What brand of active dry yeast do you prefer for hot rolls?

Linda Bittle
Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Baking

My sister and I have tried many hot roll recipes and cannot recreate the rolls Granny made after church on Sunday. Mind you, we have made some excellent rolls. But we can't get the wonderful, yeasty aroma, the soft, almost chewy texture with the big holes (there's probably a word for that...)

We know she would whip them up without a recipe on Sunday morning, for the after-church meal. We have tried different things, including using lard and I wonder if she used something besides the yellow packages that come in strips of 3.

It's occurred to me that it could be as simple as using a different brand or type of yeast. Thanks in advance for sharing your secrets.

Comments

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Mary Linda Bittle

    rapid rise for my bread machine lol.

    I call king arthur flour for questions like that and tell them what I want to do/am going to do/bake, and ask them what they would do, and tell them what I was thinking about doing and what they thought of that... During their open hours, they have bakers on duty to answer just such questions.

    Also, you could go to their site and go to the recipes section and look for recipes that are as close to what yo uwant to bake and compare what their recipes call for to what you are thinking. I would still want to speak to a baker, but that way you already have a better idea of the all encompassing questions you might need to ask to get you to the best answer.

    Dianne

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Mary Linda Bittle

    Oh, and I think when you speak of the chewey texture with big holes, I think that is usually referred to as 'the crumb'...I've been wrong before lol.

    The best to you in this endeavor and let us know what you find that works and how it turns out.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    @Mary Linda Bittle this website has a forum where they discuss bread techniques in great detail. I'm betting someone on there could answer your question.

    I thought I knew about bread baking; then I took a look around there...

    That being said, my first thought is that it would be the flour rather than the yeast. Different wheat flours have different gluten contents. Maybe the flour she used was a softer/harder wheat?

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @blevinandwomba I never thought about the flour! I can get small bags and experiment. Thank you! I just always used Gold Medal all purpose. I can get different brands now.

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    @Mary Linda Bittle Red Star yeast was what my Grandmother always used but it was in a cake not the loose kind. I looked at Red Star's website and they still have the cake yeast and call it "fresh" yeast.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    The brand of yeast I like is Lesaffre Saf Instant Yeast. King Arthur uses it in their test kitchens. It's fast acting and long lasting. No need to pre-dissolve or proof. They have a Red and a Gold label plus Premium versions. The gold label is especially suited for sweet breads.

  • peggyfairbourne
    peggyfairbourne Posts: 7 ✭✭✭

    I am going to try this. King Arthur is a brand I would like to learn to use, but I can't use it in the same proportion in my baking as store bought flour. I will try Dianne's suggestion and have a phone conversation with them to see how to convert the recipes, and will report back on how their yeast works for my rolls, and for the breadsticks my husband has mastered.