Home | About | Contact
800.827.6836 | Norwich, Vermont

shopping cart

All discussions My Discussions
+ Add a Discussion
schirch badge: Community Member

Yeast bread with an off odor

I've made bread several times now using the instant red pack yeast and the gold pack. The past two times I've gotten bread that had an unpleasant off aroma and tasted too yeasty. Am I using too much yeast, or what? Both packs of yeast were recently purchased from KA and I placed both in a glass jar, tight lid and in the freezer. I've had this happen on occasion in the past but not to this degree. It was almost overwhelmingly yeasty and unpleasant. Ideas? Thoughts?

Tags: Bread with an off

Replies to This Discussion

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save" to activate your changes.
Mike Nolan
  • Reply by Mike Nolan on February 20, 2012 at 11:24 pm
  • badge: Community Member

What recipe are you making?

schirch
  • Reply by schirch on February 23, 2012 at 8:31 pm
  • badge: Community Member

American Sandwich bread in Cooks' Illustrated baking book and the king arthur recipe for 100% ww bread. Followed the recipes exactly.

mrscindy
  • Reply by mrscindy on February 23, 2012 at 10:14 pm
  • badge: Community Member

The KAF recipe for the 100% WW Sandwich bread that calls for 1 tbsp of yeast? How much yeast does the CI recipe call for?

The KAF recipe calls for extra yeast because of the chopped nuts, but I don't have the CI recipe, so I can't tell if it uses extra yeast or not.

You may be very sensitive to the smell and taste of yeast. You don't HAVE to use so much yeast. If you decrease the yeast, you will have to allow extra proofing time to get a light, not dense, loaf. You would still have a nice WW bread using only 2 tsp of yeast. You could even add VWG to help the decreased yeast.

Post back with a little more information and let's see if we can come up with a workable recipe for you. I don't think the fault is with the yeast, itself. I think you are just super sensitive to it. Let's see if decreasing the yeast solves your problem.

~Cindy

schirch
  • Reply by schirch on February 23, 2012 at 11:53 pm
  • badge: Community Member

2 1/4 tsp yeast in the CI recipe. The KA 100% WW sandwich bread doesn't have nuts in it (oj, potato flakes,).
I've baked literally hundreds of loaves of bread in my lifetime and don't recall this happening until I started using the instant yeast. Maybe I just need to cut back on the amount and give it more proofing time?

Mike Nolan
  • Reply by Mike Nolan on February 24, 2012 at 12:16 am
  • badge: Community Member

I don't have that book but it looks like the recipe is online at

http://mandkchurch.blogspot.com/2011/03/recipe-review-cooks-illustrated....

2 1/4 tsp of instant yeast to 3 3/4 cups of flour is probably on the high side, but not outrageously so. You could try cutting back to 1 1/2 teaspoons and see if that helps.

Is this a recipe you've made before with a different brand/type of yeast? It could be that the particular yeast strain they're using is one that is not to your liking, you wouldn't be the first person here who has decided they like brand A over brand B. (It's also possible that yeast is bad, though that's fairly uncommon.)

You might try a completely different recipe (one you're familiar with) and see if has a similar problem.

I have one recipe I always go to as my 'test batch' recipe every time I want to test out an ingredient change, like a different type of flour.

mrscindy
  • Reply by mrscindy on February 24, 2012 at 10:00 am
  • badge: Community Member

Okay, I see. There are two 100% WW sandwich breads listed in the recipes section. The one with nuts is dairy-free. I just read through what Mike said and I agree. You need to find a recipe you have used in the past and use it as your test recipe. And then switch yeasts to a different brand. It could just be the brand you are sensitive to.

Good luck and let us know if this helps.

~Cindy