The local supermarkets have all stopped carrying fresh yeast. Any ideas on
where to get consumer quantities of it by mail order? Or does anybody have
a foolproof conversion from fresh to dry yeast by weight? My formulas all
call for fresh yeast.

Fred
The Good Gourmet
http://www.thegoodgourmet.com

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 19:05:09 -0500, Fred wrote:

> The local supermarkets have all stopped carrying fresh yeast. Any ideas on
> where to get consumer quantities of it by mail order? Or does anybody have
> a foolproof conversion from fresh to dry yeast by weight? My formulas all
> call for fresh yeast.

i buy my yeast in a 1 pound block (it is really powder, but vacuum packed
- it loosens up when you open it) from a chain called "Smart & Final"
which is kind of a restaurant supply place, open to the public as well.
i think a lot of people buy similar things. i keep mine in a zip-lock in
the fridge for about a year, spooning out a scant tablespoon for a
breadmachine loaf (3c flour) or two scan tablespoons for a mixer (6c four)
batch.

i think 2 3/4 teaspoons are supposed to equal a packet, but i never felt i
had to be that exact.

fwiw, www.smartandfinal.com shows them in California, Idaho, Oregon and
Washington. not sure what the odds are of a random poster being near one
of their stores ;-), but there is probably something similar nearby.

(the good news is that a pound of yeast costs like $2.75)

"Fred" > wrote in message >...
> The local supermarkets have all stopped carrying fresh yeast. Any ideas on
> where to get consumer quantities of it by mail order? Or does anybody have
> a foolproof conversion from fresh to dry yeast by weight? My formulas all
> call for fresh yeast.
>
> Fred
> The Good Gourmet
> http://www.thegoodgourmet.com

People I know who use fresh yeast can buy it in one pound blocks from
a local bakery. The bakeries are happy to sell it to them for about
$2.00 a pound. So, check with one of your local bakeris. Bakers are
ahppy to help other bakers if you are nice to them. Good luck.

my local supermarkets have never sold fresh yeast BUT if you go to the
bakery section and ask them for some, they are only too willing to
give you a piece.depending on who serves you the piece can be anything
from a couple of ounces to about half a pound. As it is free i
gratefully take whatever i am given.

Socks wrote:
>
> On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 19:05:09 -0500, Fred wrote:
>
> > The local supermarkets have all stopped carrying fresh yeast. Any ideas on
> > where to get consumer quantities of it by mail order? Or does anybody have
> > a foolproof conversion from fresh to dry yeast by weight? My formulas all
> > call for fresh yeast.
>
> i buy my yeast in a 1 pound block (it is really powder, but vacuum packed
> - it loosens up when you open it) from a chain called "Smart & Final"
> which is kind of a restaurant supply place, open to the public as well.
> i think a lot of people buy similar things. i keep mine in a zip-lock in
> the fridge for about a year, spooning out a scant tablespoon for a
> breadmachine loaf (3c flour) or two scan tablespoons for a mixer (6c four)
> batch.
>
>
> (the good news is that a pound of yeast costs like $2.75)



Costco also carries that, Red Star brand. It works
well for me.

gloria p

i got curious since this thread popped up again.

i found a big table of yeast types and conversions:

http://breaddaily.tripod.com/yeast.htm

"Socks" > wrote in message
news
> i got curious since this thread popped up again.
>
> i found a big table of yeast types and conversions:
>
> http://breaddaily.tripod.com/yeast.htm

Thanks for the link. My favorite Italian bread formula calls for .75 oz.
of fresh yeast and the formula makes two loaves. I've made many loaves of
it this way. My professional baking text says I can substitute active dry
yeast for fresh yeast at a rate of 40% by weight. That's about two packets
of the stuff to make my Italian bread dough. So I made up a couple of
loaves using the dry yeast. Personally, I don't think it provided as much
leavening and it certainly didn't proof as quickly although I think the
crumb was slightly more uniform. I also thought the bread was less
flavorful but that could be just a matter of habit and preference guiding me
to that conclusion rather than objective taste.

