As tasty and as healthy as sourdough bread is, there is just one problem with it. It takes a lot of time to make it, and not everybody has that kind of time at their disposal. Luckily there is one simple thing that you can do, and that is to freeze it, but simply taking your loaf of bread and putting it in the freezer won’t do, as it will lose its taste and texture.
Here are 7 simple steps that you need to follow in order to freeze your sourdough bread without losing taste or texture:
- Let the loaf cool
- Slice up your bread
- Lay the slices on a tray
- Place the tray in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes
- Take out the slices and place them in a plastic bag
- Remove air from the bag
- Store in the freezer
Now let’s go over each step in a little more detail and see how and why this method will keep the taste and texture of the sourdough bread intact, and at the end, I will also cover how to defrost the bread.
1. Let the Loaf Cool
The first thing that you want to do is to let the loaf cool off completely. If you were to use a loaf that is still hot or warm, it would produce a lot of humidity in the freezer, and in the end, you will only be left with a soggy slice of bread.
You can slice the bread to help it cool faster, but make sure that you let the bread rest for at least 2 hours after you’ve taken it out of the oven, as the bread is still cooking on the inside.
2. Slice up Your Bread
As trivial as it might sound this is an important step that you shouldn’t skip. If you want to freeze the whole loaf you will definitely fail.
It’s impossible to flash freeze big chunks of food at home. The big frozen things that you see at the supermarket are usually frozen using liquid nitrogen(−320.8 °F).
If you were to simply put the loaf in the freezer it will freeze, but it will lose its entire flavor and texture. And refreezing sourdough bread is a bad idea.
So make sure that you slice up your bread, and try to do it as evenly as you can.
3. Lay the Slices on a Tray
The reason why you want to first lay them on a tray, instead of simply putting them in a bag and being done with it, is because we want to obtain an even temperature distribution. If the slices were one over the other they wouldn’t be able to freeze correctly. And they would be stuck together.
I would recommend you try to make sure that the slices are not touching each other, so they don’t freeze that way.
Depending on how much bread you want to freeze you might have to do this quite a few times, and while it can be a little time-consuming, it takes way less time than baking a new loaf every time.
4. Place the Tray in the Freezer for 15 to 20 Minutes
From personal experience, I’ve noticed that the fuller my refrigerator is, the more time the sourdough bread needs to spend inside. So if your refrigerator is relatively empty 15, maybe even 10 minutes might be enough. But if it’s full you might need to let it stay for 20 minutes.
During this step we don’t want to completely freeze the slices, we just want to make sure that the exterior is frozen enough, so they won’t stick together when we place them in the bag.
You can check if the slices are frozen enough by gently pressing on them, they should have a slightly hard exterior, but still, maintain some bounciness.
5. Take Out the Slices and Place Them in a Plastic Bag
For this step, you want to move as fast as possible so make sure that you have a resealable plastic bag near you.
After you place the slices in the bag you should try to remove as much air as possible, this will make your bread keep its flavor and texture intact. So let me share with you my two favorite methods of removing air from a plastic bag.
6. Remove the Air From the Bag
The dipping method is very simple and efficient, you simply take your bag filled with bread and partially submerge it into a large bowl filled with water. The pressure from the water will make the air get out of the bag, leaving you with a nice air-free bag.
The problem with this method is that you have to be very careful not to dip the bag too much and get water into the bag and that sometimes you might have to shake the bag a little to get all the air out.
Here is a video showing how to use this method:
The straw method is even simpler than the last one, you simply have to partially place the straw in the bag, close the bag until you hit the straw, then use the straw to suck out the air from the bag, when you remove the air quickly close the bag.
The disadvantages of this method are that you will never be fast enough to close the bag without letting any air back into the bag again and that it can leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth.
Both methods have advantages and disadvantages so it’s up to you which one you choose, or you clouds simply try to squeeze out as much air as you can with your hand, as I said it’s up to you. But if you find a method that is simpler than the ones that I mentioned please make sure to share it with me as well.
7. Store in the Freezer
For the last step, you simply have to store it in the freezer, nothing more nothing less.
Defrosting the Sourdough Bread
My favorite way of defrosting sourdough bread is to put it in the toaster for just a couple of minutes. This way the bread will be warm as if it had just been taken out of the oven.
Or if you want you can leave it in the toaster for a few more minutes and toast it.
You could also just leave your bread on the countertop for 10 minutes to slowly defrost, both methods work just as well.
Can You Refreeze Sourdough Bread?
Unfortunately no, you cannot refreeze sourdough.
Technically you can put it back in the freezer again after it was defrosted but it will lose most of its health benefits, as well as its taste and texture.
If you would like to know more about what benefits sourdough bread has you can always check out my article: Does Sourdough Contain Probiotics? (+ What They Do)
This is the reason I Insisted on slicing the bread before, if you want to keep its taste, texture, and healthy properties you shouldn’t refreeze it.
How Long Can I Store Frozen Sourdough Bread?
On average sourdough bread can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.
The amount of time any kind of food can spend in the freezer depends on how well it’s sealed. This is why most frozen products at the supermarket are so tightly packaged.
So if you manage to completely suck out the air from the bag containing the bread you could store it for up to a year or more. But based on what most people can do at home without any special equipment, 3 months is the average.
How Much Taste and Texture Does Frozen Sourdough Bread Retain?
Throughout the article, I’ve told you that this is the best method to store sourdough bread that you will ever find. And this is completely true. But how much taste will the bread actually retain?
Let me put it like this: If I were to give you a slice of sourdough bread that I baked yesterday, and one that I’ve kept in the refrigerator for two months, that had just been defrosted, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
So I say that this method is pretty impressive.
Final Thoughts
I really love sourdough, but unfortunately, I don’t always have the time to make it. So when I do have time I usually make three or four loaves of bread (I have quite a big family so it’s not as much as it seems) and use the method I just described to you to store it in the fridge.
I hope this method of freezing sourdough bread will help you out just as much as it helped me.
In the end here is a quick recap of the 7 steps:
- Let the loaf cool
- Slice up your bread
- Lay the slices on a tray
- Place the tray in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes
- Take out the slices and place them in a plastic bag
- Remove air from the bag
- Store in the freezer