making about 24 jars of apple butter.

Homemade applebutter...*insert Homer drool*...You're evil, carson. *spank*

 

[Huckleman2000]

My folks, depression-era kids, are the canning and freezing gurus of all time. Pickled cukes and stringbeans, applesauce, strawberries and raspberries, everything made from zucchinis, rhubarb sauce... We tease my Mom about her miraculous ability to make whole meals from nothing at all, like the loaves and fishes story.

They can't get a certain kind of bread that they really like in their small-town supermarket. What they do when they visit my sister in Denver is go to the bread outlet store, and buy out their whole stock of that variety at ridiculously low prices, then freeze it and also give some out to their friends. They just stick the slices in the toaster for a little while, or longer if they want toast.

Of course, they seem a bit obsessed with lots of details about food preparation all the time. But the frozen bread thing is pretty slick.

 

[Weird Harold]

Can someone give me the skinny on freezing and thawing out bread?

Bread does not re-freeze very well, so I separate loaves of bread into "jam sandwiches -- "two slices of bread jammed together" -- in zip lock bags and freeze them.

Two slices thaw in about fifteen minutes if just tossed on the counter to thaw at room temperature. Ten seconds in the microwave -- still in the freezer bag -- reduces the time to about two minutes. Any more than 15 seconds in the microwave will make bread hard and tough.

Keeping Bread in the refrigerator will dry it out faster than storing it in a "bread box" or just in a closed bag on the counter. It will keep it from going moldy longer, but at the cost of that "fresh bread" texture. You can restore "freshness" to dry bread -- whether refrigerated or frozen too long -- by putting it in a brown paper bag, sprikling water on the bag and microwaving for ten to fifteen seconds or putting in the oven on low heat (120F to 150F) for ten to fifteen minutes.

 

[3113]

Keeping Bread in the refrigerator will dry it out faster than storing it in a "bread box" or just in a closed bag on the counter. It will keep it from going moldy longer, but at the cost of that "fresh bread" texture. You can restore "freshness" to dry bread -- whether refrigerated or frozen too long -- by putting it in a brown paper bag, sprikling water on the bag and microwaving for ten to fifteen seconds or putting in the oven on low heat (120F to 150F) for ten to fifteen minutes.

Cool! That's wonderfully specific.

I doubt that I'll be keeping this flatbread in the freezer for long--I'm not storing up for the winter, I just want to make sure that I don't have to make a second trip to TJ's for a month or two. The nearby Trader Joes are not in walking distance from me and they're always jammed--with tiny, terrible parking lots. So going to one, while not a terrible ordeal, isn't something I'd care to do weekly.

I'll let you know if this frozen flatbread stays moist or if it needs the brown-bag treatment. I've taken the extra precaution of wrapping it up in Glad "Press n' Seal" which I find does a remarkable job at keeping things fresh, bread included. I'm going to take a guess that between that wrapping and the bread's denseness it will thaw out fresher than if it were a regular bread.

 

[Guest]

When you live in the country, 20 miles from a store (as I did, and now do again) you better buy 2 loaves of bread, because it's a pain in the ass to run out on a week day, when you aren't going to the store again until Saturday.

In the country, we can it because it's there, and it tastes better than you can buy. I just helped my mom make 15 jars of salsa last weekend. We've already eaten 2 jars at our house. Next weekend, we're making about 24 jars of apple butter.

my mom was a depression era baby and even though we didn't live too far from the damn store, any time she thought she heard me using a can from the cupboard, she would write it down and have me go to the store the next day.

i hate the damn store.
i would throw tantrums to put two-year-olds to shame (Lucky can attest).

yes, we froze bread. it was needed since our house had an open door policy and all friends were welcome to come pop a squat.

 

[rgraham666]

Even more amazed when I got taken out to the shed and there were all these shelves stacked with canned fruits and veggies (for the coming apocalypse, I later found out when I learned more about mormons).

Does this mean according to Mormon beliefs that when you're raptured up to Heaven you'll find there's no food up there? So you have to bring your own?

 

[R. Richard]

Keeping Bread in the refrigerator will dry it out faster than storing it in a "bread box" or just in a closed bag on the counter. It will keep it from going moldy longer, but at the cost of that "fresh bread" texture. You can restore "freshness" to dry bread -- whether refrigerated or frozen too long -- by putting it in a brown paper bag, sprikling water on the bag and microwaving for ten to fifteen seconds or putting in the oven on low heat (120F to 150F) for ten to fifteen minutes.

It also works to use a damp towel, particularly if the bread is quite dry. The towel can deliver more water to the bread.

 

[Elsie Grey]

What on earth is apple butter? Is it a random american food stuff or am I just wierd for not having heard of it?

