I”m going to try something new this week with my breads at the coop. As mentioned last week, I’ve stopped doing the Monday night bakes because the sales at coop just don’t justify it. (I also need the time to work on opening my bakery — one of these weeks I’ll have to give you an update.) So here’s what I am going to try this week. I am going to bake enough tonight to supply the coop all week. I’ll drop off some of them Saturday morning, but the rest I will seal into plastic bags and freeze. Then I thaw and resupply the Coop as necessary.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both paper and plastic storage bags. The crust stays nicer in paper, but the bread stales quickly. You can freeze bread in a plastic bag and it will be just as good when you thaw it, but the crust doesn’t keep it’s crispness. (Drying the crust in an oven at 250F for 10 minutes solves this problem.)
There it is — out in the open. Freezing will be part of the process for some breads at the Coop. My goal is to have the best quality breads possible on the shelf at the Coop every day. This is the best I can do until I am baking daily out of my own bakery space.
Now — onto this weeks bake. This week I will be baking Pain Poilane and I will be sending a few loaves to the Coop for the first time. The Coop will also get its usual batch of baguettes, Seed and Walnut raisin. Oh yes, and the Oatmeal cookies. I’m doubling the quantity this week. The last few weeks they have sold out in 2 days!
I will have the above items plus rye bread at the Masonic Square.
I hope everyone has a great weekend GO PACK!
Peter