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Instant Yeast == Rapid Rise Yeast?

post #1 of 9
4/28/07 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all, I'm new to cooking, and I'm trying to make simple pizza (still ) :). I found Alton Brown's Dough recipe here:

Recipes : Pizza Pizzas : Food Network

but it calls for instant yeast. On the Episode of Good Eats on Food Network that the recipe comes from he says Instant and Rapid Rise Yeast are different types of yeast, but I've read a few things online that say they are the same? Can anyone clear up the confusion for me, or better yet suggest somewhere in Tucson, Arizona I can buy Instant Yeast :D. TIA.
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post #2 of 9
4/28/07 at 8:24pm
I buy my instant yeast at Sam's Club.. ;)
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post #3 of 9
4/28/07 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 

Alas

I don't have a Sam's Club Membership, and don't you need your company to sponsor you? I've got a Costco membership though, I'll try there tommorrow :). BTW, what brand are you using? Other than Saf-Instant I'm not sure what else would do. The Red Star brand rapid rise looks the same going by the ingredients, but I'm not sure it is.
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post #4 of 9
4/28/07 at 11:27pm
According to Peter Reinhart (The Bread Baker's Apprentice) Instant and Rapid Rise are the same thing. Just different names given by different yeast producers. I don't know about Tucson, AZ but here in San Francisco Fleishman's Rapid Rise yeast is available in every supermarket. Your Red Star Rapid Rise is the same thing. I have used it many times and with great success.

Jock
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post #5 of 9
4/29/07 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 

Sweet :)

I wonder why Good Eat's acted like there was a difference? Oh well, that simplifies things greatly :). Thanks all :).
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post #6 of 9
4/29/07 at 8:58am
Most grocery stores sell the different types of yeast, check several in your area and see what they have.

I'm just learning about bread myself and what I have been reading about yeast is that the difference between them is the method in which they have been dried.

Instant yeast is dried in a gentle method that leaves more of the yeast spores alive than with other drying methods. While it is the same yeast as any other yeast it just take less time for the yeast colony to reproduce sufficient numbers to rise the dough because you started out with more live spores to begin with.

You can use whatever kind of yeast is available to you; you will just need to adjust the times to compensate for the slower growth of the non-instant yeast if that is what you use.
Betty
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post #7 of 9
7/17/07 at 10:21pm

Go to Wal Mart

I'' living in Phoenix and Wal Mart had Yeast I'm 99% sure you can find in Tucson. Good luck!!!
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post #8 of 9
7/17/07 at 11:22pm
Thought this was strange. So, I checked the "Dr. Strangeloaf" and "Flat is Beautiful" transcripts and I can't anywhere where Alton Brown says that Instant and Rapid Rise Yeasts are different. In fact, in "Dr. Strangeloaf" he uses the terms as equivalents.
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post #9 of 9
7/18/07 at 12:33am
You are right; he doesn't say that instant and rapid rise are different but that instant and regular active dry are different. He goes into a long explanation about the difference being in the way that they are dried.

He says that the instant yeast is dried in a gentle method that leaves more of the yeast cells alive than with other drying methods. While it is the same yeast as any other yeast (as far as the species goes) you start out with more live yeast cells with the instant yeast so your yeast will start working faster than regular active dry yeast. And unlike regular active dry yeast you don’t have to bloom the instant yeast – you can mix it in with the dry ingredients.

I’m a rabid Alton Brown fan and record his shows on my TVO and watch them again and again. I have learned so much because of the long drawn out explanations he gives about how and why things are the way they are.
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