One of the major perks of purchasing Trader Joe’s half-baked bread is that you get all the benefits of having freshly baked bread, but none of the rigmarole of actually making the dough and proving it. But, what if you see Trader Joe’s half-baked bread at a discount? Can you freeze it?
Yes. You can freeze Trader Joe’s half-baked bread. You will need to let it defrost once you pull it out of the freezer (and you shouldn’t refreeze after that), but there should be no issues freezing it for long periods of time.
Let’s answer some of the other questions people often have about this.
Can You Freeze Half-Baked Bread/Rolls?
You can freeze half-baked bread and rolls. When you are ready to cook the half-baked bread and rolls, you can pull it out of the freezer and let it defrost.
While you could, potentially, cook from frozen it generally isn’t recommended. This is because you would have to adjust the cooking times. Baking is an incredibly specific process, and it isn’t really something that you want to get ‘wrong’.
How Long is Half-Baked Bread Good For In The Freezer?
In theory, you could keep bread in the freezer for as long as you want. However, it is recommended that it is not left in the freezer for more than 3-6 months.
When half-baked bread is frozen, all bacteria growth is stopped. Nothing can make that bread moldy. In theory, if the bread was kept frozen for years, it would still be edible.
So, why do you need to eat it within 3-6 months? Well, because the longer you leave the bread in the freezer, the worse the taste will become.
Once you get to that 3-6 month mark, your bread has pretty much hit that taste cap and it is going to be downhill from there.
Don’t get us wrong, if you have left the bread in the freezer and forgotten about it, you can still eat it. It isn’t going to make you sick or kill you.
It just isn’t going to taste pleasant, and bread is not wildly expensive (or tough to make) so you don’t really need to put yourself through that displeasure.
How Do You Defrost Half-Baked Bread/Rolls?
There are a couple of ways that you can do this. You can defrost them in the fridge, leave them on the kitchen countertop, or even leave them in the microwave. There are a few pros and cons to each.
Most people will defrost them in the fridge. The process is a little bit slower since the fridge is cold. It may take 2-3 days for them to defrost. However, they are going to taste much, much better.
Putting on the kitchen countertop is fine. If you keep the half-baked bread or rolls separate, then they may defrost in just a few hours.
Rolls will be much quicker than bread because they are smaller. However, defrosting bread will attract insects, so you may want to keep an eye on it.
You can use the microwave too. This may impact the taste but you can probably get that half-baked bread or rolls defrosted in just a few minutes. The process is a bit more involved, though:
- Place the rolls or bread in a microwavable bowl.
- Grab some kitchen paper and wet it.
- Squeeze the kitchen paper to get most of the water out. It should be damp.
- Cover the rolls and bread with this paper.
- Microwave for one minute.
- Check whether the rolls or bread have defrosted.
- Keep repeating for one minute (microwave then check) until the rolls or bread have defrosted.
You do not need to use the defrost function on your microwave. You can standard microwave the rolls.
It is important that you remove them from the microwave as soon as they have defrosted. You do not want to trigger the cooking process in the rolls.
How Long Do You Cook Trader Joe’s Half-Baked Bread?
This will be dependent on the half-baked bread that you have. Most of them should cook in under 10 minutes.
You should look at the instructions that came with your half-baked bread. This should give cooking guidelines. In almost all cases, it should be somewhere between 8 and 10 minutes. You will be expected to cook at roughly 400F although, once again, it will be dependent on the rolls or bread that you have purchased.
Once the rolls or bread have cooked (they will be lightly golden brown), quickly remove them from the oven and put them on a cooling rack. Give them 5-10 minutes to cool down.
If you cut into them too quickly, then you will be enjoying searing pain from the steam that is going to hit you. It isn’t pleasant in the slightest! Thankfully, even after 5-10 minutes of cooling, they should still be fairly warm so you have that freshly baked bread feel.
How Long Do You Cook Frozen Part-Baked Bread?
It is not recommended that you cook frozen part-baked bread. This is because it can be tough to get the timing right.
If you are going to freeze frozen part-baked bread, then it is recommended that you defrost it first. You can do this in the microwave if you are in a hurry.
The problem with cooking frozen part-baked bread (that was never designed to be frozen) is that the temperature and timing guidelines are based on that bread being fresh.
It is impossible to know the right time to use, and we are sure that you do not want to be dealing with the trial and error of it all.
If you cook frozen part-baked bread, then chances are the outside will be golden brown, but the inside will be watery or still frozen.
Final Thoughts
You can freeze Trader Joe’s half-baked bread, but it is important that you defrost it completely before you cook it. If you don’t, it may not cook properly. You can store the bread in the freezer for up to 6 months.
