Effect of prebaking and frozen storage on the sensory quality and instrumental texture of bread

The effect of part-baking, freezing, frozen storage, thawing and rebaking on the quality of bread has been investigated. Quality evaluation of the stored bread was done using sensory analysis, instrumental texture profile analysis (TPA) and cutting tests of the crumb and crust. It was found that frozen bread with 71% fraction of baking time showed high stability of sensory features and rheological parameters during the entire storage period (11 weeks) and, after thawing and rebaking, had superior quality in comparison with its frozen and thawed full-baked (100%) counterpart. Second-order regression showed that the optimal time for the initial prebaking lies within the wide range from 74 to 86% of the time needed for the full-baking of unfrozen bread. It is therefore a good method for preventing the staling process and obtaining a product of a quality close to that of fresh, not frozen bread. It has also been shown that a fraction of baking time equal to 43% was too small to ensure desirable sensory and textural features of bread after its frozen storage and rebaking. (C) 2002 Society of Chemical Industry.