I checked with the bakery supply house and they sell fresh yeast only in 50
lb. cases so I guess I'll try to befriend a baker.

Fred
The Good Gourmet
http://www.thegoodgourmet.com

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 21:31:13 -0500, Fred wrote:

>> http://breaddaily.tripod.com/yeast.htm
>
> Thanks for the link. My favorite Italian bread formula calls for .75
> oz. of fresh yeast and the formula makes two loaves. I've made many
> loaves of it this way. My professional baking text says I can
> substitute active dry yeast for fresh yeast at a rate of 40% by weight.
> That's about two packets of the stuff to make my Italian bread dough.
> So I made up a couple of loaves using the dry yeast. Personally, I
> don't think it provided as much leavening and it certainly didn't proof
> as quickly although I think the crumb was slightly more uniform. I also
> thought the bread was less flavorful but that could be just a matter of
> habit and preference guiding me to that conclusion rather than objective
> taste.

fwiw, i think the 1 lb bags i've been buying fall in the "instant"
category. that might be worth a try over the traditional "active dry".

but good luck on finding the fresh yeast again.

Here's a conversion table for exchanges among fresh/dry/instant yeasts by
weight (oz and grams) I just uploaded to my webpage:

http://www.geocities.com/riggy001/ye...sion_table.doc


"Fred" > wrote in message
...
> The local supermarkets have all stopped carrying fresh yeast. Any ideas
on
> where to get consumer quantities of it by mail order? Or does anybody
have
> a foolproof conversion from fresh to dry yeast by weight? My formulas all
> call for fresh yeast.
>
> Fred
> The Good Gourmet
> http://www.thegoodgourmet.com
>
>

In article >,
Puester > wrote:
= Socks wrote:
= >
= > On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 19:05:09 -0500, Fred wrote:
= >
= > > The local supermarkets have all stopped carrying fresh yeast. Any ideas on
= > > where to get consumer quantities of it by mail order? Or does anybody have
= > > a foolproof conversion from fresh to dry yeast by weight? My formulas all
= > > call for fresh yeast.
= >
= > i buy my yeast in a 1 pound block (it is really powder, but vacuum packed
= > - it loosens up when you open it) from a chain called "Smart & Final"
[...]
= > (the good news is that a pound of yeast costs like $2.75)
=
= Costco also carries that, Red Star brand. It works
= well for me.

I've also bought it at Sam's Club although it was the "instant yeast."

But none of this answers the original poster's question which was
how to convert from quantities of fresh yeast to quantities of dry
yeast.

I don't remember the numbers offhand but as I recall 1 packet of
dry yeast (as sold in the supermarket) is the equivalent of one
cake of fresh yeast as it used to be sold at groceries and even
supermarkets.

If you want to use the bulk yeast as several posters have
suggested, I suggest buying one packet of the dry, measuring that,
and then using that much of the bulk when a recipe calls for one
cake of fresh yeast. Proportion the amount for more or less.


--
Kind regards,

Charlie "Older than dirt" Sorsby Edgewood, NM "I'm the NRA!"
www.swcp.com/~crs USA Life Member since 1965

A few more thoughts about fresh vs. dry yeast, flavor, etc.

From the bottom of:

http://www.doughmakers.com/features/...gwithyeast.htm

"Substitution guide: 1 tablespoon active dry = 2 1/2 teaspoons
instant = 3/4 ounce fresh."


Someone posted that they didn't get the flavor with the dry as with
the fresh yeast. Perhaps someone has already suggested this but
just in case not, try decreasing the amount of yeast and allowing
it to ferment overnight with the liquid and part of the flour. In
other words, make a sponge. Then next day proceed with remaining
dry ingredients and process as normal. (Oh--the decrease in amount
of yeast should be significant. The less yeast used initially and
the longer the sponge is allowed to ferment, the more flavor. At
least within reason.)
--
Kind regards,

Charlie "Older than dirt" Sorsby Edgewood, NM "I'm the NRA!"
www.swcp.com/~crs USA Life Member since 1965