Baking – make a sourdough boule, freeze it then thaw it and bake it

bakingbreadfreezingsourdough

I think sourdough yeasts don’t do well with being frozen normally, but if I’ve let the dough go through all of its rises and shaped it into the final loaf can I freeze it before baking since the air bubbles that will provide the rise in the finished loaf have already formed?

Alternatively, are there any good ways to create a sourdough bread dough that I can take and throw into the oven without having to go through the long process of bulk rising, shaping, etc… immediately before baking? Ideally I’d like to make a lot of loaves all at once and have them on hand so I can have freshly baked bread whenever I want.

Best Answer

I think the closest solution you will find to this is baking the loaves, slicing, and then freezing the slices.

This is pretty convenient. You can throw frozen bread slices directly into the toaster, defrost in the microwave, or just let them sit on the counter for a while.