how well does homemade bread freeze?

[lucysmam]

as if i could bake say four loaves at the beginning of the week, for the week, it would save us money & mean I wouldn't have to be in the kitchen every other day baking. If it doesn't though, how long would dough last in the fridge if it could be stored in there?

hope that makes sense! tia xx

Personally I've always found it much cheaper to buy bread than to make it. The loaves don't freeze well at all in my experience but I would guess that the dough could keep in the fridge for a few days? Don't take my word for it though!

I make 2 loaves a week and always freeze one. It seems fine but I usually only eat toast.

Bread freezes brilliantly. I bake my own bread & always have a starter on the go in the fridge.

After the loaf is baked & completely cooled I just slice it up, wrap it in a bag & put in the freezer.

It's so much healthier for you as it doesn't contain all the enzymes & additives they put in the over processed industrial bread you get in the shops.

I freeze mine and it is fine.

spinningthing, do you eat it as bread or as toast, and if bread, how do you defrost? I mean do you defrost a whole loaf at a time?

thanks, thought i'd better check before i go overboard n find myself with bread i'll not use!

dramasequalzero, I just take out slices as I need them. You can toast straight from frozen or leave a few slices in a bag over night in the fridge to defrost, if you know you will be needing them the next day. It doesn't take long to defrost either just left on the side.

I don't ever defrost a whole loaf at a time because one of the reasons why I freeze bread is that we probably wouldn't get through a whole loaf before it lost it's freshness.

Sandwiches can be made with frozen bread if going on a picnic, just make as normal. By lunch time the bread has defrosted & the sandwich itself is still cold.

spinningthing, that's part of my reasoning for wanting to bake and freeze my own bread, we usually get half way through a shop bought loaf only to get up to mouldy bread and none in the freezer which seems like a real waste. whereas if i could freeze it in slices to take out as and when it'd save on the wastage therefore saving me money.

I like the picnic idea with frozen bread, never thought of that before

this is all v encouraging. I might have to start baking again.

Do start baking your own bread it's great & so satisfying.

There is a great book by a chap called Andrew Whitley called 'Bread Matters (The state of modern bread & a definitive guide to baking your own)'

He talks about the whole Chorleywood process of industrial baking & what goes into the bread itself. It's pretty enlightening.

Bread freezes brilliantly, you can either take it out in slices or, like I do, in whole loaves - we get through a loaf a day so it works out just right. The thing about making your own bread is that you can actually make the size of loaf your family needs, you don't have to be limited by the sizes the supermarkets want to sell you. But a sliced loaf in the freezer to grab just a couple of slices is also useful - I interleave squares of baking parchment every few slices to make it easier to separate the slices.

I usually make 4-5 loaves in one go and freeze 3-4 of them.

Another vote for 'Bread Matters' here.

And do make your own bread properly, none of this breadmaker business... If you like really good tasting bread that is!

no space for a bread maker in my kitchen or any other unnecessary gadgets for that matter so would definately be hand made like the past couple of times i've tried.

Might have a trip to the library in town n see if they have a copy of the 'bread matters' book out of interest.

I think I'm going to bake some bread tomorrow while oh is at footy, thanks for your help