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How to Freeze Bread Dough?

When making bread dough for freezing, make sure to mix the bread according to the recipe’s instructions but add twice as much yeast. This is to compensate for the yeast that will die off in the freezing process. Additionally, you want to ensure that you use only active dry yeast—not fast-acting yeast.

You don't need any special supplies to freeze bread dough. Simply gather the dough, the pans you'll bake it in, and some plastic wrap.

After making the bread dough, follow these six steps to freeze it:

Let the bread go through its first rise, as most yeast bread goes through two rises. Allow the bread to rise in a greased bowl as per recipe instructions.

After the first rise, punch down the dough and knead. Then, shape the bread dough into a loaf or loaves.

Place the loaf (or loaves) in a bread pan lined with greased plastic wrap to prevent sticking. This also allows the dough loaves to hold their shape when frozen.

Place the bread pans in the freezer and let the dough freeze for about 10 hours.

Remove the frozen bread dough from the pans. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a resealable plastic freezer bag.

Date the bag(s) of dough and place it in the freezer immediately. Your dough can be frozen for up to four weeks.

Using a Gas Oven for Baking

What’s the Best Oven for Baking?

What’s the best oven for baking? We outline all the pros and cons for gas, electric & convection ovens for baking - learn which one is best for you.

Using a Gas Oven for Baking

Pros:

- Unlike electric ovens, the heat on a gas oven is instant, so it heats very quickly.

- If your home is already equipped with a gas line, a gas oven will be more cost-effective than an electric oven.

Cons:

- The oven doesn’t heat as evenly, as the temperature can fluctuate widely.

- Most gas ovens have “hot spots,” affecting how evenly food is cooked.

- The inside of a gas oven tends to be more humid than other oven types, leading to issues with browning and crisping of food.

Baking Tips:

- Because of their notorious hot spots, it’s imperative that you rotate your cooking trays during cooking.

- To make your oven heat more evenly, place a pizza stone on the floor or lowest rack of your oven. Don’t cook directly on the stone, though (it’s just there to even out the heat).

- Since it’s more humid in a gas oven, consider cooking items that you want more browned on the top rack or turning up the oven temperature by 25 degrees to get more crunch and crisp on the food.

- Avoid cooking in dark metal bakeware, as this can cause your foods to burn at the bottom.

Using an Electric Oven for Baking

Pros:

- Because the electric coils heat and cool slowly, the radiant heat that is produced is fairly steady and even, with fewer spikes and drops in the temperature.

- The inside of an electric oven remains dry, which helps food crisp up and turn golden brown.

- When the coils are completely on, it’s a less intense heat, so you don’t have to worry as much about the undersides of your food burning.

- Electric ovens cost considerably less than gas ovens.

Cons:

- Unlike gas heat, the electric coils take a little while to heat up to the full temperature.

- Your food can easily over-brown in an electric oven.

Baking Tips:

- Since the coils needs to take some time to warm up, consider preheating longer than you may think is necessary, to ensure an optimal temperature.

- To avoid over-browning the food, loosely “tent” some aluminum foil over the top of the dish if you notice the edges or tips starting to brown long before the rest of the dish is done.

- An electric oven’s “sweet spot” is in the middle. For the most consistently cooked food, place the trays on the middle rack.

What is a Convection Oven?

A convection oven (or fan-assisted oven) is a type of oven that uses fans to circulate hot air and cook food more quickly than a traditional oven. Instead of relying on radiated heat from heating elements, a convection oven spreads the hot air so that it envelopes food and cooks it from all sides. Keep reading to learn about the features of convection ovens and which type is best for your commercial kitchen. Be sure to check out our commercial convection oven reviews as well!

The Benefits of Electric Ovens for Baking

Electric ovens generally work by passing electric currents through metal heating elements that are placed on the inside walls of the oven.

As the metal heats up, it releases energy in a form of radiant heat, which then cooks the food inside. The amount of radiant heat in an oven can be controlled by turning up or down its thermostat.

The following are the benefits of using electric ovens for baking:

Electric ovens are great for preparing dishes that require even and consistent heat with very little to no moisture. These include cakes, cookies, biscuits, and the like.

Electric ovens do not produce any smoke or odors whatsoever. In comparison to gas ovens, electric ovens eliminate problems like getting smoke in your eyes or having your clothes smell like gas fumes after baking.

They also don’t pose any risk to your health like a gas stove does because there’s no open flame burning at high temperatures just inches away from you.

While a lot of people like electric ovens because they are safe since there is no open flame, but you should be careful with them, too, since they may get too hot and start a fire if not handled properly.

Given that Gas ovens work with an open flame, they are more susceptible to uneven heating which means that you will constantly have to move and turn what you’re baking so that all sides and parts are cooked well.

Electric ovens do not require any venting and tank installation so they are cheaper to set up and get started in the short term.