April 7, 2015 - 4:56am
I Confused about the amount of yeast
I bake a pretty decent loaf, so I’m told, but I’m still confused. Here is my recipe for a plain white tin loaf.
500g strong white bread flour
5g easy bake yeast
325g tepid water
8g salt.
Now here is my confusion. If I read recipes on line they all seem to suggest 7g easy bake yeast but I’ve found that if I use that much it blows the loaf up way to far!! There’s the old saying, ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it,’ and as I’m getting pretty decent results by using 5g easy bake yeast I don’t see any reason for switching.
That said I’d like to get a handle on why this should be.
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Same recipe but instead use 1-2g fresh yeast and leave it to bulk ferment over night. Then final proof and bake next morning. You'll take a normal loaf and turn it into a really tasty bread.
AbeNW11 , you say you use 1-2g fresh yeast, that would make 3-6g of instant yeast or easy bake, so he is not far off with his yeast.
I think the conversion is the opposite. To convert from dried yeast to fresh yeast you x2.
So 1g of dried yeast = 2g fresh yeast.
1g fresh yeast = 0.5g dried yeast OR 5g of dried yeast = 10g fresh yeast.
Using a small amount of fresh yeast (I find the flavour is better) and increasing the fermentation time improves the taste a lot!
You are right, you have to divide your little fresh yeast by 3 to come to the amound ot dry yeast. ooops.
I have my head in the garden today. pfff
http://makebread.com.au/fresh-yeast-conversion/
The rule of thumb is dividing or multiplying by 3:
Another easy way to remember yeast conversion is:
10g of fresh yeast = 1 teaspoon of dry yeast
10 : 3 = 3.33 g
Yes, divide. Thought it was by 2 though. There's also different kinds of dried yeast. There's plain dried yeast and then there's fast action dried yeast. Get's so confusing. But if I use yeast at all it has to be fresh yeast. Taste is so much better.
It's no trouble doing a long ferment. Just mix and knead before you go to bed then sleep on it :) (not literally haha)
There's satisfaction that your dough is hard at work while you're sleeping.
I was introduced to this way sometime ago and it really makes such a difference.
I do prefer make my normal long cold fermented sourdough loaf, but there are times that I have to produce a bread faster and I do not at all mind.
If I was on my own I would only do sourdough bread, but I just can not do it with 5 people to think of who want to take sandwiches to work and school..
Like yesterday, I ran out of bread and had to make one quick, I can not do that with a pure long ferment sourdough, the boys would not have had bread for their sandwich in the morning and I am not willing to get up at 5am to proof and bake bread so that they can take it to work at 8;)
I learned to divide and / or mulitply by 3.
I do use mainly fast acting dried yeast, just in the flour and off it goes:)
I do not like the smell of fresh yeast.
My mum always had some cubes in the fridge, made me feel sick when I was a kid.
Maybe their kitchens are cooler, so they need to use that amount of yeast.
During the warmer or hot months, I need to cut down on the amount of yeast and move the dough in the fridge. (Though, I decided not to bake during very hot weather.) The last time during a heat wave, I made bread using the regular amount of yeast. I ended up with a foamy liquid mess in less than an hour. I baked it, and the bread was terrible--very bitter, alcoholic, and gummy.
But if there are other ingredients that slow down yeast activity, like sugar, butter, oil, and eggs, you might need a little more yeast.
You've not mentioned either these - how long do you let it rise and what country are you in?
I'm curious about the location as it may be that that affects the typical flours, yeasts available, etc. Here in the UK, 7 and sometimes 9g sachets are common, as is about one hour ferment then about one hour prove... And some commercial bread flours contain flour improvers (usually vit. c) and some commercial yeasts contain more yeast food/nutrients too.
However - what works, works. If you're happy with 5g of yeast then don't change, and in-general the longer the ferment, the more flavour you'll get. Up to a point anyway, then you'll get goo, but that's something else :-)
-Gordon
That is almost my basic whit recipe that I make with comercial yeast, the recipe is at the back of the container.
It says 2 tsp yeast and since we are a family of 6 and I want to bake this kind of bread fast I stick to the amount given, bulk ferment for 1 hour , knock it back and proof for 30-45 minutes.
I might add that I do not go by the times given anymore, I go by look and touch to know when it is ready to knock back and when it has proofed enough for the oven.
As AbeNW11 and drogon already said, the less yeast the longer the bulk fermentation and the better the flavour.
If I had the time I would only use 1-2g of yeast and do a LONG cold bulk fermentation before baking.
If your recipe works with 5 gm of yeast, there's no compelling reason to change. That said, here are some basic things about rising / proofing that you may want to keep in mind.
Using more yeast shortens the time. Using less lengthens it.
Rising / proofing at a higher temp shortens the time. At a lower temp lengthens it.
When a recipe says to proof for a given length of time, it's just a guideline. When the dough is ready depends on your actual amount of yeast used, your room temp and possibly other factors. That's why, as lazybaker said, the same basic loaf can require adapting the method depending on what time of year it is; if your room temp differs, so will the time to achieve the same degree of rise.
As AbelNW11 said, if you use less yeast, which will increase the rise / proof time, you may find you prefer the taste of the resulting loaf. It depends on your palate of course, but by significantly lengthening the rise / proof time, you give the enzymes and bacteria in the dough more time to develop more flavor from the flour. You can also lengthen the time by keeping the amount of yeast the same but rising and/or proofing at a lower temp, like in your fridge.
I too aim for less yeast and longer bulk rise times. You get much tastier bread.
Like others have said, not adjusting the length of your rise and/or proofing times might explain the difference. Yeast quantity is not as straight-forward as you might think. For example, doubling-up the quantities of flour etc, does not mean you have to double the amount of yeast. That's because larger masses of dough retain heat more efficiently and allow the yeast to work more effectively.
Might it be worth aiming for a dough temperature of 24-25C? It's called the desired dough temperature (DDT) and, by letting yeast get to work at its favourite temperature, gives you the best chance of consistently achieving a great loaf. However, you need to invest in a probe thermometer (not v.expensive). Here are two good links that explain DDT:
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=bakingintro2
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22008/dough-temperature
It's not very difficult, just a simple calculation to work out what temperature your water should be.
By keeping to a consistent temperature, I've found I can get a clearer handle on the effectiveness of yeast, hydration, and proofing times.
I assume you are using Allinson Easy Bake Yeast, which is an instant type of yeast, and is mixed with the dry ingredients. Instant yeast is generally used at a level of 1/3 that of fresh yeast. Most white bread formulas call for a fresh yeast level of 2% (baker's percent), so an easy bake yeast level of about 0.7% should produce sufficient fermentation. For 500g of flour, this would require 3.5g of yeast (One 7g packet for every kilo of flour).
Bob