Food Blog: [Lesson #1] Instant Yeast is a Game Changer

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

[Lesson #1] Instant Yeast is a Game Changer

Hello,

Welcome to Day 1 of Bread Baking Made Simple!

Most bread recipes call for using active-dry yeast. But the trouble with active-dry yeast is that you have to:

"Bloom" it before you use it.
Ensure the water is not too warm, not too cold.
Wait for 15 minutes before it gets "foamy," indicating it is ready to go.

But what if it never gets foamy?
Do you start over?

What a hassle.

Active-dry yeast can inspire all sorts of doubt. Not a great way to begin the bread-baking process.

Enter: instant yeast.

This is the ingredient that will transform your bread-baking experience moving forward.

Instant yeast can be stirred directly into the flour or other dry ingredients, making it as familiar an ingredient as baking soda or powder. Without the blooming step, furthermore, the dough-mixing process moves along incredibly quickly.

My Favorite Kind of Instant Yeast

Most grocery stores now sell instant yeast, which is sometimes labeled as "rapid-rise" or "fast-acting" or "bread-machine" yeast. All of these will work well, but my preference is SAF instant yeast, which you can buy in bulk. This saves you money and further simplifies the process — it's so nice having a vat of yeast on hand to dip into whenever you need.

Now That You Know, You're Ready to Go

Once you use instant yeast once, you'll never go back to active-dry.

And now that you know how easy instant yeast is to use, let's put it in action and BAKE SOMETHING.

Here's where you'll start your bread baking journey: My Mother's Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Every Bake. It's a no-knead, no-mess, and nearly foolproof recipe. Over the years, thousands of people have credited this recipe with conquering their fear of yeast and giving them the confidence to get bread on the table any day of the week.

There is video guidance for every step of the way. Try it out, and let me know how it goes!