parbaking

{{short description|Cooking technique}}

{{More references|date=May 2009}}

Parbaking is a cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen for storage{{Cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204612504576611332140005652?mod=googlenews_wsj | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=The Rise of Nations | first=Steven | last=Kaplan | date=2011-11-26}} or assembled into a final product. It has been used to increase the mass manufacture and distribution of bread products, including bagels.{{cite web |title=Record-Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tSpIAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA21&dq=%22Parbaking%22&article_id=4652,1142707&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZ5uCZx4eLAxUgkYkEHfCSGmwQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=%22Parbaking%22&f=false |publisher=Record-Journal |language=en}}

When parbaking is used to bake bread, it increases the shelf life of the loaf.{{cite web |last1=Bosmans |first1=Geertrui M. |last2=Lagrain |first2=Bert |last3=Ooms |first3=Nand |last4=Fierens |first4=Ellen |last5=Delcour |first5=Jan A. |title=Storage of parbaked bread affects shelf life of fully baked end product: A 1H NMR study |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814614007626 |website=Food Chemistry |pages=149–156 |doi=10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.05.056 |date=15 December 2014}} The raw dough is baked normally, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen. Partial cooking kills the yeast in the bread mixture, and sets the internal structure of the proteins and starches (the spongy texture of the bread) so that the inside is sterile and stable, but the loaf has not generated "crust" or other externally desirable qualities that are difficult to preserve once fully cooked. A parbaked loaf of bread is less likely to go stale than a fully baked loaf. It can be transported easily and stored in containers preventing moisture loss until needed. They can also be frozen. A parbaked loaf appears as a risen loaf of bread, with much of the firmness of a finished loaf, but without a browned or golden crust (in the case of a normally light colored bread). When the final product is desired, a parbaked loaf is completed by baking at a normal temperature, which produces a normal loaf of bread.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Parbaking, also known as blind baking,{{cite book |last1=Lopez |first1=Felipa |last2=Perry |first2=Cheryl |title=For the Love of Pie: Sweet and Savory Recipes |date=2017 |publisher=Gibbs Smith |location=Newburyport |isbn=9781423647706}} is used for pastry crusts, as in pies{{cite book |last1=McDowell |first1=Erin Jeanne |last2=Weinberg |first2=Mark |isbn=9780358229285}} and quiches to prevent sogginess.{{cite web |title=A Simple, Cheesy Quiche from 'America's Test Kitchen' |url=https://www.wttw.com/playlist/2024/01/05/americas-test-kitchen-quiche |website=WTTW Chicago |language=en |date=5 January 2024}} It is also used to manipulate the taste of pizza crusts through its effect on the yeast content of the dough.

Parbaking has been criticized by Cornell University historian of bread Steven Kaplan for its impact on traditional bread baking practices.{{cite web |title=Today's News-Herald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-ZDAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA34&dq=%22Parbaking%22&article_id=1884,6712307&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZ5uCZx4eLAxUgkYkEHfCSGmwQ6AF6BAgMEAI#v=onepage&q=%22Parbaking%22&f=false |publisher=Today's News-Herald |language=en}}