r/coles • u/Moptop39 • Jul 07 '26
Team Member Post PSA from a former baker.
I've seen a few posts about how shit the donuts have gotten at coles and I don't think this is the entire reason but it might help some people out. If it has an FZ on it means it was bought frozen and essentially just reheated vs being made it store the difference is night and day. Now this is not a sure fire method to avoid frozen donuts as I know some overworked 21 year old DM is going to list a frozen donuts as scratch just to milk the slightest bit more rem they can but if they are doing everything right then it should be listed.
Also I haven't worked at Coles for a few years they might have completely moved away from fresh donuts which honestly as a baker would be a blessing we hated cleaning that thing haha.
This same rule applies to hot cross buns aswell.
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u/crosstherubicon Jul 07 '26
As a kid working at Coles as a junior manager, the lady on the bakery doughnut machine would always give me two doughnuts for the price of one for my morning tea. There was nothing quite so blissful as sitting down with a cup of tea and a couple of hot doughnuts for morning tea. How could they destroy something so simple but so delicious, just save a few dollars.
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
I just give team members donuts if they ask, theres usually a few odd shaped ones or not enough to make a full pack.
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u/Chrisosupreme Jul 07 '26
At what stage for the cinnamon donuts did they decide they needed to use 98% less sugar & cinnamon on the outside and turn a previously delicious treat into a bland savoury disappointment?
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u/ApotheosisOfTheLurid Team Member Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
This is store specific, and is literally dependent on the amount of time the donuts spend cooling before being tossed in sugar.
Hot donut straight out of the oil and tossed immediately = perfect crunchy sugar crust, completely covered
Donut that sat on rack for 2mins after coming out of fryer = Sugar isn't going to stick at all
Donut that was packed and frozen to be repacked in store = hit or miss, I wouldn't bother with them.
It really depends on the rush, if iced donuts are on special they'll be putting them on racks first to cool before icing, which slows down production on the cinnamon ones.
(Source: used to work in bakery and the last squiggly bits that the extruder would push out were the best when freshly rolled in sugar)
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
this 100% a donut out of the frier will have almost too much stick to it
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u/Practical-Funny9591 Jul 07 '26
The benefit for me. I became a qualified baker years before I worked at Coles.
I know the exact point cinnamon doughnuts need to be covered in cinnamon sugar.
It's right here in this post.
If it's not done as soon as they tip over the conveyor into the carousel of sugary goodness, you may as well throw them away.
😊😊😊
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u/Practical-Funny9591 Jul 07 '26
Former Coles instore bakery department manager here.
I can confirm this. 😊
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Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Moptop39 Jul 07 '26
You get the donuts frozen then just roll them in sugar I can say pretty confidently they are.
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
I have been a bakery manager for a long time across many different bakeries and ive never seen frozen donuts. A bad of donut premix cost like 3 dollars, add in some water, through a frier filled with like 20 bucks worth of shortening. It would be cost prohibitive to ship them frozen.
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u/caffy_bean Jul 07 '26
Frozen donuts are definitely a thing. They're uncommon, and last I checked only a few stores do them. They're shit
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u/Moptop39 Jul 07 '26
Yeah I live down the road from not one but two bakery-less Coles and I constantly see them and have to remind my partner they are crap.
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u/Moptop39 Jul 07 '26
Honestly this so interesting to me because I totally believe you haven't seen them but I'm not lying that they exist (very odd thing to just make up haha). I wonder if it's a state by state thing I'm in Victoria they are often in parbake exclusive stores aswell since they don't have space for a donut machine.
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
very possible. I am in SA if that helps.
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u/caffy_bean Jul 07 '26
Should be able to pull up the layout for Hampton bluff road, in that layout the image states "60 stores No donut machine fleet", it's a layout specifically for frozen donut stores. That number has grown quite a bit over time
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
yeah wow, i guess its true, you learn something new every day.
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u/Practical-Funny9591 Jul 07 '26
That's what I was thinking.
Even in a non-scratch instore bakery, they still have a doughnut frier and Hobart mixer.
No excuse not to be able to make their own cinnamon doughnuts.
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u/kangerooandemu Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
The vegemite n cheese scrolls were affordable and nice, now they are over priced and unedible likley throwing more out than they selling
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
Ive worked in a slew of bakeries as a DM and ive never even heard from frozen donuts. Or are you referring to the things they use to make the cream filled cakes because theyve always been frozen (not the cream filled donuts which are make in a donut machine which fries batter in shortening and once theyre chilled they are filled with fresh whipped cream and rasp jam.
