The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Yeast brands

BartJY's picture
BartJY

Yeast brands

Hi Folks,

Is it my imagination that different brands of yeast make the bread taste different? In the past I've always used Fleischmann's bread machine yeast. Recently I couldn't find it, so I bought some Red Star bread machine yeast. The bread that this yeast produces doesn't seem to taste as good as the bread made from Fleischmann's yeast. Am I imagining this or what? Also, the bread doesn't rise as high with Red Star.

Thanks

Bart

lepainSamidien's picture
lepainSamidien

Although most (if not all) commercial yeasts are of the same species (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), variations in the brands, even in the individual packages, can produce different results. It is possible that one company's yeast package has, on average, more active cultures than the other, thus driving an entirely different fermentation schedule which will produce, in turn, different tasting bread. 

PugBread's picture
PugBread

Yeast produce different different esters and phenols during fermentation which affects the end result aroma and flavor. Different companies have different strains of the same yeast (S. cerevisiae) that produce different end products. Even within the company, like you said, different yeast types produce different end products.

BTW, my favorite is Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast - it creates such a fruity and yeasty character - not to mention the 2 lb block will last for years in the cupboard (granted, you need to start increasing the amount you use after about a year).

No double-blind tests needed to discern the difference.

BartJY's picture
BartJY

Thanks

Bart

tgrayson's picture
tgrayson

I've seen some amateur bakers claim that different brands tasted different, but I'm very skeptical. Our taste buds are highly suggestible, meaning that many other things in our environment affect our subjective experience of taste, not just the thing that goes into our mouth. Knowing that we've switch brands might be enough to "detect" flavor differences that aren't really there.

There's also the reverse mechanism. Our bread tastes different and we look to see what we changed, and the different brand of yeast jumps out, even though there are dozens of other possible causes.

I would only accept a double-blind, laboratory conditions type of experiment as evidence of real taste differences.

deblacksmith's picture
deblacksmith

In my old day job, before retirement, we dealt with what folks perceived as the taste of metal from an aluminum can.  If the saw the can they were sure they could taste the “metal”.  Double blind testing show that they could taste the metal only if they saw the can.  Still the taste is very real – if you are the person tasting it.  Add to this is the fact that the can is lined with a plastic coating – so if you taste anything is should be the plastic.  But precipitation is very real and will affect you buying habits. It does mine.

 

deblacksmith

BartJY's picture
BartJY

I understand, highly suggestive. But, I had my wife taste a sample and she thought the taste had changed. She also thought that the Fleischmann's had a tangier flavor. All this when I followed the directions exactly for each loaf. What I also have observed, is when I use the Red Star, the rise is not as high as with the Fleischmann's.

On the other hand. Home brewers of beer are convinced different yeasts cause different flavors. If you ever get to a home brewer supply shop you will see that they stock dozens of different strains of yeast.

At this point, after careful repetition of recipes and observation, I'm about to conclude that different yeasts brands do indeed produce a different tasting bread. But hey, it's freshly baked bread, it's all good!!!!!

 

tgrayson's picture
tgrayson

Of course your wife thought the taste had changed. Do you know why double-blind tests exist? A double-blind test, by the way, is where the tester doesn't know which is which, just like the testee. The reason is that the behavior of the tester provides subtle clues to the testee about what their perceptions ought to be. When someone hands you something to taste, it's pretty indicative that there's something odd about the thing to be tasted.

Even ignoring that, we amateurs likely never produce the same loaf twice, because our conditions and procedures are less controlled than what more professional environments might produce.

 

 

BartJY's picture
BartJY

With all due respect, I disagree with you. Yes, I do know what a double blind test is. Thank you for your concern. I still stand with my statement as I have witnessed enough observable and repeatable evidence that the conclusion that I posited is a good one. To wit, the two different brands of bottled yeast that I have, produced different tastes.

Thanks

baybakin's picture
baybakin

Even though the yeast will be the same species (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the strain of the yeast will likely be different per company, as they have different "house strains" they have bred for their purpose.

I come from the brewing world, and (almost) all (non-sour) ales are fermented with saccharomyces cerevisiae, but the strains can produce very, very different results in the esters they produce during fermentation. A sample of ale yeast from a brewery in Belgium (such as westmalle) and a sample of yeast from a Californian brewery (such as Sierra nevada) will produce vastly different flavors given the same fermentation conditions.

Each brand's "house strain" will have some differences, but as they were bred for a similar purpose (speed of fermentation and gas produciton) I think it's not as pronounced as you'd expect, unless you're doing a very long fermentation. It is possible that the Fleischmann's bread machine yeast may be "instant yeast," and the Red Star is "Active dry" yeast, the latter having less live cells than the former.

BartJY's picture
BartJY

Exactly.

Tommy gram's picture
Tommy gram

I thought The Fresh Loaf was a yeast free zone, no man made yeast.

Corral you some of the wild stuff and you'll finally learn what bread is supposed to taste like, same yeast as the Egyptians used,

Cast off outside interference from the likes of Fleischmanns and Red Star.

Fermentation yesterday, Fermentation today and Fermentation forever!