Frozen Calzone?!

[Sandy]

Hi all, first time poster so any help will be much appreciated!

I'm catering for 8-10 and thought a good idea could be to make a few calzones for the crowd. Some meaty some vegy and we can slice up and share.

I was wondering if it's possible to create the calzones then freeze them before baking a day or 2 later. Will this have a negative impact on the cooked end result or should it in theory work out? I suppose an alternative could be to pre-bake, freeze, then re-heat on the day too, any ideas if either of these would work or be disastrous!? And if so how much cooking times will increase by - Although this is clearly dependent on the size of said calzones...

Any advice welcome!
xx

 

[rz3300]

I am not sure I have ever thought of freezing a calzone that was already made, but I do not see why not. It is the same as everything else that you make and then freeze. I would say just try it out yourself and see if it works, and then decide if it is something you can do for the crowd, just to avoid any embarrassment than their might be if it does not work out. Best of luck.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

I've never tried it myself, but I'd be worried about the freezing/thawing process turning the dough soggy... What is the reason behind wanting to freeze them - will you be running short of time on the day? If that's the case then a one-pot slow-cooked dish might be a good idea - leaves you free to do other things while it's cooking

 

[Zyni]

You can try baking them partially, cooling, wrapping tightly, and freezing them individually. Pop them in the (preheated) oven, straight from the freezer, and line the pan with parchment paper. Do not cover or bake in foil (they will come out "steamed" and be soft or soggy). Bake at 400 F until golden brown. This is the consensus I got from checking around, when I made some stuffed sandwiches, similar to calzones.

You could also make the dough and the filling a couple days ahead of time and toss in the fridge. Just put them together and bake them on the day of the event. That would still give you a bit of a head start, knocking out a couple of steps in advance.

You might want to test some out ahead of time, as noted by rz.

 

[Sandy]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.
Yes I will be short of time on the day Becky, as I won't finish work until 5:30pm (though fortunately I live only a 10 minute walk away). But it has to be a baked good (GBBO Competition you see) so a one-pot dish wouldn't really cut it!

I think I'll try the options you've suggested Zyni and see which works best. It's not for a number of weeks so I have plenty of time to experiment, I just wasn't sure if there was a tried and tested method. I'll report back!

Martha Stewart seems to think freezing them 'raw' is the way to go so maybe every method works to some degree, just down to personal preference:
http://www.marthastewart.com/313608/broccoli-calzones

Thanks again everyone

 

[Becky]

GBBO competition sounds awesome, you'll have to let us know how you get on!

 

[Zyni]

A contest sounds like fun. Keep us posted.

Well, I've got nothing on Martha, so that might be the best way. I just figured they would get soggy that way. I suppose if you do them individually and then put them in a larger container later that could work. Do you thaw them first then? Thawing is what had me most worried about sogginess...