I'm continuing my explorations into pizza making. It seems there are primarily two types of yeast used in the dough: instant and active dry.
I see the instant yeast used most often in "day of" pizza making, for probably obvious reasons. (In fact, all of my pizzas thus far have been day of, but I am eager to try a 24-74 hr ferment.
Most of the longer ferments use active dry yeast, but a few will use instant.
Are instant and dry generally interchangeable? Are there circumstances in which I would definitely want to use one over the other?
I've often wondered about that as well but was too lazy to look it up. I've always used active dry and would simply proof it if I wanted to speed things up.
Retired, living in Western Mass. Enjoy music, cooking and my family.
Current cookers Weber Spirit 3 burner with a full insert griddle added. A 22" Kettle with vortex, SnS and a Smokey Joe. The most recent addition is a Pit Barrel Jr with bird hanger, 4 hooks and cover. ThermoWorks Smoke 2 probe, DOT, 2 ThermoPops and a Thermapen MK4. A Thermoworks RFX Gateway 2 probe meat thermometer.
I use instant in all my bakes. Recipes call for one or the other but some state either is OK. I'm doing a batch of kaiser rolls tomorrow says use instant. Since that all I have that's what I'm using. I'm sure some of of the other more proficient bakers, which I am not will chime in.
If I were baking with commercial yeast, I would go active dry, but, more importantly, I’d go with fresh yeast. Meaning, if you have had a jar of active or instant dried sitting around opened for a year, I would ditch it. Instant is your faster rise, want something today, but, will be very tasteless in depth of the fermentation, so it’s the ingredients at best for flavor. Active dry again would be my preference, but, natural is my preferred.
Dry yeast is remarkably durable stuff. It'll keep for at least a year in the fridge, probably longer. Vacuum sealed in the freezer, it'll last basically forever.
All I use is SAF instant dry yeast. I buy it in a 1 lb pkg and keep it in the freezer. It will last at least several years and is much cheaper than buying the little packets. I use it straight from the freezer and pop it back in the freezer as soon as I take what I need.
Edit to add that I keep it in an airtight container.
"...Dry yeast comes in two forms: active and instant. "Active" describes any dry yeast that needs to be activated prior to use, while "instant dry yeast" describes any dry yeast that's ready for use the instant you open the package. Instant yeast ... [includes] specialized products, like RapidRise or bread machine....
"...active dry yeast must be "activated" by dissolving the granules in warm water, according to the package directions. The specifics can vary from brand to brand; some may call for sugar to be added as a fuel for the yeast. If the yeast is still alive, it will begin to foam and grow within a few minutes...
"To use in place of instant yeast, activate according to package directions, using a portion of milk or water from the recipe rather than additional liquids....
"...instant yeast is guaranteed to be 100% active, so it's ready for use straight from the package, and its behavior is consistent over time. Due to its small grain size, instant yeast will readily dissolve in the ambient moisture of a dough, eliminating the need for rehydration. Given its stability and shelf life, instant yeast is safe to buy in bulk...
"To use in place of active dry, incorporate directly into the dry ingredients. Add any ingredients used for proofing (warm water, sugar) to the dough along with other liquid ingredients...."
Last edited by IowaGirl; January 25, 2022, 08:20 AM.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I make all my pizza dough with active dry, since I buy that in a jar and keep it in the fridge once opened. No issues. Technically you are supposed to proof the active dry, and some recipes have you do that by putting the yeast in a separate cup/bowl with a little warm water and honey or sugar, but from what I've read, its not 100% necessary. I just mix in straight in with the dry ingredients when doing no-knead bread.
Honestly, until I read the Serious Eats article, I didn't pay too much attention to the key differences between active and instant yeasts. Since I now know active yeast is not nearly as shelf stable as instant, I see why it's good to test it first in water if only to know if it's viable or not. I've made a few batches of bread using the "mix it in with the flour" method, only to realize hours later that my yeast was dead -- that's a huge bummer!
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