I know that active dry needs to be proofed/bloomed when compared to instant, whereas , instant yeast works faster than active dry. If all other variables (bread type, temp, etc) stay constant, is the only difference between yeasts the amount of rise the dough will get?
Are there certain breads that want active dry over instant, or vice versa? If rising amount was constant (to double, then shape and rise to double, then bake) could instant or active dry change the final result of texture or crumb, even if you rose them to classic "finger poke test (aka slow spring back)" before baking them?
Basically, does instant produce a different crumb/texture over active dry? Should I/when should I/why should I use one over the other?
Current active dry yeasts don't really need to be bloomed, as I have read. King Arthur has a page about this:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/09/25/active-dry-yeast?utm_source=chatgpt.com
TomP
There should be no difference in the texture, crumb or rise between the two kinds of yeast.
I couldn't have agreed more about not having to dissolve ADY....until two days ago. For the last year, I've been using a 2lb pkg of Red Star ADY, without dissolving, and it worked just fine. My most recent purchase was 2lb of Fleischmann's ADY, and oddly enough, it will not dissolve in bread dough. Even after the dough sat in the fridge overnight. The package was vacuumed sealed properly, the expiry date is good, the dough eventually rose and baked ok. But even while shaping, I could feel the yeast granules. I just mixed up a little doughball and worked & rested it to show you. After 1 hour. Sorry, it's fuzzy, but the bits are visible.
This is a video explaining the differences in yeasts and which you should use when: HERE
There's a surprise, especially because it was Fleischmann's that was used in the KA story. Those look like pretty large lumps. Was the yeast as it came out of the package clumped like that?
No, the yeast wasn't clumped, but it looked darker and smelled more yeasty than the Red Star. The picture is of a very small piece of dough, so no perspective.
Took that little piece and literally windowpaned it (just cleaned the windows, too. What we do for science.) Second is a zoom of the yeast.
I'm wondering now if it's the flour and not the yeast. I used flour from a mill and although it was white a/p flour, it may have had bits in it that my regular store-bought bread flour doesn't have. Got to do a couple more experiments.
Edit: It's not the flour. Tried my regular bread flour and an hour after mixing, the bits of yeast were still visible.
And that's enough from me.
Is there any situation in which you would use active dry over instant? Like for a pizza dough, you'd use active dry instead of instant because of longer fermenting times? Or for panettone, due to how long you ferment it, would active dry be superior?
Or would it pretty much never matter? Just wanna make sure. I right now mostly instant yeast, and I wanna be certain I'm not "messing up" my bread by not using active dry in specific recipes. I'm totally fine buying active dry as well if that's the case.
I just can't get excited about differences in fermentation times. You can just change the amount of yeast a little if you want to change fermentation times, or change the temperature.
Fleishmann's, to take one manufacturer, has six different dry yeast products in packets. One is called "Pizza Crust":
The others have different claims made for them. Another, Active Dry Yeast, is said to "Develops a richer, more artisanal yeast flavor". You can go look them up. Who knows, maybe you will be able to find a difference when you bake
A more significant question might be, do I really want to make a pizza crust in 30 minutes?
I understand! I just wasn't certain if a slower ferment would be more traditional/useful in come cases. Thanks to all for the help!
I have a pound of instant I'm excited to use. If I use active dry in the future, I'll make sure to proof/bloom it just in case. 😊
You guys rock!
The only thing that really changes is time. Enjoy!
I’ve seen that phenomenon of “bumps” with Fleishman ADY but mostly with old yeast. The undissolved granules never affected the end product but may have increased rise time. When the ADY yeast gets old I start pre-dissolving.
The array of specialty yeasts are mind-numbing. For brewing I better understand the differences. For baking I just use 2: ADY for general-purpose baking and an osmotolerant yeast for sweet breads.
I've seen several people mention osmotolerant yeast. I don't see any yeast marked that way in my supermarket. What common yeasts are osmotolerant?
TomP
SAF Gold. That might not be the only one and works much better for me than ADY when making sweetbreads. It doesn’t seem to be in supermarkets, though. Professional supply houses have it as does Amazon. I believe SAF packages various ways but I couldn’t find so just bought 1 pound on Amazon.
I have never heard of osmotolerant yeast, and I'd love to learn more. So if osmotolerant yeast is used specifically in sweet breads, what are the benefits of using osmotolerant yeasts in say, (I assume) panettone, croissants, etc.?
I see said Osmo yeast works better in sweet breads due to (I think) Osmo yeast's ability to work better in high-sugar, low-water environments (water being drawn away by sugar, osmosis style). If I make croissants, cinnamon rolls, etc. regularly, is it worth it to buy Osmo yeast for that specific purpose?
Wait. Osmotolerant. Osmosis! That's where the name comes from isn't it.
Osmosis and Tolerance. Combined you have Osmotolerant. Irrelevant - but there it is. Enjoy!
I use SAF Red IDY. I have had a couple of instances where even IDY failed to completely dissolve in the dough, or in a pre-ferment. The latter example was the preparation of Latgalian Rye (https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/71652/latgalian-rye%E2%80%94-rye-baker) where the yeast is added to an intermediate step to boost the yeast activity. I believe the thick opara at this stage inhibited the dissolving of the yeast. The next time I made the bread, I prepared a slurry of the IDY and added it to the mixture.