The frozen dough is
dough
Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...
that have been frozen in order to decouple the
dough preparation and
baking
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...
processes of
breadmaking (without freezing, the dough must be used quickly once prepared). The frozen dough is used for home baking and by small bakeries, especially the supermarket
deli ones, due to the simplicity of baking using the pre-made dough, especially for more complicated products (
Danish pastries,
croissants). The storage time for frozen dough is limited, although it is constantly increasing due to the improvements in manufacturing. As of 2013, the 16 weeks storage time was typical (
lean doughs deteriorate quicker).
History
The commercial manufacturing of frozen dough started in 1945, but the initial attempts to freeze the dough resulted in subpar performance (lower bake expansion due to reduced ability to generate the
leavening gas and irregular
crumb structure). Improvements to ingredients as well as freezing, thawing and
proofing techniques reduced the two primary causes of the deterioration: the damage to cell membranes of the leavening microorganisms and the collapse of the
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
() bubbles inside the dough due to the higher
solubility
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a chemical substance, substance, the solute, to form a solution (chemistry), solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form su ...
of this gas at low temperatures.
Manufacturing
To preserve the yeast during freezing, yeast manufacturers produce special cold-resistant strains. The process typically avoids the use of dehydrated yeast ("active dry" and "instant") in favor of cream or crumble preparations to protect the cell membrane health. The
flash freeze is performed quickly after forming of dough to reduce the size of the bubbles. Storage at constant temperatures in the range of -18 to -23 avoids damage that can be caused by thaw-refreeze cycles.
The formulation of the frozen dough often includes
strengtheners like SSL (
sodium stearoyl lactylate
Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (sodium stearoyl lactylate or SSL) is a versatile, Regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration#Food additives, FDA approved food additive used to improve the mix tolerance and vol ...
) and
DATEM. The
autolysis of yeast that dies off while in storage releases
glutathione, so
oxidants, like
potassium bromate, and
ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with formula , originally called hexuronic acid. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves freely in water to give mildly acidic solutions. It is a mild reducing agent.
Asco ...
are added in significant amounts (30-50 and 100
ppm respectively in the USA). Many countries do not permit the use of potassium bromate, leaving
lipoxygenase
Lipoxygenases () (LOX) are a family of (non- heme) iron-containing enzymes, more specifically oxidative enzymes, most of which catalyze the dioxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipids containing a cis,cis-1,4- pentadiene into ce ...
enzymes as the only practical alternative in the beginning of the 21st century.
Use
Before use, the frozen dough is slowly (12-18 hours) thawed to the temperatures of 1 to 4 while avoiding dehydration. After thawing, the dough undergoes
proofing that takes about 50% more time than what is used for conventional dough, up to hours. The baking of the products made from frozen dough is not different from the one used with regular dough.
See also
*
Parbaking, freezing the partially baked bread
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book , title=Quick Frozen Foods , publisher=E.W. Williams Publications , volume=29 , year=1967 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23DVAAAAMAAJ , language=en , ref={{sfnref, E.W. Williams Publications, 1967 , access-date=2025-03-07
Doughs