• Reply by easyquilts on February 19, 2012 at 9:55 am
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Hi.... I can't answer your question, but am interested in any responses. I use both SAF IDY and Red Star ADY... Mostly because I can buy them in bulk. The largest amount of Fleischmsn's I can find is the small jar.... I like to buy yeast in bulk, because it saves money, and I don't run out so quickly.

I really would like to know if there is a real difference in brands...... Probably not, but......

Sandy

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• Reply by BakerIrene on February 19, 2012 at 10:26 am
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The difference is in the minor yeast strains present in the two factories.

Fleischmanns has been in operation since the 1880's (if not earlier) and they may have developed a unique yeast strain over those decades. Their Active Dry yeast certainly does a better job of raising rich and sweet doughs.

The jars are economical enough for the quality. I use 1 tablespoon ADY (and 1 teaspoon salt, important) for 1 quart liquid and up to 4 pounds of flour plus butter and eggs as called for. The first rise takes 3 hours, but the final rise takes about 45 minutes and bakes perfectly.

You can scale down the yeast and salt for smaller quantities of liquid. You don't even have to do the prep with water/sugar--just dump the ADY straight into a bowl with warm water and some flour, stir well, and then add the rest of your bread ingredients.

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• Reply by easyquilts on February 20, 2012 at 6:56 am
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Bakerirene..... When you say rich doughs do you mean any dough with eggs and sugar? Or maybe egg a, milk and sugar? I'm assuming "sweet" doughs are doughs....such as cinnamon roll dough... thatt contain a little more sugar....

You would think I would know this stuff by now, but the questions keep popping up!

I grew up with Fleischmann's Yeast, but have been isinglass Red Star and SAF, because I can buy them in bulk. But, if I can get. Better rise with F.m I could get the jars. I wish F. came in bulk bag....

Going to make cinnamon rolls for company, and will try the Fleischmann's, to see if there is a difference,

Thanks,
Sandy from Cincinnati

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• Reply by Mike Nolan on February 20, 2012 at 1:35 pm
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Irene's suggestion in another thread of starting with a sponge that consists JUST of flour, water and yeast, giving the yeast a chance to get going, is something that would probably benefit most enriched doughs, regardless of whether it is oil, sugar, milk or egg that has been added. All of them could potentially interfere with yeast growth, as does salt. (More than a few people have suggested adding salt last when mixing doughs.)

However, that adds time. (In baking there's often a tradeoff between saving time and enhancing performance or flavor.)

Sweet doughs could also benefit from an osmotolerant yeast, ie, one designed to work in a sweet dough. Sugar is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water, leaving less water for the yeast to use. An osmotolerant yeast like SAF Gold is better at handling that.

Is that suggestion of using a sponge inconsistent with recipes that call for a small amount of sugar in an otherwise lean dough? I don't think so, a LITTLE sugar gives the yeast more to grow on, a LOT of sugar starts to interfere with the water available to the yeast.

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• Reply by BakerIrene on February 21, 2012 at 11:18 am
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My "baseline" bread has whole milk, two eggs and 2 ounces of oil per quart of milk and maybe 2 tablespoons sugar. This is what I use for cinnamon rolls, as you add plenty of sugar in the filling. This recipe keeps very well and freezes very well. This is the recipe with 1 tablespoon yeast and 1 teaspoon salt. More eggs can be added without adjusting the yeast.

"Lean" is water (no milk) etc. Pizza crust, baguette.

"Rich" is with as much butter as pannettone, brioche, babka. Needs 2x the yeast per quart of liquid but NOT 2x the salt.

"Sweet" is the baseline with more sugar and some butter in place of oil. Kuchen, bieninstich, and yeast coffee cakes are what I call "sweet" dough. I don't bake these often enough to comment on how much yeast they need.

If you want perfect cinnamon rolls, use whole milk and scald it, for some reason it affects the texture. Use it when it cools to 90F.

All my bread rises at 65F. The baseline recipe does just fine in the fridge overnight, just dump it into an oiled plastic bag right after kneading. I plan my bread baking to accommodate the long first rise.

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• Reply by --jej on February 21, 2012 at 11:58 am
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I get a l-lb. pkg of Fleischmann's Instant dry yeast in my grocery store for between $3 and $4. Love it, have never had a problem with it. Mix it right into the flour, so that saves time as well. I skip right over all the rest of the choices now. Oh yes, I put some in the small bottle I USED to get, and place it in the fridge door so it is easy access; the rest goes into a pint jar (or whatever) and it goes into the back of the fridge and out of the way, but keeps very well just in the fridge. Only time it ever let me down was when ... OOPS!! ... it became out-dated! Don't know how that happened, but it was my fault.

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