There is not always a desire to knead the dough yourself, and sometimes there is just not enough time for it. In this case, you can use the finished frozen. Before baking it needs to be defrosted, and sometimes it is required to do it quickly. For quick defrosting there are special tricks and rules; if you don’t know them, the dough will not only not rise, but will also lose its taste. In other words, baking will be hopelessly spoiled.
Dough defrosting methods
It is easiest and most reliable to give the dough time to thaw out independently on the lower shelf of the refrigerator. But, alas, it will take about 10-12 hours. So what to do if the time to defrost the dough is much less?
Method number 1
Thanks to this method, the dough will melt much faster than when using the refrigerator compartment - it will take 2-5 hours. The time of the procedure depends on the type of test, and on its weight.
- Remove the dough from its packaging, place it on a flat dish or on a cutting board, and cover with a towel.
- Leave to thaw in natural conditions, not forgetting to turn it every hour so that the defrosting process proceeds evenly. If the semi-finished product is twisted into a roll, after 2 hours it will be possible to expand it.
Method number 2
The following method of quick defrosting of the dough is relevant during the heating season, as a hot battery is required. So the dough can be defrosted within an hour.
- Without opening the packaging, place the product on a stand and place a heating radiator. It is strongly recommended not to neglect the stand.
- Periodically turn the dough from one side to the other.
Method # 3
The dough is quickly thawed by means of a microwave - no more than 20 minutes. This method is best used only when absolutely necessary, since it may not in the best way affect the properties of the product, besides, you can not overlook it, and the dough will begin to locally become covered with a crust.
- Before defrosting in a microwave, hold the dough on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for about 45 minutes. In this case, further defrosting in the microwave will occur without loss of quality.
- At the end of the preparation, remove the product from the package, put it in a special microwave glass container and cover it with a lid so that a small crack remains.
- Activate the “Defrost” mode. If not, set the power to 90-100 watts. Set the timer for 10-15 minutes. Every half a minute, pause the microwave to turn the dough. This must be done to prevent overheating of the dough.
- If this time was not enough, defrost the dough longer, remembering to constantly turn it.
Method # 4
In just a couple of minutes, the dough is defrosted using an oven. However, it is very easy to dry out the semi-finished product, which will make it unsuitable for baking.
- Preheat oven for 10 minutes in 70-degree mode.
- Remove the dough from the dough and place it on a baking tray that is pre-covered with a double layer of parchment and sprinkled with flour.
- Send the product to the oven, on the middle shelf, for a couple of minutes. If you are afraid to spoil the dough with high temperatures, you can turn off the oven after it is placed in the semi-finished product. Due to this, the dough will defrost longer, but it reduces the likelihood of drying.
Method # 5
For the latter method of quick defrosting dough, warm water is needed. Thawing of the dough then occurs within 2 hours.
- Wrap the dough in several plastic bags. It is important to protect it from moisture, otherwise it will deteriorate.
- Next, immerse the semi-finished product in a container with warm water. In order to quickly defrost the product, it is necessary to change the cooled water to warm every 5-10 minutes.
The listed defrost options are the most effective, but not all of them fit any kind of test. Indeed, in each test different components, some of them do not tolerate a sharp temperature drop. Yeast and puff pastry are especially capricious in this regard.
Thawing puff pastry
In order not to spoil the puff pastry, follow these guidelines:
- It is best to defrost it in natural conditions, that is, at room temperature. After 3-4 hours it will be ready for further use.
- Never use the oven and microwave when thawing puff pastry. Such a dough can be quickly defrosted only by placing it on a heating device or in a bowl with water. Water must be at room temperature, otherwise the product will lose its structure.
Thawing yeast dough
To preserve the qualities of yeast dough when defrosting you need to consider these rules:
- If the semi-finished product is defrosted in water, it should be ensured that the water always remains warm.
- Use of the microwave oven is excluded.
- It is allowed to defrost the dough on a dish located near the hob.
- If the yeast cake is thawed in the oven, remove it immediately as it rises.
The quality and taste of the pastry depends on how well the dough is thawed. It is better to take care of slow defrosting of the dough in advance and to resort to express defrosting only in extreme cases.
