Reasonable to store loaves and pound cake in garage during winter? (25-35 F max?)

Question

I receive a large package of baked goods from family every Christmas. I do NOT have enough freezer space to keep them frozen until we get to them. They usually arrive about 10 days prior to when we'll eat them (family gathering). We get whole loaves of rye bread, buns with bacon cooked inside and a Šakotis (Lithuanian cake).

Is it reasonable to wrap them as air tight as we can and store any/all in the garage? The garage temperature might be as high as 35F (but often much colder as temperatures drop into the tens).

Is this a ridiculous idea?

Answer 1

There will be no problem from a food safety perspective, as long as your garage stays within refrigerator temperatures, or within freezer temperatures. However, if you fluctuate between freezing and thawing, the quality of your baked goods will degrade rapidly.

Answer 2

It depends, if you can keep those foods normally in your fridge for 10 days then they should be fine also in your garage (considering it is even colder than a normal fridge), but other things are to be considered to keep the desired qualities of the food:

bread will be probably better inside the house, wrapped in a cotton or linen kitchen towel (cleaned without bleach or strongly perfumed detergents, and without softeners) and then in plastic, because if it freezes and thaws that's not good for its texture.

I do not know Šakotis cake, but from photos on google it seems quite sugary and crisp, so the main problem I guess it is to prevent sogginess; you should prevent humidity. If the cake is store bought and packaged in plastic it will be fine, if homemade you can wrap it well in paper.

for the buns (I guess they should be soft) I would wrap them well in plastic (to prevent them drying out) and store them in the garage.