instant yeast

[gabriel sanders]

has anyone seen instant yeast for sale in San Francisco? to clarify, when I say "instant," I mean the fine, dry yeast that can be stored at room temperature and does not need to be rehydrated prior to use. I haven't done a ton of research, but at least I know that Rainbow doesn't have it. if anyone has a good source for it or has seen it somewhere in the city, I'd love to know!

[valleychip]

My local Smart & Final has both types of yeast for sale. Saf instant 1# for $3.59 & Red Star active dry 2# for 4.19. Your Smart & final might be different so I would call just to make sure it is in stock.

[gabriel sanders]

thank you, everyone, for your help. I'll try to remember to post a picture of my bread when I do bake it; I haven't used commercial yeast in months, but my aunt asked me for a bread I don't bake with sourdough. cheers!

[cakebaker]

Most Smart & Final's carry a variety of instant yeasts in 1# pkgs...including SAF. If memory serves they are all around $ 3.00.

[dotMac]

The best instant yeast is made by SAF.

King Arthur Flour current has SAF instant yeast for $5.95 with free shipping:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/i...

You can't go wrong with that!

[adamshoe]

Plus one on the SAF yeast!! It's the best.... adam

[monku]

Just curious....why is one yeast be any better than another?

[dotMac]

Good question! I would suppose reliability?

[MacGuffin]

LOL people certainly become passionate about their instant yeast! I've read that some bakers much prefer Fleischmann's whereas the King Arthur staff, and they sell both, prefer saf-instant red label. I seem to recall that Fleischmann's is made in Canada and saf in Mexico which, in addition to being available at a very low price in Costco, may be a point in its favor.

[wolfe]

Red Star at Costco, SAF at Smart and Final.

[gabriel sanders]

thanks for everyone's help so far. I should have mentioned that I'm interested in buying it in considerable quantity. I remember buying a 1 pound bag od SAF Instant for around $5, so the idea of buying Fleischman's packets is tough to stomach. Maybe Safeway has it in that kind of quantity as well; does anyone specifically know of a place I can find that? BTW, I will check Safeway tonight after work.

[SteveG]

In that case, do you absolutely have to have instant dried yeast? Rainbow sells the fresh yeast cakes in bulk. They really are a pleasure to use for baking. If you need the instant stuff, you probably should look to some sort of bakery supply distributor.

[monku]

Smart & Final carries the bulk package of Red Star yeast you're looking for and I've seen it at some Costco's.

[Euonymous]

You can buy a 5 lb bag of yeast at CostCo for very little. I'm not sure whether it's instant or not. I store it in the freezer or fridge and sometimes rehydrate it before using. Works fine without the rehydration, though.

[monku]

I don't think it's a 5 lb. bag, think it's more like a 1 or 2 # bag. There's an expiration date on the packages I'm not sure if its one year or two.

[wolfe]

It's 2 lbs. It was ~ $3.84 and it has an expiration date of 10/10 bought about 4 months ago. As I said about it is in my icebox and is working great dry.

[SteveG]

Most places carry instant yeast. Rainbow probably doesn't carry it because they sell fresh compressed yeast cakes, which are superior to instant yeast. You can look up conversion ratios online.

[wolfe]

I use Red Star active dry yeast and just mix it with the dry ingredients. Breads are coming out great including Lahey No Knead. 3 envelopes, .25oz each, are about $3. 2 pounds at Costco about $3.80. I do keep it in bag in icebox and am making a lot of bread.

[potato or yam]

A lot of brands market what you are looking for under "rapid rise yeast." Fleishmann's makes it and I've seen it for sale both in jars and small packets on most chain grocery stores like Safeway.