The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Baking - Donna Diegel [37]
The Wonderful World of Yeast
Although many types of baker’s yeast are used to make bread, the three most popular forms are compressed cake yeast, active dry yeast, and instant yeast. They all perform well, depending on the type of bread you’re making, conditions in the kitchen, and availability.
Fresh yeast comes in a compressed cake and is very perishable. It needs to be refrigerated, tends to have a short shelf life, and needs to be activated in warm water before it can be used. Most home bakers have abandoned fresh yeast for these reasons.
Active dry yeast in the familiar yellow packets is sometimes found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket and should be refrigerated after it’s been opened. Active dry yeast needs to be activated in warm (105°F to 115°F) water before mixing with the remaining ingredients. When using this yeast, you have to let the bread dough rise twice—once in the bowl, and again in the bread pans.
Instant yeast is—you guessed it—instant! Instant yeast is used most often in commercial bread recipes, and for ease of bread-making and consistency, most of the recipes that follow use it. Instant yeast doesn’t have to be activated in warm water first, so it can go right into the bowl with the dry ingredients. The dough only has to rise once when you use instant yeast.
Instant yeast comes in 2¼ teaspoon packets, or 1-pound vacuum-packed bricks. It has a longer shelf life than fresh or active dry yeast, but after it’s opened, package and seal it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
Substituting one form of yeast for another is easy, but there are ratios to take into account before baking. Substitute 25 percent less instant yeast for active dry yeast or, if substituting for fresh cake yeast, use 1 packet or 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast.
BATTER UP!
Most bread dough needs a warm place to rise before baking. Some people use their ovens. This works especially well with gas stoves because the pilot light provides just the right temperature for rising. For electric ovens, preheat to 150°F to 200°F for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, and place the unbaked bread inside until almost doubled in size. Just be sure to remove the bread prior to preheating the oven in preparation for baking; otherwise, it will begin to bake the bread before the oven and the bread is ready.
Hand-Kneading Versus Machine-Kneading
Making bread is a labor of love, and this labor is never so evident as in the act of kneading dough. Bread-baking is a creative passion for some . . . and a mundane task for others. Regardless, the dough needs to be kneaded. You can do that in a variety of ways: by hand, in an electric stand mixer, or in a bread machine.
The recipes in this chapter can be kneaded by hand or with a machine mixer. It takes roughly 12 to 15 minutes of hand-kneading to develop the bread dough properly. Unless you have strong arms and a good back, you might want to use a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with a dough hook to knead the bread dough. Bread machines come with their own unique set of how-to instructions, so use these recipes as a guide for the ingredients, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions for kneading and baking.
To knead dough by hand after mixing the dough, turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Press it down with both hands until the dough is flat. Fold it over onto itself. Working with the heels of your hands and firm pressure, push the dough forward and away from you. Fold the top of the dough over, turn ¼ turn, and push the dough again with the heels of your hands, adding small amounts of flour as needed if the dough is sticky. Fold it over again, push forward and fold, and turn the dough ¼ turn. Continue pushing, folding, and turning the dough for approximately 10 to 15 minutes or until the dough forms a membrane when stretched (sort of like a balloon that doesn’t tear).
BAKER’S BONUS
Different varieties of bread may take longer to knead than others. To tell if the dough has been