The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Yeast Problem

KopyKat0822's picture
KopyKat0822

Yeast Problem

I purchase SAF Instant Premium Yeast from Amazon over a year ago and used 6 grams in my whole wheat recipe and the loaves never fell. When I ran out I purchased the identical yeast and started have fallen loaves. I kept reducing yeast and at 4 grams I got a fully risen loaf. Next loaf fell and after that increased my salt from 5 1/2 grams to 7 grams. No help. I then went to 3 1/2 grams of yeast and got a full loaf. I am now thinking my first purchase of yeast was defective. Dry yeast will last for years if kept under ideal conditions but I suspect my first purchase had been old/overheated or possibly a bad run. This is the only thing I could think changed. I measure all ingredients and am careful with ingredient temperatures so it had to be the yeast. I just had a hard time believing that I had to almost half the amount of yeast to get the proper results.

I am inclined to believe the yeast may have been old or damaged. This is because I have purchased some things from Amazon that have been from resellers that may have stored things improperly. I believe I will stop buying yeast from Amazon but from a more reliable source. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Or are you following an exact time line?  Yeast can also be influenced by low and high pressure, water, flour changes and seasonal changes.  Slight adaptations occur when watching the dough instead of the clock.  I could never quite figure out why the yeast seems to know the difference between daytime and nighttime even when all variables seem equal.