freezing food

[beckybellis]

my hubby seems to think that freezing jerkey after its made, will change it, or make it taste different.
he thinks too, that when you buy bread, and freeze it until its ready to eat, it does not last as long after thawed..
is there truth to any of that?

[Skidsteer]

I don't know about bread, but freezing jerky doen't change the taste as far as I can tell.

[Rocketman]

my hubby seems to think that freezing jerkey after its made, will change it, or make it taste different.
he thinks too, that when you buy bread, and freeze it until its ready to eat, it does not last as long after thawed..
is there truth to any of that?

Freezing bread only SLOWS DOWN the aging process. It does not stop it. So, even while frozen, some of the freshness life is trickling away. There are general aging theories that have been developed for foods and even electronics which try to account for the temperature history effects on aging.

I have read where the preferred way to thaw a loaf of frozen bread is to put it frozen into an oven for a while at 350 degrees. This is said to restore the crust to almost just baked like condition.

Musicians, particularly brass instruments, have been known to have their instruments frozen at -300 F and when the instruments are thawed out, the tone is said to be better. However, there is no metallurgical reason that freezing brass would do anything. In addition, some spoilsport organization ran a double blind test on a bunch of instruments where only some of them were frozen and thawed. The musicians ended up making the equivalent of random choices when they were asked which instruments had improved after playing them.

Freezing only slows down aging. For foods, but not whole people (unless you are a cannibal)..

[rjridgely]

Freezing bread only SLOWS DOWN the aging process. It does not stop it. So, even while frozen, some of the freshness life is trickling away. There are general aging theories that have been developed for foods and even electronics which try to account for the temperature history effects on aging.

I have read where the preferred way to thaw a loaf of frozen bread is to put it frozen into an oven for a while at 350 degrees. This is said to restore the crust to almost just baked like condition.

Musicians, particularly brass instruments, have been known to have their instruments frozen at -300 F and when the instruments are thawed out, the tone is said to be better. However, there is no metallurgical reason that freezing brass would do anything. In addition, some spoilsport organization ran a double blind test on a bunch of instruments where only some of them were frozen and thawed. The musicians ended up making the equivalent of random choices when they were asked which instruments had improved after playing them.

Freezing only slows down aging. For foods, but not whole people (unless you are a cannibal)..


...or Ted Williams

[Fiddleback]

I dunno. I grew up not particularly infatuated with white bread and definitely turned off by 'dark' bread. My lunches were sandwiches made with white bread and there was an occasional piece of toast with breakfast and, all in all, I didn't much care for it except....

When I visited my grandparents, who served white bread at the dinner table, I couldn't get enough of it. That change was skewed a little because they also served real butter (missing at my home) but the bread they served was wonderfully soft. When I grew up and grocery shopped on my own I learned that the great experience at my grandparents...that 'oh-so-yummy' treat...was called fresh bread.

My mother did most of the grocery shopping once a month. Bread went into the freezer when it was brought home. Later when it was served it was dry and rough...I think now it was freezer burn. Whatever it was, the result was not the same as fresh bread.

Unfortunately for my waistline, I now like all breads...standard 'Wonder Bread' loaves, specialty breads from the bakery or off the grocer's rack, and home baked. I'm a firm believer that, for the best eating, bread shouldn't be frozen. I also think that bread should not be kept in the refrigerator...something else I learned when I left home.

I read once that toast became popular because it made stale bread more palatable.

FB

[damush]

de-frosted bread definitely sucks...i also grew up w/a mother who would 'buy it on sale' and load the freezer up.must have something to do w/ freezer burn.

[Penne]

I freeze my bread, and I can't say I notice the difference. Then again, I mostly toast it or make grilled cheese sandwiches. I'd rather have stale bread than moldy bread.

[hadacol]

To a purist, it is only bread when it is fresh from the oven.

The texture of fresh bread comes from the involved combination of starches, proteins and moisture that make it up. When bread is frozen, the moisture departs the pattern and forms crystals. When it is thawed, the essentially dry bread reconstitutes itself (sort of) as the crystals melt and the water is reabsorbed. The damage to the structure at a microscopic level means the bread will never be the same again, nor will it last as long. My impression from personal experience is that the moisture in thawed bread is not as tightly held - if you thaw bread by steaming it, it will be reasonably OK when hot, but will dry almost immediately when it cools.

All the above is a matter of taste - the texture of the bread does not make it "bad," just unpalatable.

The good news is, whatever insects were in the bread were killed when you froze it (this work on sweaters/yarn/moths too). The bad news is, microorganisms including mold spores usually survive freezing, and the mechanical changes certainly do not make the bread any more resistant to them. And soggy spots formed as discrete ice crystals melt make mold very happy.

So - freeze bread, thaw it effectively, and use it right away - you will probably be OK with the result. Freeze bread, thaw it, and try it a week later and you will probably not be happy with it.