Yeast Equivalents

Hi,

I am reading a recipe that calls for fresh yeast. I have dried yeast at home, which I bought in bulk and don't have the package any more. I found the following conversion:

1 cake of Fresh yeast (50 grams) = 1 tablespoon dried yeast*

*slightly less for bread machine yeast.

Does this sound right?

What is the ratio of yeast per pound/cup of flour?

FYI - I am planning to make stollen tomorrow. for 1 kg (2 lb 4 ounces) flour et al, it calls for 110 g (4 ounces) fresh yeast. It just seems like a high proportion of yeast.

Thanks for any clarity on this yeast issue.

Regards,

1 cube compressed or cake yeast (17g or .6 ozs.) = 2.5 teaspoons of active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons of instant yeast.

Stollen recipe I use uses 600g of flour and 2 teaspoons of instant yeast.

Hope this helps.

It isn't often I have a chance to be of assistance to C2, so I jump at this opportunity.

According to The Food Substitutions Bible, a 1/4 oz. (8 g) pkg of active dry yeast is the same as 2-1/4 tsp or 0.6 oz (17 g) cake compressed fresh yeast.

So, if 3x17=51 g, 3 x 2.25 tsp = 6.75 tsp or 2 Tbs plus 3/4 tsp, significantly more than 1 T. He also says that one large (2oz/60g) cake of compressed fresh yeast = 3 Tbs of active dry (a conversion that accords with the first calculation).

Since this does not agree with what you found, C2, I checked other sources. Harold McGee, to my amazement, doesn't give any conversions. The Joy of Cooking states that one package (or one scant tablespoon) of active dry yeast is equivalent to a small cake (3/5 oz.) So my "Bible" says the small cake =2.25 tsp and "Joy" says the small cake = 1 scant Tbs. Pretty scant, I guess. But in the ballpark.

My various baking books discuss the merits of different kinds of yeasts but I could only find one other formula. Precisely the same formula appears in Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking and in the CIA's The Professional Chef. They both say that to convert to active dry yeast, use only 40 percent of the weight of compressed yeast.

Hope that helps!

Good luck.

PS to Bill/SFNM: my understanding is that active dry and instant aren't the same thing. Is that correct?

Gypsy Boy wrote:PS to Bill/SFNM: my understanding is that active dry and instant aren't the same thing. Is that correct?

Instant is a very finely-divided strain of dry yeast that, because of its particular strain and its smaller particle size than active dry yeast (ADY), needs no re-hydration, or "proofing", in water or other liquid to activate it and can thus be added directly to the flour and other dry ingredients. Moreover, instant dry yeast contains more live cells than active dry yeast, further facilitating its activation. Once in the flour, the instant dry yeast can tolerate liquid temperatures of 120–130°F Because of all these factors, the instant dry yeast will start to work faster than active dry yeast. Like active dry yeast, advantages of instant dry yeast include convenience of use and long storage life, especially when sealed and frozen in an airtight container.

(from glossary at pizzamaking.com)

Hi,

Thanks GypsyBoy and Bill SF/NM on the responses. You reconfirmed and corrected my initial information that my gut feeling felt was just off base.

Again, thanks!

Regards,

Does anyone know where I can find bulk SAF instant yeast in the city? Online sources are a bit sketchy since the shipping tends to get ridiculous.

I saw SAF yeast at Sunset Foods in Northbrook.
Paulette

Gang:

Does anyone have any recommendations for where to find cake yeast? I used to get it at Dominick’s Greek town or Whole Foods Lincoln Park, but neither store seems to stock it anymore. I've never tried dry yeast and would rather stick to what I am comfortable with. Thanks for any suggestions.