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I've been thinking about starting a boutique mail order dinner roll business.

Dough While I'd really like to ship dough and allow customers to bake (per roll) at their leisure, I'm beginning to think that is a far-fetched goal. Dry ice? It just seems risky. However, I have purchased live lobster by mail order before without trouble. Maybe it would work? They would probably have to be some expensive rolls to make that a profitable endeavor.

Baked That has lead me to think about ways to safely ship cooked rolls. I have lots of experience packing and shipping boxes, but not boxes of food. Would any special precautions need to be taken to protect rolls during transit apart from careful (food grade) wrapping?

Some Googling has lead me to the idea of par-baking, but I feel like that would negatively effect the quality of the food.

Does anyone have experience in this area, or can you point me towards any relevant resources on this topic?

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    I hadn't considered par-baking before for rolls, but that seems to be how some of the big kids on the block solve this riddle.
    – Preston
    Mar 6, 2013 at 17:23
  • Welcome to the site! If you have information you want to add to a question, the best thing to do is just to edit it in. If you think you have a complete answer to your question, you can also answer it yourself.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Mar 6, 2013 at 20:09
  • Okay. Thanks for the tip @Jefromi. I'll add it in to the original question.
    – Preston
    Mar 6, 2013 at 20:36
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    I have ordered fully baked bread from a bakery in France before and bread was shipped in plain boxes without any special packing or preservatives.
    – Rob
    Mar 7, 2013 at 13:25
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    Dough can be frozen and then shipped. Beef House in Indiana has done this but I don't know what exactly goes into their leavening.
    – grumpasaurus
    Mar 7, 2013 at 14:23

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I think you will get the 'best result' out of 'par baking' your rolls. I have done this myself, though not for shipping. It is simply easier to make a large batch and then store them for use as needed. IMHO rolls are best served hot and fresh, and while re-heating fully baked rolls can recapture some of the glory that is fresh baked bread, allowing your customers to finish bake a partially baked product will give them the convenience of truly fresh rolls on demand. The technique (and recipe, for my part) I picked up from Alton Brown, in the episode of Good Eats: Roll Call. Alton's recipe for Parker House Rolls includes a par baking option:

For Brown and Serve option:

Assemble rolls as above, but bake as follows.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Bake until the outside of the rolls just begin to set but have not browned and the internal temperature is 185 degrees, about 30 minutes. Remove and cool on the pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the rolls from the pan and place on a cooling rack until they are room temperature, 30 to 40 minutes. Place the rolls in bags and freeze for up to 3 months.

To Finish:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Thaw the rolls for 60 to 90 minutes.

Spray a sheet pan with nonstick spray. Place the rolls on the prepared sheet pan and bake until the rolls reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. Rotate the pan halfway through baking, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pan to a cooling rack and cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

The key 'take-aways' that you will want to apply are:

  • Bake to internal temp of 185°F
  • Cool to Room Temp
  • Freeze for up to 3 months
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  • Oh snap. I'm pretty sure I have the Good Eats cookbook that includes those episodes. Silly me. Thanks for that. I totally agree re:"hot and fresh glory".
    – Preston
    Mar 12, 2013 at 22:02

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