Instant Yeast

[chowkari]

I want to give the no-knead bread a try (from Bittman's NYT piece). However, I haven't had any luck finding instant yeast. Only active and rapid rise. I take it I can't swap out with another type of yeast? Should I just order it from the Internet? I've even looked at the specialty grocers in my area.

[Jack_]

I just tried to make some no knead bread. I used 1/4 tsp of Fleischmann's active dry yeast. It failed miserably, no rise at all. I suspect that if I had started it in warm water it would have worked OK. I did find some discussions on this on the internet. IF there is a conversion I seems to be by volume. since the grains are reportedly larger in active dry yeast you hav to use a bit more, Same reason you use more Kosher salt than table salt, the grains are bigger and you need more volume to get the same weight

[jzerocsk]

I thought Rapid Rise/Instant/Bread Machine were all pretty much interchangeable?

[chowser]

They are.

[Kelli2006]

Active dry yeast is perfectly interchangeable with instant or fresh, especially for products that ferment for more then a few hours. I do not buy instant yeast because I don't like the taste and I have never had a problem. I will occasionally exchange dry yeast into a recipe that was written for instant yeast and I will do it w/o proofing with no apparent ill effects.

[chowser]

What's the difference in taste? Interesting. I use bread machine yeast when I'm making the dough in the bread machine. I bake it in the oven but there are days when I don't have the time, or energy to knead dough. I have active yeast for dough done by hand. Is it because you don't usually rise the dough as long as you would for active yeast?

[Kelli2006]

Ive never owned a bread maker, so I have no experience with that strain of yeast.

I tend to ferment doughs for 4-8 hours more then the recipe calls for because I like the fuller flavor that is developed by doing so. The fermentation time in most recipes is very conservative and you can usually double the rising time w/o risk of the product falling flat in the oven. Instant yeasts start faster but th at speed isn't necessary when you ferment doughs for hours.

IMVHO.

[chowser]

I use bread machine/instant/rapid rise as the same thing. I can buy bread machine yeast in larger quantities.

I understand what you mean--it's not the yeast that affects the taste (which I thought you meant), but the longer rise with regular yeast. I like the longer rise when I've planned ahead but there are nights, like last night, when I am too tired to deal w/ making a sponge or making dough. So, today, we're having bread made w/ instant yeast. I can start it in the afternoon and have fresh bread at dinner. Not as good as longer rise but still better than anything I'd get from a store.

[todao]

They are essentially the same. It's the 25% factor by volume that makes the difference. Unless you're using a tablespoon or more I think you'll do just fine with a WAG one way or the other.

[todao]

Because, in substituting instant yeast for active dry yeast, it generally accepted that you would use 25% less of the instant; and because this No Knead bread dry ingredients formula:
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
13 oz water
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
includes 1/4 teaspoon of "instant" yeast, there's no reason to be concerned about making adjustments. 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast would be 25% less than 1/3 teaspoon of active dry yeast. That difference is trivial, by culinary standards, so I'd probably add a short half teaspoon and go for it.
I do make one adjustment in the No Knead recipe. I "proof" the yeast for about five minutes and then add it to the water before mixing it with the dry ingredients (which have been whisked to combine) so that I'm certain I have the yeast activity I'm expecting. Nothing I hate more than find out my yeast was ineffective (doesn't happen often, but it has happened) after I've got a bowl full of bread dough sitting on the counter getting old.

[NYCkaren]

I always make that recipe with just the regular yeast you can get in the supermarket. Fleishman's or Red Star or whatever. It works fine.

[tall sarah]

Whole Foods should carry it, if you have one nearby. Many grocery stores will order it for you, too.

I made the bread several times with Active yeast & used 3/4 teaspoon. I didn't want to plunk down $6 or $8 for instant yeast at the time. The active yeast worked just fine for me. I gave the bread 18-21 hours for the 1st rise each of those times.

I have switched to instant yeast & love that it keeps for years in the freezer!

Happy breadmaking!