Posted by Gerard on May 29, 1997 at 15:02:50:
In Reply to: Re: Refrigerating Bread & Cakes posted by Fred on May 29, 1997 at 03:33:24:
: :Gerard wrote:
: :The other trick is refrigerate the loaf if possible, this firms :up the mie (crumb) and makes it more manageable, a fresh warm :loaf will wobble or flatten under pressure from the blade and :being held. At the least cool the loaf in front of a fan til its :stone cold.
: Sir,
: I read somewhere, think it was in a book by General Mills, to never refrigerate cakes uniced or bread, period. Not even subject it to a strong current of air, because it will cause moisture loss and subsequent staling. Maybe they are morons and don't know what they are talking about, since they also recommend the use of dough thermometers etc. to control fermentation.
: I learn so much from your postings, please don't ever stop dishing out your wisdom.It just shows me that I can't trust the establishment at all.
: Thank you so much. You are a wonderful pro.
: Peace,
: Fred Doyle, CPC
: P.S.: Does the pain (like in Pain De Mie=Crummy Loaf) has anything to do with the pain I get when my bread gets stale!?
Oh yeh well...
I thought au bon pain was owned by the marquis de sade (oh good pain), silly me...was Joan of Arc married to Noah ? maybe.
Noah couldn't catch fish because he only had 2 worms. (groan)........anyhoo..
You ever talk to the people at the mills ?, they aren't knowledgeable beyond what they have been taught. Its common knowledge that refrigerating bread will cause it to dehydrate worse than freezing it or kept at room temps, thats a fact.
But if you are trying to slice a loaf it makes sense that you aren't planning to store it away but are trying to USE it so it'll be long gone before chilling it does any damage.
If you're trying to slice it for retail then the only way out is get a commercial slicer. It seems theres a lot of accepted dogma that needs to be reviewed and updated. I worked at a small petite fours pastry operation in Rhode Island some yrs ago, the owner had inherited it from his recently deceased dad, every time I looked in the cooler he'd come to me sqwawking about not holding the refrigerator door open, turns out this was what his dad always did to him so he figgered it made sense. It never occured to him that his dad was taught in a time when there was no elec ref' and depended on ice blocks ( ice box).
I see these sorts of things all the time, especially in this type of media, the temptation to sound like an expert seems to perpetuate the misconceptions.
Anyway, refrigerate bread for 2-3 days? nah, it gets tough but chilling it down so you can slice it won't do too great harm.