Should you freeze pastry lukewarm? If so, why?
I have a book about baking in general. In the chapter 'Preserving pastry in the freezer' is the following sentence (I translated it for practical reasons):
Pastry should be frozen as fresh as possible, don't let it cool
completely and put it in the freezer lukewarm (at 35°C = 95°F).
There is no information why you shouldn't let it cool completely. It's the first time I've heard this (and it's a pretty famous and often used book here; it could be wrong though).
While I was searching on this site whether the question was already asked, I've found this question. The accepted answer claims the opposite.
So, I want to know if the claim in my book is correct and why or why not.
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It's a 'common' misconception that an item at some temperature will freeze faster than at some lower temperature. Physics does not allow for any doubt: an item at a lower temperature will freeze (arrive at an even lower temperature) faster than an item at a higher temperature (everything else being equal).
In short, unless the book gives a plausible explanation, it's incorrect.
Edit: The only explanation (that occurs to me) for placing the product into the freezer before it's properly cooled would be that it'll cool down faster, therefore remaining fresher. I'm not sure that would be noticeable. However, I'm guessing that doing that would create condensation and icing in the product and normally that would be considered a defect. So, I still think the reasoning in your book is incorrect.
I think it's because freezing tend to dry things out. At lukewarm temperature, it's still 'steaming' a bit, which means evaporating liquid, so losing moist. If you can stop the drying out process at that point, the pastry won't be as dry as when you let it cool completely.
Of course, a too high temperature can do harm to already frozen things, or would cause condensation in the package, so that there would be ice formed.
This could be the reason, and therefore, the statement can be true.
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