Freezing of baked goods and prepared foods

In different stages of the production process of ready-to-bake, ready-to-proof, and ready-to-eat foods, freezing has been employed to preserve basic consumer products, such as white bread, whole meal bread, and bread for special needs (e.g., gluten-free products). Some of these products, at the point of sale, present deficiencies in the final quality, such as hardening, premature flaking, and cracks in the crust and crumb. Such problems and possible solutions have been discussed in this chapter. Freezing technology allows ready-to-eat meals and ready-to-bake frozen goods to be available at any time of the day in their original form, which can be stored for long periods without the skill required to deliver a finished product of uniform quality to the end customer. Here, following a brief introduction on frozen bakery goods, the impact of the freezing on the constituents of different baked goods is toughly highlighted. The role of cryo-protectant additives in freezing process of baked goods is discussed in-depth, as well.