Baking pies, bread, puffs is always an event. And it always takes a lot of time. The kneading process alone, even with the use of “fast” yeast, takes a good one and a half hours. And while inexperienced culinary experts are wondering whether it is possible to freeze yeast dough, experienced have long been acting on this principle.
If you really don’t have time at all or don’t want to spend it on the traditional preparation of the test, you can buy ready-made: frozen and packed in a nearby supermarket. But if the culinary twinkle in the heart has not died out, do it yourself - both for today's pies and in reserve. In the freezer, the dough will “nap” as much as necessary, preserving all its properties, and after thawing you will get a great, fresh, as if only mixed.
Is it possible to equate domestic and industrial freezing technologies?
Those who are used to using purchased dough can confirm that the quality is exactly the same as that prepared at home. So, doubts about whether it is possible to freeze yeast dough at home are automatically nullified.
Powerful refrigeration units, freezers are at the disposal of every modern housewife, therefore, problems with the creation of "factory material for pies" at home should not arise.
It is recommended to freeze not only dough, but also semi-finished products: formed buns, pies and other products.
The capacities of modern freezers are quite enough to quickly bring the dough to a state of deep freezing and store it for a long period - from several weeks to several months.
How to prepare dough for freezing
After fermentation and kneading, let the dough “rest” a bit, then divide it into pieces of the required size and put in the freezer.
An important nuance: before freezing the yeast dough, be sure to wrap each of the lumps with cling film or foil. It is necessary to pack it in order to limit moisture access, since the process of crystallization of water during rapid freezing also occurs very quickly. As a result, this negatively affects the taste of the finished baking.
Correct temperature
In the first few days (7-14) of being in the cold, the dough should freeze - that is, completely get rid of moisture. For this purpose, the optimum temperature will be the lowest that your refrigerator is capable of. Yeast dough can be frozen at a mode of -20 ... -30 o C.
When the dough acquires a state of confident “stony”, the mode can be somewhat changed by moving stocks to a chamber with a temperature of -8 ... -18 o .
The role of yeast quality
Usually, the question of whether it is possible to freeze yeast dough arises among those who fear for the loss of its ability to rise after prolonged exposure to cold.
Having survived the process of freezing-defrosting, it does not deteriorate, however, choosing yeast for the dough, which is prepared for the future, pay attention to their quality and freshness. Add more yeast than usual to the base prepared for freezing: instead of 5-7 grams, say 8-12.
What kind of flour?
How to freeze yeast dough so as not to worry about the quality of future buns? Choose the kind of flour that will withstand temperature extremes and will not stick out during the freezing process.
Important! When choosing flour, attention should be paid to the percentage of its gluten: weak after thawing gives an undesirable blurry effect, high - excessive crumb density and swollen crust.
The optimal percentage of gluten at which baking is soft and high is 30-32.
To make the dough elastic, add eggs and margarine to the dough.
Pizza dough
Frozen pizza yeast dough is the most convenient option for housewives who like to spoil their family with homemade cakes, but are not ready to mess with the dough every time.
Cook it as much as possible, divide into portions - and use it from time to time, baking not only pizza, but also croissants or butter buns.
According to the proposed recipe, you have to confuse with the test for as much as ... half an hour.
Per liter of milk: 1.5 sachets of dried yeast, a pack of margarine, 3 eggs, 3 tbsp. l sugar, a little salt, flour - how much it will take (usually 1-1.5 kg is required). Prepare the dough in the usual way: dissolve the yeast in warm milk, add salt, sugar, a little flour - this is the first step, dough.
The second step is to add the remaining ingredients and the remaining amount of flour.
The third stage is packaging, packaging and placement in the freezer.
For puffs
The secret of puff pastry is its phased rolling with butter. But if several steps are too long for you, you can add yeast to the flour chopped with butter, yeast dissolved in water or milk.
The peculiarity of the puff test is that it cannot be kneaded and kneaded for too long - it can lose its layering.
Yeast puff pastry (frozen) is great for baking pies and strudel. If the usual puffs are boring, and there are still many blanks in the freezer - try it, it’s very tasty!
For strudel and croissants, roll out the dough thinner, and leave the pies on rosy barrels - cut the workpieces with washers.
Storage, defrosting, baking
Having found out whether it is possible to freeze the yeast dough, you need to learn how to properly place it in the freezer. Even in the cold, in the first minutes it will not condense, but will rise and grow in volume. This feature must be taken into account when filling the freezer: stack the portions more tightly, otherwise they will have time to “grow up” and occupy the entire free space of the freezer.
The maximum shelf life of frozen dough is not more than four months. But the sooner you use it, the better the taste and appearance of the finished product.
Re-freezing is not recommended - the properties of the yeast dough are not preserved for more than one freezing.
Before freezing yeast dough in plastic bags (they can be used as an alternative to foil), sprinkle the container with flour so that the contents do not stick, and let the air out of the bag.
Thaw the yeast dough carefully and gradually: first move it from the freezer to the refrigerator, and then hold it at room temperature. Ready dough should increase in volume. Noticing this, once again, knead it and form buns.
Frozen dough is suitable for making any bakery products: pies, pies, pizza, buns, cookies, loaves, if you like. You just have to fool a little once, then several times very, very quickly (literally in 15 minutes, not counting the time spent on baking) to prepare fragrant products.