Quality factors: Frozen, refrigerated dough rheology

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Quality factors: Frozen, refrigerated dough rheology

15 Sep 2025

Maddie Lambert

Maddie Lambert is a copywriter and editor from Joplin, MO. She graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English – literary studies. When she’s not poring over the magazine or lost in the pages of a new novel, you can find Maddie exploring her local bookstores, spending time with her husband, or sharing her latest literary discoveries with fellow book enthusiasts.

LAS VEGAS — Industrial, mid-size and in-store bakeries are no strangers to adapting to consumer demands. When exercising this evolution, efficiency is key. To make this process easier for end users, these bakeries have adapted by developing products made from frozen raw dough, frozen partially proofed dough or an expedited process that utilizes retarded dough directly in the oven.

All of these options contribute to more diversity in product portfolios, but it’s also imperative to understand the intricacies behind the rigorous process and how freezing or refrigeration conditions impact dough rheology, yeast activity, final product quality and shelf life. The formulation behind the bake is crucial for consistency, and ultimately, the quality of the end product.

Lesaffre’s Gideon Butler-Smith, technical services manager, and Sherrill Cropper, new product development lab manager, explored the four factors found in the company’s conducted study that aid in frozen and refrigerated dough performance in their IBIEducate session at IBIE 2025, held in Las Vegas on Sept. 13-17.

The first factor? Yeast type, which includes the key characteristics that impact shelf life and volume. Second, ingredients that help improve mixing and maintain ideal final dough temperatures.

“Block and frozen dough yeast gave frozen dough balls the most consistent fermentation activity over time,” Cropper said.

Third, improving and retaining volume following frozen storage, and the fourth and final factor, extending the shelf life of the baked product after freezing.

The ingredient company’s study found that block yeast and crumbled dough yeast have slightly higher activity, passing 14 weeks in the freezer, as compared to other yeast types.

“The rhinograph indicated that all yeast had reduced activity over that shelf life,” Butler-Smith said. “Block and crumbled frozen dough yeast became more active throughout that shelf life. We saw that same impact on the volumes with the crumbled frozen dough yeast and the block yeast having set the better volumes over that shelf life.”

By selecting the right type of ingredients — and controlling processing conditions — bakers can improve the freezing and refrigeration tolerance of the dough to help ensure a more consistent final product for the consumer.

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