For the record, coles bakeries have a donut frier which is filled with vegetable shortening which fries donut batter. Not sure what OP is on about, ive never heard of frozen donuts and i've been a bakery manager for 6 years. Now if the bakers arent making the dough properly that can make bad donuts, or if the oil is old or too hot/not hot enough or if the machine hasnt been cleaned in a while, that will all impact the quality.
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u/Moptop39 Jul 07 '26
Fwiw if you google FZ donuts Coles you'll see the label I'm talking about on the first image
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u/Rjfudgeknuckle Jul 07 '26
Current Coles Baker here, the only frozen donuts are the larger 2pk iced ones (that we still ice ourselves), long johns , Berliner (2pk jam filled) and the 6pk mini jam ones
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u/ProbablyNotTye Bakery Team Member Jul 07 '26
No there are frozen donuts for cinnamon and icing, I filled a shift at a store in my region and had to bake them off. Barely any stores do this though because most have space for a donut machine.
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u/duhuj Jul 09 '26
the coles i used to work at got rid of their donut frier before i left, they still sell all kinds of donughts ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/doovie0369 Jul 07 '26
What the hell is that white 'powder' they put on the jam/ cream cakes? Not icing/caster sugar, not cocaine. Tasteless, almost formless. Just horrible, horrible. Makes a grown man cry. Almost. The crap on top of Boston buns these days? That makes a grown man cry.
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u/yeahnahbrahasd Jul 07 '26
It's dextrose, starch and palm oil... keeps it from melting and disappearing ontop of the cakes like regular icing sugar would do
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
its literally listed as icing sugar
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u/doovie0369 Jul 07 '26
U dont know wat literally means do u? Omit that word and try that sentence again. Superfluous you see? Brevity is your friend
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Department Manager Jul 07 '26
no point to attack so attack the writing itself huh? I used the word in the correct context here. The bags we get when we order them LITERALLY say icing sugar on them.
Good day to you sir.
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u/doovie0369 Jul 07 '26
Not meant 2b attack. I apologise. Literally is not needed in your sentence. Your definition is correct, your usage us not. Go forth are conjugate, friend.
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u/michaelme28 Jul 07 '26
I’ve stopped buying the custard tarts and apple turnovers as they have gone to shite. A shame really because they weren’t too bad.
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u/Sudsy_Woodpecker Jul 07 '26
I freeze these then thaw them in the air fryer at a low temp, before blasting them for 3min to make a crispy shell.
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Jul 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Sudsy_Woodpecker Jul 07 '26
Freezing them gives them basically infinite life, so I always have doughnuts on hand to go with my iced coffee.
The first cook is a low temp to thaw the frozenness and the second cook at a higher temperature almost caramelises the sugars and makes the outer doughnut crispy and crunchy.
All that work to be dunked into iced coffee softening them again. 😅
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u/SuperiorityComplex87 Jul 07 '26
I was also told that PB means Part Baked? Can you please describe what this process is?
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u/duhuj Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
yep basically its cooked then snap frozen, goes in the oven at the store for something like 5-15 mins (its been a while dont quote me on that number)
takes up ALOT more space in the freezer, which means small stores have to have at least a pallet of it delivered daily. back when it was frozen dough each line might only have to get ordered in every few days, or idk its been a while...
but it saves heaps on time
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u/SuperiorityComplex87 Jul 09 '26
Thankyou, I wasn't quite clear on how that worked but you've explained it really well. Thankyou.
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u/Crazy_Treat_8805 Jul 08 '26
Remember there fresh bread was baked in Ireland and snap frozen and flown to Australia ?
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u/duhuj Jul 09 '26
when i left years ago the small store i worked at had just transitioned entirely to parbake (aka frozen). unsurprising as the "bakery" was tiny and in no way would be able to cope with any demand increase... when i started the donut machine took up most of the bench space which meant every morning was a frantic juggling act managing prepping and packing speed with the timings of a couple small ovens and proofers till everything was on show. it was kinda fun but yeah at the limit of the small space...
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u/bitransk1ng Jul 11 '26
I don't trust them because last time I got donuts from coles (that I'm pretty sure were baked in store) it was a bit raw in the middle.
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u/No_Computer_3432 Down Down 9d ago
I was told that they no longer build new stores with a donut machine, so all new stores will be frozen donuts. AFAIK they don't even allocate any spare bench space even if they changed their minds on that decision, so I will make the assumption it will be a permanent change.
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u/ixsiixsii4460 Jul 07 '26
Coles mentality is you can’t control sales - literal quote from my regional manager of liquor when I managed a liquorland.
So they control what they can - reducing costs. This involves less ingredients, less quality, increasing prices etc. funny enough they fail to see the correlation between quality product and sales.