Confused about yeast

[GarrettB]

I've tried a little baking in the past few weeks and am having a hard time getting straight answers from my cookbooks on the subject of yeast. As I understand it there is Active Dry Yeast (ADY), Instant Dry Yeast (IDY) and Cake Yeast. Two questions:

If a recipe calls for one, whats the conversion rate to another. Example: recipe says to use 10g of cake yeast but I only have ADY.

Which kind of yeast is the kind that comes in packets of three? And bottles? The labels just say "Fast, easy, active, instant, super fantastic, utopian, the-yeast-to-end-all-yeasts of super fantasticness" which is really a terrible description. I can't figure what type it is.

 

[Michael in FtW]

The reason your cookbooks don't give conversions is because it depends on what you are trying to use to sub what the recipe calls for. Although yeast does one thing - how quickly it does it can vary.

If a recipe calls for one, whats the conversion rate to another. Example: recipe says to use 10g of cake yeast but I only have ADY.

I've never seen a packet (or jar) of dry yeast that doesn't give a conversion factor on the label, or back of the package, to convert from cake yeast to their product. What that factor is depends on the brand and the type of yeast. You'll just have to read the labels - and maybe do a little conversion from oz to grams, or visa versa. Basically, a cube of cake/compressed yeast is about 0.6 oz - or 17 grams.

Which kind of yeast is the kind that comes in packets of three? And bottles?

Again, read the label! There is active dry yeast, rapid rise yeast, quick rise yeast, bread machine yeast (which is closer to "instant" yeast than the others), etc.

The biggest difference in the yeast is how you treat it in the recipe - do you proof it before adding it to the mix or do you just dump it in and mix it in like all the other dry ingredients.

 

[Chausiubao]

I only know about 3 types of yeast. Cake Yeast, Active Dry Yeast, and Instant Yeast. Cake yeast is fresh yeast i think...it is already activated and doesnt require hydration like active dry yeast to go to work. Active Dry Yeast cannot be directly added to dry ingredients because it needs to be hydrated first...And instant yeast does not need to be hydrated. It takes less ADY then cake yeast to leaven the same amount of dough, and it takes less instant yeast then Active dry yeast to leaven the same amount of dough.

Active Dry Yeast is usually sold in packets of three. The flat ones right? But it should say right on the label the type of yeast that you're buying.

I've noticed that instant yeast is more convenient then ADY since you don't need to hydrate the yeast prior to using it. But you wanted conversions.

heres weight and volume conversions for yeast.

Instant Yeast:
0.11 oz = 1 teaspoon (so its about 0.1 oz to a teaspoon)

Active Dry Yeast:
0.1 oz = 1 teaspoon (about the same as instant yeast)

100% Fresh yeast = 40 to 50% ADY = 33% Instant yeast
(which refers to how much to use according to what you're converting from)

If you're converting from fresh yeast to ADY, then just use half the weight of the fresh yeast and you should be fine.

Supposedly Instant yeast is better to use then ADY or Fresh yeast or cake yeast because you can use less for the same effect. Instant yeast activates slower then other varieties which promotes better flavor from the fermentation.

I have no idea but i'd say that cake yeast is fresh yeast. Currently I'm using Red Star Active Dry Yeast, whether u have it in ur area or not is debatable, but Fleishmann's also sell ADY.

Of course theres someone around here that knows a whole lot more about bread then I do; also most of the stuff that I wrote down is from Peter Reinhart's the Bread Baker's Apprentice, so u can always peruse that to find out what you need.

I hope that helps.

 

[AlessandraItaly]

In what store can I find Cake Yeast?

I've been living in the US only for almost 2 years and I still didn't find a grocery store that sells cake yeast.

 

[Chausiubao]

u can probably order it from somewhere if u wanted it bad enough

 

[AlessandraItaly]

I did it before but you have to order at least one pound and it goes bad very fast.

 

[Hopz]

Cake yeast is not normally used in home cooking unless you make as much bread as a bakery.

As for the rest- yeast is yeast, (unless it is for beer then we have to match the yeast to the style of beer we are making.)

The Active and Instant are about the same strength (same number of cells per unit). Cake has more yeast cells per unit of measure so if it were me, I'd use active (or instant) and just add some more- likely 50% more... but then that is just me.

In any case- you will very darn close...

 

[AlessandraItaly]

In Italy every grocery store has the little yeast cake cubes and that is the only yeast we use for pizza or bread. We use it dry only for backing cakes or cookies and it is a particular kind of yeast not like the one I find here. I tried to make pizza with dry yeast but it does not taste the same. I guess this is one thing I will have to give up.

 

[Gretchen]

You might find cake yeast in a health food store in the cold case.
The conversion from ADY to IDY(fast rise) is 25%, according to Peter Reinhart. Use 25% less IDY than ADY.

 

[AlessandraItaly]

Thank you I will try that

 

[Michael in FtW]

I did it before but you have to order at least one pound and it goes bad very fast.

Cake yeast is not as popular here in the US as it once was ... for the reasons you noted ... it has to be refrigerated and it has a short shelf-life. Even in commercial applications that once were the heaviest users of cake yeast - the trend now seems to be more toward dry "instant" yeasts.

Dry yeast products will generally give you a conversion factor ... from cake to their "dry" product.

Of course - if you are a baker who wants to work with weight measurements you might find this Cake/Active Dry/Instant Dry conversion tabel of some use.

 

[AlessandraItaly]

Thank you ...that table will be very useful.
What you mentioned is one of the big differences I had to deal with when moving here. I was used to do my grocery on a daily basis (only what was necessary for that day) or every 2 days max. Especially with fruits and vegetables I was used to consume them pretty fast or else they would go bad. Here I found produce that lasts forver in your refrigerator and that made me feel suspicious. It is also true that here people have to deal with great distances in most cases and it would be impossible to go grocery shopping more than once or twice every 2 weeks. I did find places where everything is fresh though and I can manage to mix both cultures in my grocery

 

[bluebonnettexas]

You might also try bakeries in your area. They might sell it to you.

I am a worshiper of the Son

!

 

[AlessandraItaly]

That is a great idea...Thank you

 

[ChefJune]

In Italy every grocery store has the little yeast cake cubes and that is the only yeast we use for pizza or bread. We use it dry only for backing cakes or cookies and it is a particular kind of yeast not like the one I find here. I tried to make pizza with dry yeast but it does not taste the same. I guess this is one thing I will have to give up.

Allessandra, pizza here in US will not taste like pizza in Italy, even if you can find the cake yeast. It's not the yeast, it's both the flour here and the water. As for cake yest, like the dry, you can store it in your freezer and it iwill keep a looooooooong time!

I use SAF dry yeast for baking -- there are two different kinds, for breads and for sweet doughs -- and I keep it in the freezer. If you are going to be living here, it is probably a good idea to get comfortable with using dry yeast. Better than giving up making pizza, for sure!