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How Much Challah Should I Bake?

Question: Is it preferable to bake challah every week for Shabbos even if it’s less than the shiur (minimum requirement) for taking challah, or to bake a large batch every few weeks in order to be able to be mafrish challah (separate challah) with a brachah?  

Answer: Jewish women have the custom of baking challah on erev Shabbos instead of buying it from the store. There are a number of reasons for this custom: 

1) In the olden times there were not many Jewish bakeries, and people ate pas paltar (bread baked by a professional non-Jewish baker), which is permissible according to the strict halachah; but for Shabbos they wished to be mehader (be stringent), and to eat bread baked by a Jew. 

2) Jewish women want to honor Shabbos by baking challah themselves instead of buying it.

3) They want to separate challah on erev Shabbos, since that is the opportune time for fulfilling the mitzvah of hafrashas challah. 

Since freezers are readily available these days, a question has arisen among contemporary poskim: If someone does not need enough challah each week for a shiur challah, is it preferable to bake a large batch every few weeks, and to take challah with a brachah, and put the rest in the freezer, or is it better to bake a small batch of fresh challah every week? There are differing opinions among contemporary poskim. The following is an acceptable approach: If the frozen challah (or the challah baked using frozen dough) tastes as good, or almost as good, to the person as freshly baked challah, then it‘s preferable to bake a large batch every few weeks in order to be able to separate challah with a brachah. However, if the person finds that freezing the challah compromises its taste, then it’s preferable for them to bake fresh challah every week. #430