Elsie

xxx

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I use dry bread for bread pudding. Soaking it in custard for a while in a hot oven seems to bring back the moisture.

 

[3113]

Does this mean according to Mormon beliefs that when you're raptured up to Heaven you'll find there's no food up there? So you have to bring your own?

Don't quote me on this, since I'm not up on the Mormon faith and I've not sure of the particulars...but...Mormon's aren't into the rapture and it wasn't really the apocalypse per se. It was more like a really bad world war, predicted Nostrodamus style. What they believed, as I recall, was that the world was going to fall apart and so everyone had to stock up to survive this bad time. Rather like having a bomb shelter. When it was all over, the Mormons, forewarned and armed (stocked up), would survive and everyone else, unbelievers that they were, would be gone or dead or whatever.

There was a predicted date for this catastrophic period of time. I don't recall if this was in the Book of Mormon or if it was just some tenent of church or church leaders.

The predicted due date for this end came and went--can't remember when it was--so I don't know if Mormons have a new date and are still required to stock up for it, or if the church has changed its mind about that prediction.

 

[3113]

What on earth is apple butter? Is it a random american food stuff or am I just wierd for not having heard of it?

It's apples and a few other ingredients made into a paste so you can smooth it over bread (toast in particular) like butter. Very sweet and tasty. And yeah, it's very American.

 

[Tom Collins]

What on earth is apple butter? Is it a random american food stuff or am I just wierd for not having heard of it?

Elsie

xxx

Apple Butter Recipe

Apple butter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of applesauce, produced by long, slow cooking of apples with cider or water to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes. The concentration of sugar gives apple butter a much longer shelf life as a preserve than applesauce. It was a popular way of using apples in colonial America, and well into the 19th century. The term "butter" refers to the thick, soft consistency, and its use as a spread for breads. Typically seasoned with cinnamon, cloves, and other spices, apple butter may be used as a side dish, an ingredient in baked goods, or as a condiment. The Pennsylvania Dutch often include it as part of their traditional seven sweets and seven sours dinner table array.

In areas of the American South, the production of apple butter is a family event, due to the large amount of labor necessary to produce apple butter in large quantities. It is also used on a sandwich to add an interesting flavour, but is not as commonly used as in historical times.

 

[rgraham666]

Don't quote me on this, since I'm not up on the Mormon faith and I've not sure of the particulars...but...Mormon's aren't into the rapture and it wasn't really the apocalypse per se. It was more like a really bad world war, predicted Nostrodamus style. What they believed, as I recall, was that the world was going to fall apart and so everyone had to stock up to survive this bad time. Rather like having a bomb shelter. When it was all over, the Mormons, forewarned and armed (stocked up), would survive and everyone else, unbelievers that they were, would be gone or dead or whatever.

There was a predicted date for this catastrophic period of time. I don't recall if this was in the Book of Mormon or if it was just some tenent of church or church leaders.

The predicted due date for this end came and went--can't remember when it was--so I don't know if Mormons have a new date and are still required to stock up for it, or if the church has changed its mind about that prediction.

Thanks 3113.

If things get that bad, I just hope they don't announce it and I'm at Ground Zero. Won't even have time to know I'm dead.

 

[3113]

Thanks 3113.

If things get that bad, I just hope they don't announce it and I'm at Ground Zero. Won't even have time to know I'm dead.

Just got to Carson's farm. He's the one who has all the Applebutter

Hey, Carson, you got an extra jar or two to send to Elise and Rob? Elise has never had any and Rob's stocking his shelves in case the world comes to an end.

 

[Elsie Grey]

It's apples and a few other ingredients made into a paste so you can smooth it over bread (toast in particular) like butter. Very sweet and tasty. And yeah, it's very American.

That sounds very peculiar... I think I'll stick to homemade strawberry jam for my toast if it's all the same!

Elsie

xxx

 

[kendo1]

The longer you keep bread in the freezer, the drier it gets. A month or two is okay. Any longer and you get a lot of ice crystals forming from the water in the bread - drying it out and making it unusable.

 

[Weird Harold]

Mormon's aren't into the rapture and it wasn't really the apocalypse per se. It was more like a really bad world war, predicted Nostrodamus style. What they believed, as I recall, was that the world was going to fall apart and so everyone had to stock up to survive this bad time.

Actually, I think the requirement to have one year's worth of supplies stockpiled is a more plebian and practical than "religious"-- it's a hedge against drought, flood, or seige, rather than preparation for a specific prophesied event.

It's a philosphy that many people who lived through or were influenced by parents who lived throughthe Depression share with the Mormons to some extent -- "Prepared for hard times during the good times" and "stock up now while everything is on sale/in season."