[Sca-cooks] Instant yeast was Re: OOP: beginner's bread books

[Terry Decker]

Instant yeast is produced through a drying method that presumably kills less 
of the yeast than the normal drying method.  It has some additives to 
improve leavening.  And it has a fine granularity than normal dry active 
yeast.  SAF Red and Fleischmann's Rapid Rise fall under the term "instant" 
yeast.  The advantages of instant yeast are it costs less, you use less, and 
it is less likely to fail than active dry yeast.  The primary disadvantage 
is the speed of the rise, which doesn't allow time for flavor to build.  To 
get around that, use a two stage dough, where you build a sponge 12 to 24 
hours before preparing your dough and use the sponge as the leaven, or use 
the quarter sponge system where you produce the dough in three stages.

Bear

>
> Also, I'm familiar with dry yeast which comes in little envelopes at  my 
> local grocery or wet yeasts available for brewing, but what is  "instant" 
> yeast?
>
> Thanks,
>   Stefan