November 29, 2011 - 8:58am
Active Dry vs. Instant
I've been working with Reinhart's books and the Apprentise one mentions that Active Dry is only 66% the strength of Instant. Since I don't have Instant I tried adding extra yeast to account for the difference.
Is this a mistake?
I ask because I've also been trying to let the bread proof longer and I end up getting collapses and poor rises in the oven. The latter started happening to me first and so I tried longer proofing. In 5 years of baking bread I've never had collapses, even when I first started.
Share
Well, while it's true that instant dry yeast is more "powerful" than ADY, the difference in strength is within a range. Some say that 25% more ADY than IDY should be sufficinet.
Yes, the correct way is to add about 25% of additional ADY for the specified quantity of IDY.
If you increase ADY, you probably shouldn't let your bread proof longer. Of course, "watch the dough and not the clock", let the dough tell you when it's ready. For more oven spring, it usually helps to underproof slightly.
"I ask because I've also been trying to let the bread proof longer and I end up getting collapses and poor rises in the oven. The latter started happening to me first and so I tried longer proofing"
All of the problems you describe could easily be attributed to over proofing. If you want to "proof" longer to get more flavor, try using a poolish and/or refrigerate your dough during the initial fermentation cycle.
Instant is stronger than active dry, but not by a heck of a lot. Using 10 grams of one or 13 of the other is no biggie.
For most (if not all) home sized recipes, you can consider them interchangeable. Watch the dough not the clock.
100% fresh yeast = 50% active dry yeast = 33% instant yeast (44% for very enriched doughs).
To exchange active dry yeast for instant yeast:
double the amount of active dry yeast, and then divide the result by 3.
Works all the time,
Karin