[Erik]

Been working with this croissant recipe (at my job) for the last 2 years and finally decided to see if I'm crazy or not.

For 50 lbs flour, it calls for 1 lb instant yeast, along with 1.5 lbs compressed yeast. (I know, it's alot. All of our recipes have alot of yeast)

Does anyone know of some secret reason I'd want two different forms of yeast in one recipe? I've never heard a good explination from my company, but I've never expected there was one either!

[chefpeon]

Sounds like someone didn't bother to convert all the cake yeast over to instant yeast. 1.5 lbs of cake yeast (compressed) is equal to 7.5 ozs of instant. I'd just add 1 lb 7 1/2 ozs of instant yeast and call it good. The results will be the same. There's no point in ordering in and storing cake yeast....that's nuts. Plus you will save a step by not having to make a slurry of warm water and cake yeast. Just throw in all the instant and you're done.

Perhaps if you approach you superiors and say something like, "Hey I noticed we're using cake yeast when we don't really have to, and by not using cake yeast we can save a little labor....."

Their ears may perk up when you say "save a little labor". Believe me, higher ups don't care much about the ins and outs of baking science but they DO care about money. Saving money in particular. I deal with this crap all the time.......sigh..........

[Erik]

My higher-ups, unfortuately, seem ambivalent toward saving labor, food cost, baking science, or anything else you would think they should care about. I used to think it was really strange, now I just think it is amusing.

But, they pay me well, and if they want me to keep throwing away alot of moldy cake yeast (believe me, this has all been brought to their attention may times before) then I guess it is their business.

Just wanted to make sure you all didn't know something I didn't

[jerry i h]

Oh, dear. There are various types of yeast: fresh, instant, dried, etc. They are ALL interchangeable. There is a simple conversion formula for these types, depending on what you have and what the recipe calls for. Using these conversions, they are ALL the same. Humbly suggest you give your boss a chance to save money by giving him/her the conversion tables along with typical costs for the various types of yeast.

[pastrychef7]

Originally Posted by chefpeon

Sounds like someone didn't bother to convert all the cake yeast over to instant yeast. 1.5 lbs of cake yeast (compressed) is equal to 7.5 ozs of instant. I'd just add 1 lb 7 1/2 ozs of instant yeast and call it good. The results will be the same. There's no point in ordering in and storing cake yeast....that's nuts. Plus you will save a step by not having to make a slurry of warm water and cake yeast. Just throw in all the instant and you're done.

Perhaps if you approach you superiors and say something like, "Hey I noticed we're using cake yeast when we don't really have to, and by not using cake yeast we can save a little labor....."

Their ears may perk up when you say "save a little labor". Believe me, higher ups don't care much about the ins and outs of baking science but they DO care about money. Saving money in particular. I deal with this crap all the time.......sigh..........

In the 18 years I baked, I suppose it depends on what neck of the woods you're from, when we used dry yeast (fermipan), we just added extra water to what the recipe called for. When using cake yeast, we never made a slurry, just added it last ontop of the flour and never had a problem either way. But you're right about the conversion, I think they just forgot to exclude one or the other after maing the ajustment. One type of yeast is all thats needed. The wild yeast in the air where you are plus the one yeast you put in the recipe will be fine.