# General Yeast Question



## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

My kids have been eating like Velociraptors this summer so I've been doing a lot of bread baking, which is one of my least favorite things to do. When I bake, the kids smell it and begin circling the kitchen like predators until it comes out of the oven and then they pounce. There is rarely enough to put in the freezer, which annoys me as well. I guess I'm grateful that they like it.

Anyway, I noticed that some recipes will call for proofing the yeast for about 5-10 minutes before you add other ingredients and some just call for the powdered yeast to be thrown into the mix without being dissolved at all. Sometimes you add some flour and sugar to the yeast/water mixture and sometimes you just dissolve it in the water. 

So, since I'm not a very good baker can somebody explain to me what the difference is?


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## thenance007 (Oct 8, 2012)

The difference in handling is due to the type of yeast, not the recipe. A recipe that says to mix with dry ingredients will call for "instant yeast". If it uses regular or rapid rise yeast, the directions will have you proof the yeast. 

You can switch types in a recipe as long as you proof it if it isn't instant even if the recipe says to mix with dry ingredients. If it says "instant yeast" on the package, it can be mixed with dry ingredients without proofing or you can proof it anyway. Non-instant yeast needs to be proofed, i.e. mixed with warm water and a dash of sugar to soften before being mixed. The sugar (usually) and flour(rarely) are just food for the yeast. 

I just always proof it, instant or not, because as it begins to foam and rise, I know it is alive and well. Just never let yeast touch anything hot--it dies at about 115 degrees, so if you scald your milk, cool it before adding the yeast.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

I always proof mine. Didn't know it was called that but that's how I learned. I make sure and use warm bottled water(my tap water doesn't work well for bread making), then my sugar or honey, then sprinkle yeast on top (don't mix in) till I get the nice foamy layer on top.


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## lovetogrow (Jan 25, 2011)

lazydaisy67 said:


> My kids have been eating like Velociraptors this summer so I've been doing a lot of bread baking, which is one of my least favorite things to do. When I bake, the kids smell it and begin circling the kitchen like predators until it comes out of the oven and then they pounce. There is rarely enough to put in the freezer, which annoys me as well. I guess I'm grateful that they like it.


How about making enough dough to freeze some - it will be on hand for another day and the little Velociraptors will just have to wait for that dough to go in the oven


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Thanks guys. I buy what my mother bought, Red Star. I do a lot of things my mother did without even really knowing why...

The Raptors ate a whole batch of zucchinni cookies and 10 hamburger buns today.... I have nothing to show for the work except dirty dishes.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Daisy, sounds like the house I grew up in, we ate everything that wasn't locked up or hidden!



lazydaisy67 said:


> Thanks guys. I buy what my mother bought, Red Star. I do a lot of things my mother did without even really knowing why...
> 
> The Raptors ate a whole batch of zucchinni cookies and 10 hamburger buns today.... I have nothing to show for the work except dirty dishes.


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

lazydaisy67 said:


> The Raptors ate a whole batch of zucchinni cookies and 10 hamburger buns today.... I have nothing to show for the work except dirty dishes.


I feel your pain on this one. What I do now is banish everyone from the kitchen on baking days. Make double batches when I can and hide the second batch in the back of the freezer. After baking and frosting a cake, I cut it in to individual slices and freeze them too. Unless they are "starving" they won't bother looking in the freezer. Good luck!


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

The sugar (especially) and the flour are food for the yeast. To proof the yeast 105*F is the proper temperature but that is about as hot as you can comfortably keep your hand in, this is the test that I use though you may want to use a thermometer once to confirm what 105* feels like. Salt is necessary for bread but retards the growth of yeast so do not add salt till you add the flour.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Can you double any bread recipe? 

Also, this is a bit of a controversy apparently (who knew) to knead or not to knead. I've read some articles about "hearty bread" that you knead as little as possible, which my mother crinkles up her nose at and says "it won't turn out nice if you don't knead it."
I have to admit it's the funnest part of making bread, but how long to do it and is there a 'too much' when kneading?


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

*Yeast differences*

Instant yeast is a little more potent than active dry yeast and can be mixed in with your dry ingredients directly. I generally find it easier to work with. Active dry yeast works just as well as instant yeast, but requires being activated in a little bit of warm water before being added to the rest of the ingredients. Failure to properly activate it will result in your loaf not rising adequately
I like to proof the yeast and count it as my first rising, second rising is in the bread mold ready for a hot oven, if the second rising is done in the refrigerator, the dough will develop a better flavor, overnight is better, the slower the rising the better the bread, is better to weigh ingredients that way you can develop your own bakers formula and if you baked a lot make more dough and freeze it .5 pounds of bread flour to 5 teasp/packets of yeast.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Wow, really? I didn't know you could put bread dough in the fridge. I thought it HAD to be in a warm kitchen to work at all. I'm going to have to try that. 

I have yet to try Sourdough, although I love it and it doesn't sound too difficult. Overall, for those who do make sourdough, would you say it's easier than making a couple of yeast loaves every other day?


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## drfacefixer (Mar 8, 2013)

lazydaisy67 said:


> Wow, really? I didn't know you could put bread dough in the fridge. I thought it HAD to be in a warm kitchen to work at all. I'm going to have to try that.
> 
> I have yet to try Sourdough, although I love it and it doesn't sound too difficult. Overall, for those who do make sourdough, would you say it's easier than making a couple of yeast loaves every other day?


I just started on sour dough a few months ago. Bread was good but a lot of time and care goes into that starter. The smell of the hootch kept making me want to scrap breach making and start a brewery.


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## thenance007 (Oct 8, 2012)

You knead bread dough in order to develop the gluten. The gluten is the difference between a cake or biscuit texture and a chewier, tougher bread texture. Kneading makes the gluten in the dough stretchier and tougher. Cake flour is low gluten, all purpose flour is medium gluten, and bread flour is high gluten. You can buy gluten in a little box in the flour section of the grocery. Add a tablespoon or two per loaf if you use all purpose flour for better texture. 
Generally, if you don't knead your dough, the texture will be like coffee cake rather than like bread. 

You might like the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day"--they teach you to mix up a big batch of dough with no proofing the yeast, no kneading. Throw it in the fridge and tear off a chunk each day, let it rise and pop it in the oven. All kinds of breads, too.


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

Be careful using a different type of yeast. Generally, it doesn't matter in small batches, but if you double or triple, you could be using too much or too little. You can freeze bread dough for up to about a month without any adverse effects, any longer and you will have to add a freeze conditioner.
You can rise in the fridge overnight, but be sure you don't have any dough eaters in the family or there may not be any bread left! Just have fun with it, seriously. And banish the kids. Send them outside with strict instructions that they are not allowed in for anything whatsoever.


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